It was to be a bell denoting the early connection with the Franciscan friars' California missions – a bell mounted on a tall crook set in concrete and placed along the King's Highway. The bells were first created and paid for by the Camino Real Association in the early 1900s.

The distinctive mission bells hanging from "shepherd's crook" posts along California's El Camino Real serve as historical markers for the 700-mile "Royal Road" that connected the 21 Spanish missions. First installed in 1906 by the El Camino Real Association, the bells were designed by Mrs. A.S.C. Forbes to promote the route as a tourist destination and to commemorate the work of the Franciscan friars who established the missions starting in 1769. While they were originally intended to celebrate California's heritage and provide a "guidepost" for early motorists, the meaning of the bells has become deeply contested in recent years. For many Indigenous groups, such as the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, the bells are painful symbols of colonization, forced labor, and the destruction of Native American culture within the mission system. Consequently, in 2026, many of these bells have been removed from public spaces—including cities like Santa Cruz and at various universities—as part of a broader effort to acknowledge the full, often tragic history of the mission era. Today, the remaining bells stand as a complex reminder of both California's Spanish past and the ongoing conversation regarding historical memory and indigenous rights.