YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 05423 6683

"Reading maketh a full man, conference a
readye man, and writing an exacte man"
— Bacon

Glass & Long,
EOOKBINDERS,
LOS ANGELES, CAL.

Old missions AND
MISSION INDIANS
OF CALIFORNIA

FULLY ILLUSTRATED
{Copyrighted)

G. WHARTON JAMES, F. R. A. S.
AUTHOR. OF
The Lick Observatory,
Tourists' Guide Book to South California,
From Alpine Snow to Semi-Tropic Sea,
Nature Sermons, &c.

LOS ANGELES, CAL..
li. k. BADMGARDT « CO.
I895.

The Aged Padre at his Devotions in the Garden at Santa Barbara.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.

For information on the missions I have consulted
every book, magazine, or newspaper I could find, and,
having drawn from such a variety of sources can do
no more than make this general acknowledgement of
thanks. For the privilege of using illustrations I desire
specially to thank Messrs. F. A. Pattee & Co., of the
Land of Sunshine, B. Brooks, of the San Luis Obispo
Tribune, C. G. Miller & Co., of the Western
Empire, C. A. Moore, of the Los Angeles Engraving
Co., Leverick A. Mesick, of The Oj'ai, T. D. Beasley,
of the Seaport News, and C. M. Heintz, of the Rural
Californian. To my esteemed friend, Mr. Herve
Friend, I am under many obligations, both for infor
mation, photographs and engravings.
To Mr. Longley, of the Los Angeles Superior Court
I am indebted for several valuable additions to my
manuscript, and to my friend, Miss Nellie E. Fife, for
valuable aid in preparing the index.

'^**o^S

Echo Mountain, Cal.
March, 1895.

NoTB. — I shall be grateful to any reader who has information
not herein contained on any ot the missions, if he or she will
communicate it to me, and the description of any picture or relic
he or she may possess or know of, in order that the second
edition of this little hand book may be more accurate and
complete.

THE OLD MISSIONS.
BY KIND PERMISSION.
The blue tent of the skies was spread
Above these new-found shores,
The Future opened wide her gates,
The old Past closed her doors ;
Blossomed like stars the poppies gold.
Which caught the sunlight sheen,
Blazing like altars on the heights,
And sleeping vales between.
A goodly land ! Her native sons
Dreamed on the summer's breast,
Or, cradled in the sunshine, lay,
Nursed by its warmth, at rest.
In the soft air the olive leaves,
In silver shimmers sighed,
And the breezes blowing round them,
In their dulcet tones replied.
Came the friars of ancient story,
With their dusty sandals shod,
Here the holy Cross they planted,
Longing but to worship God.
Here, beneath the oak limbs' shelter,
First their Mission bells they swung,
And Te Deums softly chanted
Where those sacred emblems hung.
Here the Indians gathered round them,
Here the crucifix adored,
While the vibrant bells' sweet music
On the sleeping air was poured,
Making echoes strange and sacred,
Which the high stars leaned to hear,
And the rock-lipped Mounts repeated
To the nestling canyons' ear.
One by one these hoary Missions
With their sun-dried bricks uprose,
Holy were the hopes they signal,
High the courage they disclose.
Hold them sacred, keep them holy,
They are milestones on our way,
From the night of superstition
To the broad light of Today. Ei<iza A. Otis.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE
The Aged Padre at his Devotions in the Garden at Santa
Harbara  2
The Missions of California  4
San Diego Mission with Old Palms  10
The Padre's Inspiration  n
Font at San Juan Capistrano — Bench at Los Angeles — Bells
at San Juan Capistrano, San Gabriel, Pala, etc  12
Cactus found on the way to San Diego  13
Aboriginal Woman in Ceremonial Costume  16
Aboriginal Man ready for the Chase  16
Native Indian Village  17
A Native's Winter Store of Acorns  18
An Early California Adobe  19
Tortilla Makers  20
Indian Woman Making Baskets  21
Indian Made Bench in Los Angeles Mission  22
A Mission Flock  24
Ye Men of Galilee (Music)  26
A Primitive Mission  28
Father Junipero Serra:  30
Father Serra on the Shore near Monterey  34
Palms at San Diego — Steps at San Gabriel — Side Entrance
and Steps at San Luis Rey  36
Sacred Lotus planted by Mission Fathers near San Diego... 38
A Mission Herd in Flourishing Days  41
Palms of San Diego Mission  43
Mission of San Carlos Borromeo  46
Bells of San Carlos Borromeo  47
San Antonio de Padua  49
San Gabriel Archangel  51
" El Molino " near San Gabriel Mission  54
San Luis Obispo de Tolosa  56
The Modern City of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa  58
San Luis Obispo Entrance  60
A Primitive Indian Residence  63
Using the Metate  64
Bells and Ruined Church of San Juan Capistrano  65
In the Ruined Corridors of San Juan Capistrano  68
Triple Arch and Ruined Chapel at San Juan Capistrano  70
San Juan Capistrano Corridors  72

Illustrations — Continued. PAGE
San Buenaventura Mission  79
General View of San Buenaventura Mission  82
San Buenaventura Mission  83
Altar at San Buenaventura Mission  85
Santa Barbara Mission  88
Fountain and Corridors at San Fernando  100
San Fernando Rey Mission  103
San Luis Rey de Francia  105
San Luis Rey, seen through one of the Arches  106
San Luis Rey de Francia as it Originally Appeared. From
an old Painting  107
San Luis Rey Mission  no
Through the Old Garden Arch at San Luis Rey  112
General View of San Luis Rey  114
Chapel and Bell Tower at San Antonio de Pala  117
Santa Ynez Mission  120
Walls of Santa Margarita Chapel  123
Errata. — By mistake the engraving on page 72 is entitled
San Juan Capistrano Corridors. It should be San Luis
Rey Corridors.

INDEX.
Chapter I.— Introduction — The Work of the Mission Fa
thers — For God and the King— Jesuits — Franciscans —
Junipero Serra — Galvez — Political Results — Colonization
of California — Mission Expeditions — Ship San Carlos-
Padre Parron— Ship San Jose— Loss of the San Jose— The
Mission Indians — Vizcaino — George Butler Griffin —
Warlike Indians — Converted Indians — Work they Accom
plished — Secularization — Governor Echeandia — Governor
Manuel Victoria — Governor Figueroa— Condition of the
Missions at Secularization— Diezzio — Dana's Pictures —
Indian Games — Evil Results of Secularization  9 to 29
Chapter II.— Junipero Serra— His Birth— Early Educa-
cation — Intellectual Brilliancy — His sole Ambition to
Preach Christ— Work at the Apostolic College in the City
of Mexico — At Sierra Gorda — Among the Apaches — In
1767 began work among the Indians of California — Re
sults  29 to 35

Inde x — Con tin ued. PAGE
Chapter HI. — San Diego riission. — The first of the Upper
California Missions — Severe Trials on Shipboard — Zeal of
Padre Serra — Portala and Father Crespi sent to find Mon
terey — Royal Standard Flung to the Breeze — The Country
Taken for God and the King of Spain — Murder at San
Diego — Death of Jose Maria — Distressing Decision of
Governor Portala — Waiting for Provisions — Murder of
Padre Jayme — Serra Pleads for Clemency Toward the
Murderers — San Diego Mission Rebuilt — The Present
Structure Erected — Prosperity of the Mission — Seculari
zation and Its Results  35 to 45
Chapter IV. — San Carlos Borromeo. — Early Difficulties
— Final Wealth and Prosperity — Recent Restoration —
Serra here labored and suffered more than in any other
Mission, and here he was laid to rest  45 to 48
Chapter V. — San Antonio de Padua. — Third Mission
Established — Mission founded with great enthusiasm by
Serra — Rapid Growth and Prosperity — At present visited
once or twice a month by a Priest from San Miguel... 48 to 50
Chapter VI. — San Gabriel Archangel. — Padres Benito
Cambon and Angel Somero aid Padre Serra — Mission
founded on the banks of the San Gabriel River Septem
ber 8, 177 1 — Site now marked by a few Adobe Ruins —
How Reached — Present builiing begun 1775 — Padre
Jose Maria Salvidea — Great Wealth and Prosperity of
the Mission — San Gabriel the oldest Mission Building
now in reasonable preservation — Cactus Hedges — Old
Mill Buildings — Still a fairly large population of Mexi
cans — Regular services kept up  50 to 55
Chapter VII. — San Luis Obispo De Tolosa.— Established
1772 — Padre Cavalier in charge — Friendly feeling of the
natives — A year of struggle followed by prosperity —
Buildings burned three times — Tile roofs — Padre Luis
Martinez — Story of " H. H.'' illustrating the character of
Martinez — Buildings injured by the earthquake of 1812 —
How reached  55 to 61
Chapter VIII. — San Francisco De Assis. — Founded Oc
tober 9, 1776 — "Mission Dolores" — Padre Serra's visit
and confirmation of first converts, 1781 — General Val-
lejo's statements regarding the work of the Padres — In
1826 the Mission still in splendor — Changes wrought in
a hundred years — Industrial work — Government of the
Indians  61 to 64
Chapter IX  San Juan Capistrano. — Founded Novem
ber 1, 1776, by President Serra — Work begun the pre
vious year — Delay on account of murder at San Diego —

Index — Con tin ned. PAGE
Earnestness of the San Juan Indians — Rapid growth —
Destruction by the earthquake of 1812 — Beauty of the
ruins — Patriotic recollections — Architecture — Traditions
— Secularization of 1833 — Micheltorena — Mission pur
chased by James McKinley and John Foster — Naming of
the Mission by Portala — Accommodations for tourists —
Hot Springs — How reached  64 to 74
Chapter X.— Santa Clara.— Founded by Padre Tomas de
la Pena, 1777 — Pena and Murguia in charge — Floods —
Removal to higher ground — Beauty of the buildings —
Death of Murguia — Present structure built in 1825-6 —
Exciting and interesting events — Yoscolo — Revolt and
escape— Stanislaus' revolt — Vallejo in pursuit — Battle and
final capture of Yoscolo — In 1839 Estrada gives away or
sells the Mission lands — Ruin and decay  74 to 78
Chapter XI. — San Buenaventura.— Serra's determination
to found a chain of Missions between San Diego and
Santa Barbara — Political changes and complications —
Three Missions to be founded near the Santa Barbara
Channel — Portala visits the coast — Indians more industri
ous than elsewhere — Builders, fishermen, workers in wood,
stone, etc. — Permission of Governor Neve to found the
Missions at Santa Barbara and San Buenaventura — Serra's
visit to the Channel Indians — Expedition to and founding
of San Buenaventura— Rapid growth in the early part of
this century — Padres Dumetz and Maria gladdened by
many accessions — Finer flocks and herds, fields, gardens
and orchards than in any of the Missions — Battle between
Carrillo and Alvarado in 1838 — Father Rubio now in
charge— Renovation in 1893 — The present building- Im
pressive rededication in 1894  jS to 87
Chapter XII — Santa Barbara. — Presidio and Mission,
Founded 1782 — Governor Neve and the Soldiers Assist
Serra at the Dedication — Delay in Erecting the Build
ings — Death of Padre Serra — Father Palou made Presi
dent of the Missions — Padre Lasuen Succeeds Him in
1786 — Mission Established — Padres Paterna and Oramas
in Charge — The Buildings — Plundering of the Missions —
Secularization did Less Damage than in Other Missions —
In Possession of the Franciscans — In 1853 it became a
Hospice — In 1885 it Became a Part of the " Province of
the Sacred Heart of Jesus ' ' — Interest Attaching to the
Mission — Visits of Princess Louise and Mrs. President
Harrison — Kindness of Res dent Padres  87 to 92
Chapter XIII — La Purisima Conception — Third of the
Channel Missions — Early Buildings — Earthquake and

Index — Continued. PAGE
Flood — Padre Payeras — His Buildings, Zeal, Converts,
etc. — Secularization in 1835 — Governor Pico's Proclama
tion in 1844 — Buildings Restored to the Catholic
Church  92 to 93
Chapter XIV — Santa Cruz. — Founded by Padre Lasuen
1791 — Second Child of the San Francisco Mission — Su-
gert, the Indian Chief — 1834-5, £>el Valle Appointed
Comisionado — Robbing of the Indians — In 1856 the
Ruins Desecrated by Treasure Seekers  94 to 95
Chapter XV— La Soledad.— Its History Little Known —
Its Indian Name " Chattusgelis " — Named by Portala
" Soledad"  95 to 96
Chapter XVI — San Jose. — Founded by Padre Lasuen 1796
or 1797 — Padre Borcenilla and Merino in Charge — Ro
mantic Side — Rich Lands — Trapping Done by the Indians
— Stanislaus Educated Here — His Raid — Vallejo's Disci
pline — Wealth of the Mission When he Took Possession —
Ruins Much Visited and Painted  96 to 97
Chapter XVII — San Juan Bautista. — Founded 1797 —
Present Buildings Erected 1800 — Spanish Name " Benito "
Indians Called it " Popeloutchom " — In a Wide and
Beautiful Valley — Buildings — Bells  97 to 98
Chapter XVIII- San rliguel.— "Sagshpilesl "—Founded
in 1797 — Padre Sitjar Presents Fifteen Children for Bap
tism — Rapid Growth — Conversion of Guchapa — Force
Used to Gain Converts — San Miguel Never as Prosper
ous as Some of the Other Missions — Small Crops — Re
quired to Send Supplies to Mexican Troops — San Miguel
Celebrated by Ross Browne in " Dangerous Journey " —
Only One of Its Three Bells remains  98 to 101
Chapter XIX — San Fernando. — Chain of Missions from
San Diego to Monterey — San Fernando Founded Sep
tember 8th, 1797 — Present Building Dedicated 1806 — Lo
cated in a Most Fertile Valley — The Granary of Los An
geles County — Buildings and Scenery — Flourishing Con
dition in 1820 — Mission Sold in 1846 to Help Toward
War Expenses — Gold First Discovered at San Fernando
in 1846 — Richness of the Mines — The Misson Now in an
Utterly Ruined Condition  101 to 104
Chapter XX — San Luis Rey de Francia. — Founded
June 13th, 1798' — Regarded as " King of the Missions " —
Five Padres, Serra, Palou, Crespi, Salvidea and Peyri —
The Present Structure Built in 1802 — Beauty and Fertility
of the Location — Great Wealth and Prosperity — Ruins
Majestic and Imposing — Secularization and Departure of
Father Peyri — Memory of Padre Salvidea — His Devotions

Index — Continued. PAGE
and Eccentricities — The Love of the People for Him —
In 1892 the Work of Repairing the Mission Begun Under
Father O'Keefe — May 12th, 1893, the Re-dedication Oc
curred — Impressive Ceremonies — The Renovated Build
ings — Visit to the Mission  104 to 115
Chapter XXL— San Antonio de Pala. — Not Properly a
Mission, only a Chapel — Picturesque Belfry — Its two Bells
still call the Indians to Worship  The Building — Indian
Settlement near Pala — The Building Guarded by two old
Indians — Statues — Arcommodations for Tourists.... 115 to 118
Chapter XXII.— Santa Ynez— Founded for the Conven
ience of the Rancherosin 1804 — First Church shattered hy
the Earthquake of 1812 — New Building dedicated July 4,
1819 — Decline — Rebellion and Murder  118 to 119
Chapter XXIII. — San Rafael. — Lieutenant Sola's Sugges
tion — Founded in 1817  119
Chapter XXIV. — San Francisco Solano — Founded April
4, 1824 — Now Disappeared  121
Chapter XXV  Los Angeles Chapel - Authority gained
for its Erection in i8n — August 1814 Foundation Stone
laid — Site ehanged in 1818 — 1822 formerly Dedicated  121
Chapter XXVI.— Santa Margarita Chapel— Why Built—
Now in Ruins — J. Ross Browne  122 to 124
Chapter XXVII  "Cui Bono?' '—What is the good of it
all? — Dwinelle's words — Society for the Preservation of
the Missions  124

' )"ki l'| ¦« \\ *

The Padre's Inspiration.

OLD MISSIONS AND MISSION INDIANS OF
CALIFORNIA.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.
Pathos, tragedy, comedy, courage, heroism, aspira
tions, conflict, triumph, defeat, despair, loss, are all
written in unfading letters across the horizon of
the Spanish missionary enterprises of California.
Ignatius Loyola was not more devoted to his 6rder
and the Jesus he believed in, than Junipero Serra1 and
his coadjutors were in their mission work and the Jesus
they sought to present to the aborigines of this sun-lit
but ignorance-cursed region. Elsewhere I have spoken
of the emotions the sight of the ruined adobe structures
the mission fathers left should awaken in the hearts
of the thoughtful and earnest. The picture ofjunipero
Serra led Helen Hunt Jackson to exclaim : ' ' Ah !
faithful, noble, dear old face ; what an unselfish,
devoted life you led ! All I ask is to be permitted to
meet you in the other world."
These ruined churches, then, are beautiful and
worthy reminders of beautiful and worthy lives, —
lives consecrated for the uplifting of those who knew
not the joys of the true Christian believer. 2

hit-

San Diego Mission with Old Palms

INTRODUCTION 11
It will be impossible of course, in the brief space
of a few pages, to give such full and complete accounts
ot the founding and history of the missions as both
author and reader would like. To the interested
reader the author must refer him to his large and
beautifully illustrated work on the missions now in
course of preparation, and which he hopes very shortly
to publish. FOR GOD AND THE KING.
In 1767, King Charles III. of Spain ordered an
expedition to sail, to take possession of the Cali-
foniias, convert the Indians found there, and protect
the country from the encroachments of Russians from
the north, which the latter then owned. Josede Galvez,
the visitador general of New Spain, — a man of great
foresight and ability, — to whom the Americans of the
South California of to-day owe much, — was the man
to whom this important undertaking was intrusted.
The only knowledge of where he was to go was
obtained from the very indefinite ' ' survey ' ' of
Vizcaino, "yet so closely was this first definite scheme
of colonization and conversion planned that there
were orders to plant a mission and garrison first at
San Diego, then at Monterey, and then one, half way
between, to be called Buena Ventura."
Shortly before this expedition was organized the
Jesuits, who had founded a number of missions in
Baja California, were expelled from Mexico, and their
work was placed under the control of the Franciscans,
with headquarters at the College of San Fernando, in
the City of Mexico. The College, with a perspicacity
highly commendable, chose Padre Junipero Serra as
the President of these missions, and when Galvez
required of them missionaries to accompany him on
his expedition north, Serra's jurisdiction was extended,
and he was appointed president of all the California
missions, those already in existence in Lower Cali-

Font at San Juan Capistrano -Bench at Los Angeles -Bells at San Juan Capistrano,
San Gabriel, Pala, &c.

Cactus found on the way to San Diego

14 INTRODUCTION
fornia ?nd those to be founded in Upper California.
The following pages deal entirely with the work of
Serra and his religious coadjutors. But the work of
Galvez was so important and far-reaching in its results
as to demand a little enlarging upon. He was the
practical head of the expedition, ordering the taking
with it of 200 head of cattle from the northernmost
mission of Lower California, and also of a full supply
of all kinds of seeds of vegetables, grains and flowers;
everything, in fact, that grew in Old Spain he wished
transplanted to New Spain. "It was he, also, as full
of interest for chapel as for farm, who selected and
packed with his own hands sacred ornaments and ves
sels for church ceremonies. A curious letter of his to
Father Palou is extant in which he says, laughingly,
that he is a better sacristan than Father Junipero,
having packed the holy vessels and ornaments quicker
and better than he."
This expedition, from a political standpoint, defi
nitely placed California under the rule of Spain, under
which it remained until Mexico declared her independ
ence, in 1822, and made California a portion of her
territory. During this period of the Franciscans, San
Diego: Los Angeles, San Juan Capistrano, San Luis
Rey, San Gabriel, San Buenaventura, San Luis
Obispo, San Fernando, San Pedro and Santa Barbara
pueblos or towns, were all founded.
To the practical mind the chief significance, possibly,
of the founding of the missions is that the padres first
began the colonization of California.
THE MISSION EXPEDITIONS.
On the 9th of January, 1769, the ship San Carlos
set sail, Padre Parron, one of Serra's missionaries
being of the party.
On the 15th of February the San Antonio sailed
from Cape San Lucas, and on the 16th of June still
another boat, the San Jose, sailed.

INTRODUCTION 15
The land division of the expedition was also divided
into two parts. One section, commanded by Rivera,
a captain of the Company of Cuera (or leather jacket)
left Santa Ana in Lower California in September,
1768. After a long delay at Vellicata in Lower Cali
fornia, fifty days journeying brought them to San
Diego, and there they found the San Carlos and the
San Antonio at anchor. The San Jose never did
appear and was undoubtedly lost at sea with all hands.
Before starting himself in the second section of the
land expedition Serra founded the Mission of San Fer
nando at Vellicata and then, accompanied by Portala,
the royally appointed Governor of California, the expe
dition started. After forty-six days' journey from the
newly founded San Fernando chapel, on July 1, 1769,
Serra reached San Diego.
THE MISSION INDIANS.
Who the Indians were, that afterward became
known only as the "Mission Indians," is not an easy
question to determine. There have been many
attempts at a solution of the problem, and antiquarians
are still vexing themselves and each other by their
sage conjectures and wild guesses.
Of their Aboriginal history but little is known.
There are many conflicting reports about the primitive
people. The subject is exhaustively discussed by
Hubert Howe Bancroft in his ' ' Native Races of the
Pacific Coast."
Vizcaino says he found the land ' ' thickly settled
with people who were of gentle disposition, peaceable
and docile, and who can be brought readily within the
fold of the holy gospel and into subjection to the Crown
of Your Majesty. Their food consists of seeds which
they have in abundance and variety, and of the flesh of
game, such as deer which are larger than cows, and
bear, and of neat cattle and bisons and many other
animals. The Indians are of good stature and fair

16

INTRODUCTION

complexion, the women being somewhat less in size
than the men and of pleasing countenance. The
clothing of the people of the coast-lands consists of
the skins of the sea-wolves abounding there, which
they tan and dress better than is done in Castile. * *
* * * They have vessels of pine-wood very well

The Aboriginal Woman in Ceremonial
Costume

The Aboriginal Man Ready
for the Chase

made, in which they go to sea with fourteen paddle-
men on a side, with great dexterity — even in very
stormy weather. I was informed by them, and by
many others I met with in great numbers along more
than eight hundred leagues of a thickly settled coast,
that inland there are great communities, which they
invited me to visit with them. They manifested great
friendship for us and a desire for intercourse ; were

INTRODUCTION

17

well affected toward the image of Our Lady which I
showed to them, and very attentive to the sacrifice of
the mass. They worship different idols, and they are
well acquainted with silver and gold, and said that
these were found in the interior."
But George Butler Griffin, the translator of this
and other letters of Vizcaino, says in a foot-note that
" Vizcaino's letters, generally, are full of exaggerated
statements and falsehoods, and in this letter he gives
his fancy a slack rein. * * * * At the time of
his visit many of the beasts and plants he mentions
did not exist, nor had they ever existed, in California ;
nor did he meet with any natives such as he de
scribes."

Native Indian Village
I think it may be relied upon that the native
Indians of California varied in habits, character
and war-likeness, as the Indians of Arizona vary to
day. There are the Pueblo Indians — a commercial,
home-loving, industrious, peaceable race; the Hualpais,
a degraded and sensual people ; the warlike, blood
thirsty and cruel Apaches, who have been the terror
of settlers for many years, until the final capture and
deportation of the leaders ; the silver workingNava-
joes, and several others.
The Indians who roamed in the mountains to the
East of San Diego were a more adventurous, daring
and warlike people than the pastoral Indians found in

18

INTRODUCTION

the valleys and pasture lands nearer Los Angeles.
There were the degraded ' ' Diggers ' ' and the intelli
gent Temecula tribes. A mixed lot, some good, some
fair, and some, as the good Indians themselves would
designate them, " no good. "
"The natives were timid in their intercourse with
the strangers whom they called Guaccunal, but they
wounded with their arrows those of a party that landed
at night to fish. Interviews, voluntary and enforced,
were held with a few individuals both on shore and on

A Native's Winter Store ot Acorns
the ships; and the Spaniards understood by their signs
that the natives had seen or heard of men like them
selves, bearded, mounted and armed, somewhere in the
interior. It is neither impossible, nor improbable,
that the natives had heard of Diaz, Alarcon, and
Ulloa at the head of the gulf. The Indians of San
Diego are described ' as well formed, of large size and
clothed in skins.' "
THE CONVERTED INDIANS.
In 1780, the sixteen padres of California had 3,000
converts under their control. In 1800, this number

INTRODUCTION

19

had increased to 13,500, with eighteen missions and
forty padres. And when it is remembered that of this
rude, ignorant, useless, savage population the padres
made " silleros (saddlers), herreros (blacksmiths), sas-
tres (tailors), molineros (millers), panaderos (bakers),
plateros (silversmiths), toneleros (coopers), cargadores
(freighters), valeros (candle makers), vendemiadores
(vintagers), caldereros (coppersmiths), zapateros
(shoemakers), sombrereros (hatters), comfeleros de
panocha (makers of panocha), guitarreros (guitar-
makers), arrieros (muleteers), alcaldes, mayordomos,

An Early California Adobe.
rancheros (ranchmen), medicos (doctors), pastores
(shepherds), cordileros (ropemakers), lenadores (wood
cutters), pentores (painters), esculores (sculptors),
albaniles (masons), toreadores (toreadors), acolitos
(acolytes), canteros (stonecutters), sacristanes (sacris
tans), campaneros (bellringers), cocineros (cooks),
cantores (singers), musicos (musicians), cazadores
(hunters), jaboneros (soapmakers),curtidores (tanners),
tegidores (weavers), tigeros (tilemakers), bordodores
(embroiderers), pescatores (fishermen), marineros
(sailors), vineteros (winemakers), caporales (corporals),
habradores (farmers), vaqueros (herders), llaveros

The Tortilla Makers

Indian Woman Making Baskets

22 INTRODUCTION
(turnkeys), domadores (horse-tamers), barberos (bar
bers), cesteros (basket-makers), and carpenteros (car
penters), with European models, standards and
methods, the wonder at the marvellous power of the
the padres grows into a reverence.
Wood and stone carving, engraving of horn, in
laying of wood and of iron with silver, leather work,
the embossing of shields and saddles, silver work,
basket making, lace and drawn work, hair work,
frescoing, rude painting, embroidering in gold and

Indian Made Bench, in Los Angeles Mission
silver thread, and the making of musical instruments
—all these arts were gradually practiced under favor
able conditions for developing individual capacity.
Indians made, in mortar, vats for the wine, fountains
for the water, zanjas for irrigation, the covering of
walls for defence. In wood, they carved statues, stir
rups, fonts, pulpits, chairs, benches, doorways and
altar-rails. They made sun-dials and the stocks ; the
varas de justica, or sticks of justice, carried by the
mayordomos ; the esposas or manacles for refractory
neophytes; brands for the tithed mission herds; book-

INTRODUCTION 23
covers and sandals for the padres ; tuna and pome
granate wine ; panocha for the children ; mail for the
soldiers ; biers for the dead."
I say, when it is remembered that such a host of
skilled workers and producers were developed by the
sagacious training of the savages by the padres, Cali
fornia owes much, in the way of its advancement, to
these missionary laborers. Spread the glory of these
achievements ! Never was there in any land such a
record of accomplishment in so brief a period.
SECULARIZATION.
In 1830, Governor Echeandia, who was opposed to
the missions, succeeded in getting the California legisla
ture to pass an act, providing for their gradual trans
formation into pueblos, and for making each Indian
a shareholder in the lands and cattle. But before
this plan could be put in operation it was neces
sary that it be confirmed by the home government in
Mexico, and before this could be done Echeandia
was succeeded in the Gubernatorial office by Manuel
Victoria, who had for some time been governor of
Lower California.
The rule of Victoria was unproductive of any good
results, as far as the missions were concerned, except
for a short time to arrest the coming of the seculariza
tion tornado.
In 1833, General Jose Figueroa, was appointed
Governor, and under his rule the unexpected blow
was struck.
Though himself a conservative man, and opposed
to anything more than the gradual emancipation of
the neophytes of the missions, the dread order of secu
larization, so long feared by the padres, was passed by
the Mexican Congress August 17, 1833.
A brief statement here of the material condition of
the missions will not be out of place, together with
vivid pictures by eye witnessess of methods of con-

24

INTRODUCTION

ducting business at the missions, both before and after
the secularization. I quote now from James Steele's
" Old California Days." "Seven hundred thousand
cattle grazed on the mission pastures, with sixty
thousand horses and an immense number of other
domestic animals.
' ' A hundred and twenty thousand bushels of wheat
were raised annually, besides other crops.

^j'fej.sy^.'^i.*

A Mission Flock
"The usual products came under the following
heads : wheat, wine, brandy, soap, leather, hides,
wool, oil, cotton, hemp, linen, tobacco, salt, soda.
' ' Two hundred thousand head of cattle were
slaughtered annually, at a net profit of ten dollars
each. ' ' Gardens, vineyards and orchards surrounded or
were contiguous to all the missions except the two
most northern ones. *****

INTRODUCTION 25
' ' The total average annual gains of the missions
from sales and trade generally were more than two
million dollars. This, on an uninhabited and distant
coast where commerce, in our sense, was unknown.
' ' The value of the live stock alone, was, in 1834,
two millions of dollars."
William Heath Davis says : ' ' The missions
exacted from the cattle owners as contribution, known
as dieznio, for the support and benefit of the clergy,
and for the expense of the missions, one-tenth of the
increase of the cattle. The tax was not imposed by
the general government, but was solely an ecclesiasti
cal matter, diligently collected by the clergy of the
different missions, and religiously contributed by the
rancheros." DANA'S PICTURE OF THE LAND.
Dana, in his " Two Years Before the Mast," draws
a number of fascinating pictures of the state of the
country in the years 1835-6. Of Santa Barbara
he says :
"The town lies a little nearer to the beach, about
half a mile from it, and is composed of one-story
houses, built of sun-dried clay, or adobe, some of them
whitewashed, with red tiles on the roofs. I should
judge that there were about a hundred of them ; and
in the midst of them stands the Presidio, or fort, built
of the same materials, and apparently but little
stronger. The town is finely situated, with a bay in
front and an amphitheater of hills behind. The only
thing which diminishes its beauty is that the hills
have no large trees upon them, they having been all
burnt by a great fire which swept them off about a
dozen years ago, and they had not yet grown again.
The fire was described to me by an inhabitant, as
having been a very terrible and magnificent sight.
The air of the whole valley was so heated that the

/!<A } J'k I I n« aboVt is a Cop-J-.-°"e quarter of the original si*
fol. ' £j) of tkt sUtt music uWl tv tUpiJrcs.Trdc materrjl w«/
f 1 WL loT vellum and tKe chirej/ftp).^ Every excellent. ^

'7,|Z' ''¥""" '/ A'''""*..'1'1'"'..

,w rj.

z^x^aii

INTRODUCTION 27
people were obliged to leave the town and take up
their quarters for several days upon the beach."
In his chapter on San Diego he thus describes a
portion of one of his Sundays :
INDIAN GAMES.
1 ' The Indians, who always have a holiday on Sun
day, were engaged at playing a kind of running game
of ball, on a level piece of ground, near the houses.
The old ones sat down in a ring, looking on, while the
young ones — men, boys and girls — were chasing the
ball, and throwing it with all their might. Some of
the girls ran like greyhounds. At every accident, or
remarkable feat, the old people set up a deafening
screaming and clapping of hands. Several bluejackets
were reeling about among the houses, which showed
that the pulperias had been well patronized. One or
two of the sailors had got on horseback, but being
rather indifferent horsemen, and the Mexicans having
given them vicious beasts, they were soon thrown,
much to the amusement of the people. A half-dozen
Sandwich Islanders, from the hide-houses and the two
brigs, bold riders, were dashing about on a full gallop,
hallooing and laughing like so many wild men. "
SECULARIZATION .
When the padres saw that the political tornado of
spoliation was coming upon the missions, they began,
at once, to convert all their cattle and stock, as far as
possible, into money. General M. G. Vallejo is
authority for the statement that ' ' in the missions of
San Gabriel, San Fernando, San Juan Capistrano and
San Luis Rey, they killed by contract with private indi
viduals, during the years 1830, 1831 and 1832, more
than sixty thousand head of cattle, from which they
only saved the hides. The pecuniary wealth of the
missions in their primitive days, which were more
productive, was sent out of the country to Spain,

A Primitive Mission

JUNIPERO SERRA 29
Mexico or Italy. This I know ; and presume, and
even believe, that all of it arrived safely at its place of
destination." Thus the mission property wasted away. Many
of the padres returned to Mexico, and the neophytes,
for whose good they had labored with so much care,
were scattered in the towns and villages of the gen
tiles, to whom the mission lands were granted by the
authorities. For a long time the country suffered by the absence
of the guiding hands of the padres, but by and bye,
the recuperative energy of the region manifested itself.
The new comers were incited to labor intelligently by
the stories of the successes of the priests, and it is
asserted, upon good authority, that even after the
secularization of the missions and consequent disper
sion of their property, that California ' ' in proportion
to the population, was the richest of any country
under Spanish dominion and inhabited by citizens of
Castilian extraction."
From this period dates the want of care of the
mission buildings. They were unsalable, the padres
had no one to care for them ; some of them were
deserted, and so they began to crumble, until to-day
so many of them are found in a state of utter dilapi
dation and ruin.

CHAPTER II.

JUNIPERO SERRA.
It is appropriate in considering these Missions and
their work that we endeavor to gain some conception
of the personality of Junipero Serra, the brave Francis
can missionary, who was the chief spiritual director of
the whole undertaking.

30

JUNIPERO SERRA

He was born at Petra, in the Isle of Majorca, Nov.
24, 1713, became a novice on the 14th of Sept., 1730,
and entered a convent at Palma, the capital of Ma
jorca. At this time he became fired with earnest zeal for
the cause of missions. He wrote, "During my

studies I had a most ardent desire to leave my country
and go among the Indians ; I took a resolution to
that effect."
On the 15th of September, 1731, he professed, and
was soon afterwards transferred to another convent,
where he studied philosophy and theology. Such

JUNIPERO SERRA 31
was his scholarship and ardor, that, even before he
was ordained, he was made Professor of Philosophy,
and before the end of his studies of the philosophical
curriculum, received the title of D. D.
He excelled as an orator, and literary men listened
to him, fascinated by the clear brilliancy of his style,
and the forcefulness of his utterance. One of his I
enemies once said, himself a famous orator: "This
sermon is worth being printed in letters of gold."
And yet he had no other ambition than to preach
Christ to the rude peasants, or to go and bury himself
among the uncivilized children of the forest.
His wish was to be fulfilled. In 1749, August
28th, he set sail, with others, from his convent of
Palma, and on the 7th of December reached Vera
Cruz, and, on New Year's Day, 1750, he entered the
Apostolic College of San Fernando, in the City of
Mexico. It was not long before his restless spirit asserted
itself, and the Guardian of the College sent him and
Father Palou to work among the aborigines of Sierra
Gorda. ' ' This rugged place is situated at the distance
of thirty leagues from Inerataro, but is over one hun
dred leagues in extent. ' '
Just as he was beginning to enjoy the fruit of hard
labor among these people, he was called to engage in
the conquest of souls among the treacherous and war
like Apaches. His predecessors had been ill treated
and finally murdered, but, without a murmur, he pre
pared for his journey, when news arrived that plans
were altered, so, obeying the voice of his superiors, he
retired to his convent. From this place he occupied
himself constantly in Missions here, there and every
where, astonishing all by his tireless energy, and
never-ceasing labors for the good of others.
Then, in 1767, came the order for him to take
command of the spiritual work among the Indians of
California.

32 JUNIPERO SERRA
The result of these labors is well known. Loving,
zealous, indefatigable, he labored and toiled, until God
called him to a well-earned reward. He died at the
Mission of San Carlos, August 28, 1784, at the age of
70 years, 9 months and four days.
Of his work, these pages are a brief and inadequate
record. At his death his life-long friend, Father Palou, said
of him: " Here 's one of whom posterity will say,
' He was the greatest man that ever trod
The sands of Alta California.' "
"Father Junipero Serra," Act IV, Scene II.
and I believe in the truth of what his fellowmen said
of him: " To pass him in his loftiness of thought,
Excel him in the greatness of his works,
Exceed him in his pious kindness,
Transcend his deep devotion to our God,
Or still display more energy than he;
One could not do."
•' Father Junipero Serra," Act II, Scene II.
The best that any man can do is to spell out, live
out as best he may the ideas that impel him from with
in. Some do this well, some do it ill, but that they do
it is the matter of greatest importance. Padre Serra
was impelled, taken possession of, by the idea that
these California savages were lost, irretrievably and
forever damned unless some one preached Christ to
them. The theology of Dante was a real, terrible, absorb
ing truth to him. Only to such a belief was such work
as his possible. Hell, with its dire circles of horror
and terror for those who were unbelievers in the
Christ he worshipped, yawned before the feet of these
untamed and rude California savages. Properly train
ed into a knowledge of the church and its saving
ordinances by an apostolic guide, there was a new here
after presented to them. Purgatory was open, and

JUNIPERO SERRA 33
from thence, duly purged from their sin and ignorance,
they might climb into the blessed regions of Paradise.
Felicity untold, then, to that man who would brave
their savagery, dare their treachery, love them even
in their unloveableness, and thus lead them into the
fold of the church.
Who should do it ? Should he, with his soul athirst
for great deeds, full of bravery and heroism, standby,
in order to listen to the applause of his civilized world
as his words of burning eloquence pleased his ears, and
let some half-hearted, half-in-earnest priest go out to
these degraded savages ? No ! The greater their need
and danger the greater the necessity for speed, power
and earnestness in the one who should go to them. So,
leaving the world and its vain applause, society and its
pettings, civilization and its luxurious comforts, cast
ing all these things behind him, he gladly, joyfully
and yet seriously, started out to do the bidding of his
superiors. " Narrow," some of my readers may say he was!
His theological conceptions crude and bigoted ! So were
Dante's, but that did not prevent him from giving the
Divine Commedia to the world. And Milton, too,
could not be truthfully designated broad, in the mod
ern theological sense, yet Paradise Lost will live when
much of the "broad" trash of these days has sunk
into the " backward of time " and been forgotten.
No more humble man was it possible to find. Even
a shell in his eyes was a marvelous work, and the
theme of a sermon. In his Historical Drama, Mr. C.
G. Miller makes him say:
" Last night I found upon the sandy beach
An abalone shell, the sea had thrown
From off the rocks, the place where it had grown.
That lustrous nacre as it lay to bleach,
Gave me a theme that I to all could preach;
It was, ' How little are God's wonders known,'
On every side so lavish has He sown,
Yet on we pass, quite heedless what's in reach.

34 JUNIPERO SERRA
Then sad became my thoughts there on the sand,
While restless waves their nocturnes moaned to me;
For that bright pearl made by our Father's hand,
Disclosed that I , of intellect so free,
Could at my death leave not one work so grand,
As was that shell left strandeded by the sea. "

Father Serra on the shoie near Monterey.
There was something about the man Serra that
demanded and gained the sincere homage of these sav
ages. A senseless theory it would be to make it out
that he merely conquered them by force of arms and
then by intimidation kept them in a state of subjec
tion. Such an explanation were unworthy one who
knows anything of the Indian character, — his natural
repugnance to anything that savors of physical domi
nation.

SAN DIEGO MISSION 35
Is Serra lost, dead? Can such a man ever be lost,
ever be dead? Serra had too great an influence,
transient through to us it now seems, ever to be lost.
He is found in us, lives yet in the impulse he gives
us to nobleness of life, unselfishness, devotion to the
lowest and the most degraded — a teacher to us of the
grandeur of service, of the majesty of human char
acter when guided, controlled, dominated by wise and
purposeful love for his needy fellows. I say wise and
purposeful love ! There is much that calls itself love
that is neither wise nor purposeful. If you would
help the poor and needy, help them by a love that is
wise for them and for you, and is full of purpose, —
purpose that can never be swerved from its attain
ment — a purpose kept faithful unto death.

CHAPTER III.

SAN DIEGO MISSION.
This was the first of the Upper California missions.
It was founded July 16, 1769, by Padre Junipero
Serra. The circumstances surrounding the founda
tion were of an especially affecting and interesting
character. It was the beginning of the realization of
Padre Serra's fondest hopes. His zealous heart was
full of enthusiasm when he started, but on his arrival
at San Diego the horrible condition of the crews of
the two vessels that awaited his arrival was such as to
dampen the most fiery ardor and quell the enthusiasm
of the most dauntless. Insufficient and unwholesome
food, bad water, poor sanitary conditions, a four
months' journey had produced scurvy on board both
ships, and fifteen days after Junipero Serra's arrival
twenty-nine sailors and soldiers were dead. "The
Indians, who at first had been gentle and friendly,

hW&X'MJry A\l /

I \II-M I

Palms at San Diego

Steps at San Galriel

Side Entrance and Steps at San Louis Rey

MURDER AT SAN DIEGO 37
grew each day more insolent and thievish, even tear
ing off the clothes of the sick lying helpless in the
tents or tule huts on the beach."
Yet with zeal kept ablaze by faith and trust in
God, Serra sent off, on the 14th of July, Portala the
Governor and Father Crespi, to find Monterey, and two
days later, with a cross erected, facing the port, and in
a rude booth of branches and reeds, in the presence of
sailors and soldiers, Serra said mass. The bell was
rung hanging suspended from the boughs of a tree;
the whole congregation sang the " Veni Creator ; " the
royal standard was flung to the breeze; the water was
blessed; the awe-stricken Indians watching the mys
terious proceedings with profound attention and aston
ished curiosity ; firearms were discharged to supply the
want of an organ, and "the smoke of muskets
ascended for incense;" and thus the ceremony was per
formed and the country taken ' ' for God and the King
of Spain." MURDER AT SAN DIEGO.
On the 15th of August, Padre Junipero had just
finished the celebration of the mass, when some Indi
ans, armed with arrows, wooden sabres and clubs, fell
upon the missionaries. The corporal, with the four
soldiers who had been left as a guard, at once gave the
alarm and began to fire on their attackers, when Father
Vizcaino, raising the mat of his hut to see if anyone
was killed, received an arrow wound in the hand. At
the same moment his servant, named Jose Maria,
rushed in, and, falling at his feet cried: " Father,
absolve me ; I have been mortally wounded." The
father did so, and in a few moments the soul of the
first South California martyr had winged its flight to
heaven. How many of the Indians were killed is not
known, but in a few days they brought their wounded
to be cared for at the mission. Fortunately Padre
Serra was unhurt, and by the exercise of that loving

The Sacred Lotus. Planted by the Mission Fathers near San Diego

MURDER OF PADRE JAYME 39
patience and forbearance which characterized his life
he soon won the regard of the Indians.
On January 24, 1770, the expedition which had
gone north to found other missions, returned. Gov
ernor Portala, seeing the supply of provisions rapidly
diminishing, saddened the heart of Serra by informing
him that if he did not receive fresh supplies from San
Bias before the 19th of March he would be compelled
to abandon the San Diego mission and return. As the
fateful day approached, and no vessel came, despond
ency fell upon the priests, but Serra continued to pray,
and we are told that ' 'towards evening the fog, which
had enshrouded the bay all day, vanished, and, lo! far
away, a ship was descried approaching the harbor,
but was soon again lost to view." This apparition, or
whatever it was, induced Portala to hold out a little
longer, and four days later the ' ' San Antonio ' ' entered
the bay amid rejoicings and pious acclaim. These
events transpired at the spot where the ruins of the
old presidio are now found, near the " Old Town " of
San Diego. When the presidio and other military
buildings were completed Padre Serra moved, in 1774,
the mission two leagues away, to a place called ' ' Nip-
agnay." MURDER OF PADRE JAYME AT SAN DIEGO.
Five years later, the new site was watered with
the blood of a murdered missionary. On the 3rd
of October, 1775, Fathers Luis Jayme and Vincent
Fuster baptized sixty Indians. This so aroused the
enmity of some of the Indian leaders that, embold
ened by the six miles distance of the presidio, there
assembled a large number, over 1,000, Indians of dif
ferent tribes, and, on the night of the 4th of Novem
ber, marched to the attack. One party was to destroy
the mission, and the other the presidio. Their plans
were well laid. The mission building was fired, the
church pillaged, and, armed with arrows and macanas,

40 MURDER OP PADRE JAYME
a kind of wooden sword shaped like a cimitar, they
proceeded to hunt for the missionaries. Father Vin
cent Fuster escaped, but Father Jayme who slept in
another building, seeing the conflagration, rushed out,
and meeting a large group of Indians greeted them
with the usual salutation: " Let us love God, my chil
dren.' ' Immediately they rushed upon him with wolf
like ferocity, dragged him to the creek, and, after
stripping him of his gown, they beat him, shot him
with many arrows, and, after he was dead, bruised and
mutilated him until nothing but his hands were rec
ognizable. Until daybreak these howling and ferocious devils
surrounded the remaining priest, soldiers and laborers,
every now and again, the corporal, who was a sharp
shooter, killing or wounding one of them.
In the morning they fled, when the Christian Indi
ans, who had been confined during the attack, came
out and with tears and lamentations discovered their
dead priest. The blacksmith also was killed, and five
days later the carpenter, Ursulino, died.
Instead of seeking vengence upon the bloody mur
derers of his co-worker, Padre Serra pleaded with the
military governor, while strengthening their force at
San Diego, to show clemency to the misguided Indians.
The Viceroy gave instructions to that effect, so, instead
of provoking these ignorant savages to greater cru
elties and outbreaks, Padre Serra was left to win
them, in his own way, by tenderness and love. Orders
were also given to rebuild the Mission of San Diego,
which was accordingly accomplished in 1776-7, twelve
soldiers being detailed by Captain Rivera as a guard
to protect the workmen engaged upon it. The build
ing was dedicated November 12, 1777, but was not
entirely completed until the year 1784.
In 1804 a new church was built, and in 18 13 the
structure was erected, the ruins of which arrest the
attention of the traveler to-day. This building was

C

42 SAN DIEGO MISSION
dedicated November 12, 1813, with great solemnity.
It stands on an eminence, at a point in the valley of
the San Diego River which commands a fine view of
the entire valley to the sea on the one side, and of the
mountains on the other. The main building is about
ninety feet long, and extends from north to south, the
main entrance being at the south end. The massive
walls, about four feet in thickness, are built of adobe,
the doorways and windows being made of burnt tiles.
"According to the census reported to the Viceroy in
the year 1800, the Presidio of San Diego had a popu
lation of 167, consisting of officers and soldiers, and
their families. They possessed 820 head of cattle and
403 head of horses. The mission then had within its
premises an Indian population of 1501, and the Fathers
owned 6,000 head of cattle and about the same num
ber of sheep, and 877 head of horses. In that year
(1800) the Mission raised 3,000 bushels of wheat and
2,000 bushels of barley. In 1827 the Mission pos
sessed 17,284 head of sheep, 9,120 head of cattle and
1,123 head of horses."
By the decree of Secularization all this was scattered
and now nothing but the dilapidated ruins remain of
the once proud and flourishing mission of San Diego.
The visitor to San Diego Mission will immediately
notice the large palms, just a little distance below the
ruins. These proud and ancient trees, though not so
weighed down with antiquity as the pyramids, have
yet seen many and wonderful changes in the more-
than-a-hundred years since they were planted. They
saw the early days of the mission; often listened to
Padre Serra's voice, as he pleaded with the Indians to
be won to Christ and Holy Church; witnessed the sad
murder of Padre Jayme, and the fearful uprising of the
infuriated savages; were silent listeners to the hopes
and fears of Serra after Portala had informed him that
the mission must be abandoned; saw the welcome
growth of interest in the hearts of the aborigines; the

' i.M.'eNixo.

PalmsXof;,San Diego Mission

44 SAN DIEGO MISSION
earliest baptisms; the enlarged services; the busy
throngs of converts; heard the glad songs of praise
of priests and neophytes ; and finally saw the effect of
the sad decree of secularization.
A great and eventful history all to transpire under
the notice of these trees.
Whether the palm is indigenous to the soil of Cali
fornia, or is an importation brought hither by the
same forethought that " brought sheep, cattle and all
kinds of seeds, " is a disputed question. The exist
ence of the groves of palms, in Palm Valley, under
the giant shoulder of Mount San Jacinto, is offered in
evidence that the palm is indigenous. But it is easily
possibly that these palms are the result of the plant
ing of one or two of the species near the Hot Springs,
which were assuredly visited early in Mission history
by the enterprising and indefatigable padres.
However this may be, the palm is a prominent and
important feature of almost every mission ruin, and
one cannot fail to observe them with enlarged interest
after remembering their connection with the historical
works of the padres.
Alongside the ruins of San Diego Mission is a
modern building, recently erected, for the education
of the Indian girls of the neighborhood. With a de
votion, equalled only by that of the earlier mission
aries, Father Ubach has given his life to the work of
caring for and training these girls into the ways of
helpful civilization and Christianity, and with uni
formly good results.
This is another instance of what I shall elsewhere
call attention to, viz., the fact that these old missions,
or their sites, are now being utilized for the education
of either the neighboring people or of those who will
aid in propagating the Catholic faith.
To reach this mission the visitor can proceed direct
to San Diego, on the Surf Line of the Santa Fe Sys
tem, and there engage a carriage to drive him out.

SAN CARLOS BORROMEO 45
The distance is some five or six miles from the city.
A good pedestrian may ride on either the Santa Fe or
the "Old Town" railway from San Diego to the Old
Town, or on the electric car to its terminus, then from
either of these places walk to the Mission and back,
but a good day is required for such a journey.

CHAPTER IV.

SAN CARLOS BORROMEO.
The next Mission to be founded was that of San
Carlos Borromeo, at Monterey, on June 3, 1770.
Serra said mass, after which Governor Portala
took possession of the port, in the name of God and
the king.
Slowly the Indians were reached, attracted, con
verted, and Padre Serra's heart made glad, yet, at the
same time, he felt that the close proximity of the
presidio was not advantageous to his work. So, in a
few months, he withdrew to the Carmelo Valley , and
there, by December, 1770, a chapel was erected, also
several dwellings for the priests and the neophytes, as
well as corrals for the sheep and cattle. The little
settlement was enclosed within a palisade.
After various difficulties, San Carlos began to
prosper, and for many years it was exceedingly
wealthy. The influence of the priests also had much
to do with the welfare of the neighborhood.
It is of the sweet-toned bells of this Mission that
Chester Gore Miller wrote in his dramatic poem on
Padre Serra : —
" When deeper shadows of the night o'ertake
In silent way the early evening hour,
Then soft and low the silver bells forsake
Their quiet vigil in the mission tower :
In rhythmic measure sound the silvery notes

SAN CARLOS BORROMEO
As o'er the peaceful valley they vibrate ; —
How tuneful sweet the holy music floats, —
While drowsy doves in sudden flight gyrate.
So in such twilights oft I take my way,
To pray at Vespers in the place where dwells
An absolution for our sins of day ;
What consolation 'neath those saintly bells ;
And at my death I ask no greater boon,
Than pass away as floats their sacred tune."

47

Ur-. i ..w<j^'^«i^fli0|,r5

He4r^

Bells of San Catlos Borromeo
San Carlos has recently been restored and is now
one of the greatest objects of interest to visitors in
that region. Here Padre Serra labored and suffered
more than in any other Mission. Monterey was es
pecially dear to him, and here, after his long life full
of zeal and earnest devotion, he passed away. His
body is buried in the Monterey Mission.

48

CHAPTER V.

SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA.
On July 14, 1771, San Antonio de Padua, the third
Mission, was established.
Serra had long waited, impatiently, for the arrival
of fresh supplies from Mexico, and, when, on the 21st
of May, 1 77 1, the San Antonio appeared in the bay of
Monterey, his heart rejoiced, for now he conld push
forward the founding of the Missions he had in mind.
Accordingly, early in July, accompanied by Padres
Pieras and Sitjar and a few neophytes and the neces
sary guard of soldiers and provisions, he set out from
San Carlos. The party " traveled southward till they
reached a beautiful dell, which on account of its being
thickly covered with oak trees, they called 'LosRobles. '
Here they halted, carefully surveyed the place and
found a plain skirting the bank of a river ; this spot
they selected as the most suitable location for the Mis
sion, which they named San Antonio. Though in
midsummer, they noticed that the river had a plenti
ful flow of water, hence they concluded that in time
the land around could be irrigated."
The mules were unloaded, the bell suspended from
a branch of a tree, and Padre Serra immediately began
to ring it, crying aloud : " Oh Indians, come, come,
come to the Holy Church ; come, come to receive the
faith of Jesus Christ! "
On being remonstrated with by Padre Miguel
Peiras, Serra replied, " Ah! let me satisfy the longing
of my own heart. Would to God the voice of this

San Antonio de Padua

50 SAN GABRIEL ARCHANGEL
bell could resound through the whole world, as
Mother Agreda desired. I wish it could be heard by
all the Indians who inhabit these mountains. ' '
A large cross was made, blessed, venerated and
erected, a hut covered with boughs built, a table
placed for the altar and on the 14th of July, the first
mass was celebrated by Serra in honor of Saint An
thony, the patron of the Mission.
Under the wise direction of the padres it grew and
prospered. In two years there were one hundred and
fifty-eight Christians, and at Serra's death, the number
had increased to one thousand and eighty-eight.
San Antonio is situated in the center of the Sierra
of Santa Lucia, separated from the sea by rugged
mountains. It now stands alone. The Indians of a
century ago have disappeared Once or twice a
mouth it is visited by a priest from San Miguel.

CHAPTER VI.

SAN GABRIEL ARCHANGEL
Two months later, viz., on September 8, 1771, San
Gabriel Archangel was founded. Padres Benito
Cambon and Angel Somero were of the new band of
missionaries who had been sent on from Mexico to aid
Padre Serra, and they left San Diego August 6, 1771,
accompanied by ten soldiers and muleteers, to found a
mission which they intended to dedicate to their patron
Saint, San Gabriel the Archangel. For days they
moved slowly through a country densely covered with
cactus, until they reached the banks of the Santa Ana
river, where, it had been determined by the Governor,
when the first expedition passed through the region,

San Gabriel Archangel

52 SAN GABRIEL ARCHANGEL
a mission should be established. After a careful
search, and the fathers finding no suitable site, they
moved further north and west to the San Miguel
River, now known as the San Gabriel, and there
founded the Mission. The original site is still marked
by a few adobe ruins, and can be reached by driving
from Los Angeles, or, better still, Whittier or Rivera.
The location at that time was known as the Indian
village of Sibanga. About the year 1775, the erec
tion of the present building was begun and the old
Mission deserted. It was fully twenty-five years
before it was completed, together with the commo
dious residence of the Padres, and then more than
4,000 Indian neophytes had been baptized. The first
baptism of an Indian child was on November 27,
1 77 1. In two years the number of converts was 73,
and in 1784 there were 1,019 enrolled on the baptis
mal register.
Here in 1806, came from San Fernando, Padre
Jose Maria Zalvidea, under whose wise and skilful
management the mission rapidly grew into great pros
perity and wealth. This was the Padre, whose name
" H. H.," the writer of " Ramona " incorrectly
caught, and, spelling it Salvierderra, made him her
priestly hero.
The building is a quaint old structure, without
much architectural pretension, with a peculiar "bell
tower," in which four bells are now hung, one of
them not being as perfect as in " days of yore." The
Padre's house is a cozy little cottage to the left of the
Mission, as one stands facing it, and is beautifully
embowered in sweet flowers.
San Gabriel is the oldest mission building now
existing in a reasonable state of preservation, and is
of added interest on this account.
The visitor should not fail to observe the extensive
cactus hedges, — the remains of which still exist, —
undoubtedly surrounding the mission as an additional

SAN GABRIEL ARCHANGEL 53
means of protection from the incursions of wild beasts
or wilder men. There are also to be seen the remains
of the stone and cement aqueduct through which was
conveyed water for irrigation, and for motive power
to operate the old flour mills built by the padres.
One of these mill buildings still exists in a fair state
of preservation, on the grounds of Col. Mayberry, a
few miles from the Mission. The drive is interesting
and well repays the curious visitor.
The following exquisite lines from the February,
l895, Overland Monthly, by L. Worthington Green,
will speak of the site of the Mission, the cactus hedge,
and the mission bell :
" Franciscan Fathers deemed the spot so fair
They planted olives and the purple grape,
And gentle, pastoral Indians gathered there
To hear the lessons planned their souls to shape.
The circling hedge of sharp-spined prickly pear
Was barrier sure to all designing foe,
But any friend who wished might enter there
The willing hosts' sweet charity to know.
The full-voiced chime that pealed the matin call
And bade the toiler to the vesper chant
Still hangs in arches of the ancient wall.
But now its rhythmic tones are sadly scant,
• There spaces are like empty cloister cells,
That echoed once the hallowed sound of bells."
One of the missing bells is now on the Santa Anita
ranch — "Lucky" Baldwin's — and is hung under a
little shelter near his house. It is now used to call
the residents of the place to meals.
San Gabriel still has a fairly large population of
Mexicans, consequently, and for the religious benefit
of the old California families who are of that ancient
faith, the Church is kept in a good state of repair, and
regular service conducted therein.
San Gabriel is reached in a variety of ways. One
may easily drive from Los Angeles or Pasadena and
take in a number of other interesting historical scenes

' El Molino," near Sau Gabriel Mission.

SAN LUIS OBISPO DE TOLOSA 55
on the way. The Southern Pacific R. R., — the main
line from Los Angeles to Yuma, — passes the old Mis
sion, and the ancient structure is but a few minutes'
walk from the depot. The distance from Los Angeles
is 9 miles, the fare, single trip, 30 cents ; round trip,
55 cents, and a little over half a day will suffice for
the journey and return.

CHAPTER VII.

SAN LUIS OBISPO DE TOLOSA.
Just one year later (less one week) , after the found
ing of San Gabriel Archangel, viz., on September 1,
1772, Padre Serra, with Padre Cavalier, five soldiers
and a few of his San Carlos Indians, who had left
Monterey some days previously, established the Mis
sion of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, on a site called by
the Indians "Tixlini," near the Canyada de LosOsos,
(The Valley of the Bears). The land in the neigh
borhood was arable, and a creek with plenty of water
flowed nearby. As usual, Serra erected a cross, sang
Mass, invited the Indians to come and be converted,
and at the conclusion of the ceremony the Mission
was founded. Padre Cavalier, "with the Indians
from Lower California and four soldiers with their
corporal," at once set to work to erect a building,
Padre Serra having left for San Diego the day after
the foundation. Soon, a chapel, a house for the Padre,
and barracks for the soldiers were finished, and, with
their native curiosity aroused, the Indians speedily
began to flock to the scene. The Padre worked wisely
and well; and when Padre Palou visited the Mission
the following year, he found twelve persons baptized

SAN LUIS OBISPO DE TOLOSA 57
in the faith. The soldiers made friends with the In
dians, even the unconverted ones, and the result was
that venison, seeds and bear's meat constantly found
their way into the larder of the priest and soldiers
through the kindness of the simple-hearted natives.
There is no doubt that much of the friendly feel
ing on the part of the natives was owing to the fact
that the year previous, during the food famine at the
Monterey mission, Commandant Fages had hunted
and slain a large number of bear in the region of the
new mission of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. The In
dians, thankful that the dreaded bears were slain,
naturally received their slayers with much warmer
cordiality than they would otherwise have been apt to
accord to strangers.
After the first year of arduous labor and weary
toil, San Luis Obispo saw better days. Padre Juncosa
joined Padre Cavalier, supplies were forwarded from
the common stores at San Diego and Monterey, and
the foundations were laid for the successfu1 career that
this mission enjoyed until the direful hand of secular
ization smote it to despair and death.
Speaking of the Indians who were ' ' converted ' '
by the Padre, or subjugated to the lash of the soldiers,
one writer says: " Serra found them utter barbarians,
naked, living on seeds, roots, and all kinds of flesh
they could procure with bows and arrows, and when
hard pushed for food, eating any living thing, down to
snakes and crickets. Brave they could not have been;
but sometimes fierce and tumultuous. Morality, as
understood in the civilized world, was unknown to
them ; and they were at least as superstitious as those
who Came to teach them."
It is to the disasters that befell the earliest mission
buildings of San Luis Obispo that we are indebted for
the picturesque brick tiles that protect several of the
remaining ruined mission buildings. Three times was
|he mission building at this place burned down, and

The Modern City of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa

SAN LUIS OBISPO DE TOLOSA 59
this series of misfortunes led one of the padres to at
tempt — successfully, as it proved — the making of roof
tiles, which took the place of the inflammable tules
and willows. What a pity it is the name of the "tile-
making padre ' ' has not come down to us that we
might canonize him for his work.
To the sailors and traders along the coast early in
the century, few figures were better known and better
liked than that of the picturesque Padre Luis Mar
tinez of San Luis Obispo. "Portly of figure and
gruff of speech " he was jolly, hale-fellow-well-met,
hospitable, and, if reports and suspicions count for
anything, always ready to trade for his own advantage.
Anyhow, in the spring of 1830, on this same charge
he was banished, and, with many tears and much
regret, he was compelled to say farewell to the mission
he so much loved, and the Indians he had sought to
benefit, to return in disgrace to old Madrid, where he
spent the remainder of his days.
H. H., in Ramona, in describing the wedding tour
and festivities of General and Senora Moreno, tells a
good story which perfectly illustrates the jolly charac
ter of Padre Martinez. She says: " On the morning
of their departure, the good padre, having exhausted
all his resources for entertaining his distinguished
guests, caused to be driven past the corridors for their
inspection, all the poultry belonging to the Mission.
The procession took an hour to pass. For music there
was squeaking, cackling, hissing, gobbling, crowing,
and quacking of the fowls, combined with the scream
ing, scolding, and whip cracking of the excited Indian
marshals of the lines. First came the turkeys, then
the roosters, then the white hens, then the black, and
then the yellow; next the ducks, and at the tail of the
spectacle long files of geese, some struggling, some
half flying and hissing in resentment and terror at the
unwonted coercion to which they were subjected.
The Indians had been hard at work all night captur-

60

SAN LUIS OBISPO DE TOLOSA

ing, sorting, assorting, and guarding the rank and file
of their novel pageant. It would be safe to say that
a droller sight never was seen, and never will be, on
the Pacific coast or any other. Before it was done
with, the General and his bride had nearly died with

San Luis Obispo Entrance

laughter; and the General could never allude to it
without laughing almost as heartily again."
The earthquake of 1812, which caused much dis
turbance, somewhat affected this Mission, but, in its

SAN FRANCISCO DE ASIS. 61
ruined condition, it still remains, a silent, deserted
memorial to its former greatness.
It is easily reached now by rail from San Fran
cisco, or by rail from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara
and thence by stage, and, doubtless, within a com
paratively short time, the Southern Pacific Railroad,
— which is rapidly pushing its coast division so as to
afford an entirely different route from the one now
followed in going from Los Angeles to San Francisco,
— will have united its present termini, thus bringing
San Luis Obispo within a few hours' reach of Los An
geles, as was Padre Serra's original intention when
the Mission was founded.

CHAPTER VIII.

SAN FRANCISCO DE ASIS.
Four years and sixteen days elapsed after the
founding of San Luis Obispo, and then the Mission of
San Francisco de Asis, on Oct. 9, 1776, was formally
dedicated. This Mission is often referred to as the
' ' Mission Dolores. " It is simply the Mission of San
Francisco de Asis on the River Dolores.
General M. G. Vallejo, in an oration delivered by
him at the Centennial Commemoration of the San
Francisco Mission states that "the temporary build
ing of the church was situated at a distance of about
one thousand varas to the northwest of the spot where
the actual temple now stands. The lake of Dolores
was at the time located and could be seen to the right
of the road coming from the Presidio to the Mission
between two hills, one of which still exists, the other
one has disappeared before the progressive march of
this rich emporium."

62 SAN FRANCISCO DE ASIS
The captain of the packet-boat left four of his men
to aid in building the Mission, and in 1781, when
Padre Serra visited San Francisco for the first time he
had the great joy of administering the rite of confir
mation to sixty-nine neophytes.
From General Vallejo I quote the following:
"When they had a pretty large congregation of con
verts under subjection, they dedicated them to works
of industry. Besides the agricultural pursuits, from
which the missionaries as well as the neophytes and
catechumens were to receive their subsistence, adobes,
bricks, tiles, etc., were made, and the construction of
the holy temple was begun; granaries, residence,
quarters and a guard house for the soldiers, and lastly
houses for the Indians who had been converted to
Christianity, were built. It will be readily seen by
this account that the most worthy Fathers were con
stantly employed in their spiritual as well as temporal
labors; although the latter were always subordinate to
the former.
" In one of my journeys to San Francisco, during
the year 1826, I found this Mission in all its splendor
and state of preservation, consisting, at that time, of
one church, the residence of the Reverend Father,
granaries, warehouses for merchandise, guard-house
for the soldiers, prison, an orchard of fruit trees and
vegetable garden, cemetery, the entire rancheria (In
dian village), all constructed of adobe houses with
tile roofs, the whole laid out with great regularity,
forming streets, and a tannery and soap factory — that
is to say, on that portion which actually lies between
Church, Dolores and Guerrero streets, from north to
south, and between Fifteenth and Seventeenth streets
from east to west. I think that the neophytes living
in the Mission, in San Mateo, and in San Pedro
reached six hundred souls."
What a change in a hundred years. Indians in
large numbers, wild, barren, uncultivated country, a

SAN FRANCISCO DE ASIS

63

harbor in which a vessel was seldom seen, the build
ing of a presidio and a mission by a handful of stran
gers who felt themselves indeed "in a strange and
far-off country." Now the flags of all nations float
in the harbor, around which populous cities have
sprung up. The electric light has taken the place of
the Indians' rude torches, the cable and electric cars,
of the wild ponies upon which they dashed to and fro.
The Indians have totally disappeared, and the only
object that links the "now" with the "then" is the old
Mission Dolores, a true memorial of " deeds heroic-

A Primitive Indian Residence

ally bold," and of the power of the cross to send
timid men into the midst of unknown dangers.
In 1833, William Heath Davis says he paid a visit
to the Mission Dolores, and he there saw gathered
from 2000 to 2500 Indians. The order and discipline
among them was so good as to excite the admiration
of all who beheld them. He says: ' ' It seemed like a
military camp. The men dressed in white shirts and
blue drill or cotton pants; many of them with shoes,
which were manufactured at the Missions, from bul
lock hides, deer or elk skins, tanned and dressed there.

61

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO

The government of the Indians was systematic and
well designed. A few of the Indians, in whom the
Padres had confidence, were selected to act as alcades
or capitanes, each over a certain number, foi whose
good conduct he was in some degree responsible.
If any offence against the regulations of the Mission

Using theXMetate

was committed, the case was reported to the Padre,
who determined what punishment should be inflicted
on the culprit. ' '

CHAPTER IX.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO.
A month later, Nov. i, 1776, San Juan Capistrano
was founded by President Serra, aided by Padres
Mugartegui and Amurrio. In the preceding year
Padres Lasuen and Amurrio with a few soldiers were
sent out from Monterey to seek a location for the es
tablishment of a new Mission, to bear the name of
San Juan Capistrano- Padre Amurrio remained at

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Bells and Ruined Church of San Juan Capistrano

66 SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO
San Gabriel, his coadjutor going on alone, and on
October 30th, he found a desirable spot, where a cross
was erected, a hut built of boughs of trees, and Mass
celebrated. The Indians were friendly, aiding the
new comers in the cutting down of timber for the
building, and matters progressed happily. Eight
days later Padre Amurrio arrived with provisions,
etc., from San Gabriel, and all were filled with joy at
the happy inauguration of the new endeavor. That
evening, however, terrible news were received by
messenger from San Diego. The Indians had re
volted, slain Padre Jayme, and destroyed the Mission
buildings. • The officer in charge of the soldiers left
immediately for San Diego. The Padres buried the
bells, and taking the other material they had with
them along, speedily followed the soldiers. What
they found at San Diego has already been recounted.
This terrible affair delayed the founding of San
Juan Capistrano for about a year. The Viceroy wrote
from Mexico, April 3, 1776, that he had given orders
to his officers to establish the Mission. Captain Rivera,
who, for some reason seemed to oppose the establish
ment of the new Mission, was ordered, in a subsequent
letter, to give Padre Serra the help he needed, so he
detailed ten of the military, and with these, and ac
companied by Padres Mugartegui and Amurrio ' ' he
proceeded to the place where the bells had been
buried, and with the usual ceremonies founded the
Mission of San Juan Capistrano. "
Serra with the aid of an interpreter, explained to
the Indians the purpose of the priests in coming
amongst them, and we are told that, " while the In
dians of the other Missions were, in the beginning,
over-anxious for bodily comforts, those of San Juan
were solicitous only for baptism, asking it most earn
estly from the Missionaries, and finding the time
required for preliminary instruction too long. ' '
When Padre Serra died there were 470 Indian

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO 67
Christians at the Mission ; and the number afterwards
increased so rapidly that in three months the Mission
aries baptized more than they had received before in
the past three and a half years.
The earthquake of 1812, that practically shattered
San Luis Obispo, visited dire destruction upon the
buildings of San Juan Capistrano, as well as left its
ruins full of tragic memories. It was on the morning
of Dec. 8th, that the catastrophe happened.
An adobe apartment close by the Church, fortun
ately escaped the general destruction, and in this
building the Indians for many days after the earth
quake assembled, and the Mexicans and Whites of to
day, assemble and worship on the Sabbath and special
feast days. There is no resident priest, however, ser
vices now being conducted by the Rev. Father O 'Keefe
of San Luis Rey, formerly so well known at Santa
Barbara. It is difficult as one now stands amid the bewilder
ment of ruined buildings, corridors and houses to
repeople the place with the scores of Indians who once
made this their happy home, and yet, where desola
tion now reigns supreme, there were once, a few gen
erations ago, a busy and active people engaged in the
varied labors outlined in a preceding page.
Look at its ruins now. Sadness and desolation
have fallen over the scene. The majestic towers are
gone, the ruined corridors and arches alone remain to
tell the story of the many Indians who once made
this their home. Melrose Abbey is not more interest
ing, and in surroundings, especially in the rainy sea
son, is not so beautiful, even though " seen by the
pale moonlight." Standing on the high ground by
the Mission, the view is perfect. Encircled by green
hills, a lovely green valley reaches out to the placid
face of the ocean on whose bosom ships lazily glide to
and fro. No wonder the site attracted the attention of
the observant padre, and it is scarcely to be wondered

In the Ruined Corridors of San Juan Capistrano

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO 69
at, either, that it was one of the most populous of all
the Missions.
San Juan Capistrano is the Mission of patriotic
recollections. The same year upon which the famous
"Declaration of Independence" was being forced
upon the attention of the world, on the Atlantic side,
saw the founding of this building. It was originally
built almost entirely of stone and mortar, and in one
place was successfully solved one of the most difficult
of architectural problems, — the triple arch. Guided
by the padres the Indians were the builders of this
beautiful structure. As one writer well says: "A
semi-savage origin is traceable in all one sees. The
long rows of arches are stately only after a barbaric
fashion, wonderful as they are for the time and cir
cumstances of their construction, and picturesque be
cause proclaiming Spain in miniature, and coming by
a wonderfully long road from Palestine itself. But
they are not precisely alike. The hand of the Indian
is visible in their curves. Some are longer than their
fellows by a finger's breadth, and some are slightly
higher in the bend. Among the red tiles of the pil
lars some are thick and some are thin. Symmetry,
either of material or architecture, is not to be expected
of the savage of any race, and for all the purposes of
picturesque decay the result answers quite as well."
The above statement is true, and I have quoted it
because few people are observant enough to notice the
fact, without first having their attention called to it, and
yet, the variations in measurement are so slight as to
require careful observation to detect.
There are a number of traditions rife, here and
there, about San Juan Capistrano Mission. One is to
the effect that Bonsard, a noted pirate, with his fol
lowers, once occupied it for three days in a great de
bauch, while the priest and neophytes, — except those
unfortunate ones who were kept to minister to the
evil passions of these lawless men, — were banished

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Triple Arch and Ruined Chapel, at San Juan Capistrano

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO 71
to Trabuco Creek until the revelers had departed.
In 1833 Capistrano suffered with the other mis
sions from the dread order of secularization. The
herds were soon scattered or slain, everything that
could be converted into money was sold, the books of
the old library scattered, and even the records of the
church, some of them, taken away or carelessly de
stroyed. Those of the Indians who were deemed suf
ficiently civilized, were allotted lands, and were no
longer regarded as under the domination of the padres,
though spiritually, of course, they still . came to the
fathers for guidance.
When Micheltorena came from Mexico, in 1842,
to take control of California as its governor, he landed
in San Diego, where a great reception was given him,
and then he came in a kind of triumphal procession
northward. At San Juan Capistrano a feast of two
or three days' duration was held, and then, doubtless,
he learned for himself the sad condition of the mis
sion Indians and the buildings. The following year
he ordered San Juan to be restored to the padres, but
it was too late to stay the demoralization of either the
buildings or the Indians. The land could not be re
covered, although a few of the mission herds were
traced and brought back. The revolution which ban
ished Micheltorena, a year later, however, brought a
new order, which was for the sale of the Mission, and
it was purchased by James McKinley and John Fos
ter for the sum of seven hundred and ten dollars. For
twenty years Foster held undisputed possession, when
the Catholic Church claimed the buildings and imme
diately surrounding premises. In court the claim of
the church was allowed, and these picturesque ruins
are now under its absolute control.
San Juan Capistrano received its name from Por
tala, the first Governor of California. As he jour
neyed from San Diego to Monterey, where he came to
this place, which he says was a " lovely valley," they

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SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO 73
found the Indians, naked, but painted in different
colors, so friendly as to come out and meet them with
simple and unaffected cordiality. The women were
modestly covered. The painting of their bodies was
a sign of great respect, and they met Portala with
marked ceremony, the chief making a speech, at the
close of which all the Indians "let their arms drop to
the ground." After exchanging presents with the
Indians, Portala named the place San Juan Capis
trano, which name it still retains, and undoubtedly
ever will.
The tourist, who imagines he can see San Juan
Capistrano Mission, or any other, by merely riding by
on the cars, is much mistaken, and many lose the en
joyment they might have, by so doing. At Capistrano
this is not necessary, for experience has taught me
where I might stay and find most comfortable quarters
and excellent board. Mr. and Mrs. Mendelson, who
own the village store, etc., seeing the large number of
people who desired to enjoy the Mission, but who
knew not where they might stay, built a home-like
hotel, wrhere they now make comfortable those to
whom the old Mission has proven a sufficient allure
ment. Mrs. Mendelson is thoroughly well posted on
all the main objects of interest, and kindly escorts the
tourist to the building, points out all he desires to see,
introduces him to the sacristan, and this renders the
visit most interesting and profitable. Her bedrooms
are comfortable, neat and scrupulously clean, and her
table wholesome, tasty and appetizing.
In the store Mr. Mendelson will show you samples
of the walnuts, etc., grown in the region. Capistrano
is as good nut and fruit growing a country as is to be
found in South California, and he is always proud to
show what the soil of the old padre's choice can still
produce. One can well spend a week at Capistrano. The
hot springs are both an attraction, and, to those

74 SANTA CLARA
who use them, a benefit, and the trip to the beach,
and San Juan Point is interesting both to sight-seers
and to those who have read Dana's accounts of how
they used to load hides from the old Mission. Mr.
Mendelson furnishes conveyances to those who wish
to visit either of these places.
San Juan Capistrano is 59 miles distant from Los
Angeles, and is reached on the Surf Line of the Santa
Fe route. The single fare is $1.90, round trip $3.40.
On Sundays only, returning the same day, a special
rate of $1 .50 is given, and going on Saturday, returning
Monday, the round trip is $2. Fair hotel accommoda
tions are provided for those who desire to stay over night .
Those who wish to make a hasty visit can arrange to
go down from Los Angeles on their way to San Diego,
on the morning train, obtain a stop-over, visit the
Mission, and then proceed on the evening train.

CHAPTER X.

SANTA CLARA.
Santa Clara was the next Mission founded, in the
year 1777, by Padre Tomas de la Pena, at the head of
the broad fertile valley of San Bernardino near San
Jose, in Santa Clara County.
On the 6th of January , 1777, a party of armed soldiers,
under the command of Lieutenant Moraga, with an
escort, and Father Tomas, went to the chosen spot,
and another party came later, accompanying Padre
Jose Murguia, ¦ from San Carlos, bringing provisions
and supplies for the new mission. Both priests were
to remain in charge of the new establishment, but as
Padre Murguia did not arrive until the 21st, Padre
Pena celebrated mass and founded the mission in
honor of the pious maiden of Assisi, on the 12th.
At the end of the first year these two toilers had

SANTA CLARA 75
baptized sixty-seven Indians into the fold, besides re
ceiving fourteen others, who, as they were dying,
desired the offices of the church.
Although the spot chosen was exceedingly fertile,
it was in constant danger in the winter time from fresh
ets in the river caused by the heavy rains and melting
snow, and in 1779, the anticipated danger became
real, for the mission and its surroundings were flooded,
several houses floated off their foundation and consid
erable damage was effected.
This led to the removal of the buildings to higher
ground, the spot upon which the present ruins now
stand, and, on the 15th of May, 1784, Padre Serra
was present at the dedication of the new church,
assisted by Padres Pena and Palou. We are told that
it was the most beautiful and elaborate that up to that
time had been erected. Its architect was Padre Mur
guia, but, alas! as is so often the case with arduous
toilers towards a desired object, just as it was com
pleted he passed away four days before the dedication,
and was buried beneath its walls.
This structure was shaken by a heavy earthquake
in 1818, which led to the building of a new mission
in 1825-6, and it is the ruins of this latest structure
that the interested tourist sees.
Santa Clara Mission has been the scene of most ex
citing and interesting events. Davis tells of a young
man named Yoscolo, who was trained at Santa Clara
by the padres, and who, at the age of twenty-one,
was made chief of the Indians of that neighborhood,
responsible, as I have before explained, to the padres
for his management of them. He was evidently a
born leader, for, when some of his tribe committed
depredations for which the padres proposed to punish
him, he refused to submit, and, at once, revolted
with 500 of his charge.
Armed with bows and arrows they broke open the
mission stores and helped themselves to blankets and

76 SANTA CLARA
whatever articles they desired, and could easily carry
away. Then, fired by their successes they broke into
the convent where the Indian girls were, and reversed
the padres' method of mating, which consisted of let
ting the girls choose from a batch of young fellows,
who were brought into their presence. They seized
upon 200 of the maidens, who, to tell the truth, were
doubtless not unwilling to be captured, and then,
driving about two thousand head of horses before
them they escaped to the mountains above Mariposa.
This occurred in 1831.
Another Indian, Stanislaus by name, and from
whom Stanislaus river and county were named, had
also revolted from the mission of San Jose, and was at
the head of about 4,000 Indians* at Mariposa. Yos
colo joined Stanislaus, and became fast friends, the
latter placing Yoscolo at the head of their united
forces. General Vallejo immediately organized a force of
200 men and set off in pursuit of the renegades, but,
by a wily trick, the Californians were put off the scent
and the aborigines escaped. In the light of the
moon the Indians sent a number of large bundles of
grass afloat down the stream, and these, passing by
Vallejo's camp, his soldiers mistook them for Indians
and set off after them in hot pursuit. It was a long
time before they discovered their error, and in the
meantime Yoscolo and his forces had retreated to some
.well-nigh inaccessible mountain recesses where he
knew he would be free from exterior disturbance.
A little later, Yoscolo, with about 200 picked men,
made another raid on the mission, plundering the
stores and carrying off a large amount of valuable
goods to a retreat he had found in the Santa Cruz
mountains, near to where Los Gatos now stands.
This aroused the Californians to a determined
course of conduct, and, Juan Prado Mesa, the military
*Davis says 40,000. I think this is an error and should be 4,oco.

SANTA CLARA 77
commander of Santa Clara Mission, organized a force
with which he went out to meet the renegade. Not
having a large band, and the soldiers being men whom
he knew, Yoscolo was emboldened to come part of the
way down the mountain to meet his pursuers. A fierce
encounter ensued. Yoscolo " marshalled his forces
in the form of a square, in true military style, and
ordered his men to lie down and discharge their arrows
from a recumbent position, in which there would be
less risk of being hit by the bullets of their opponents,
who were armed with the old-fashioned muskets, car
bines and flint-lock pistols. The battle raged all day,
the savages showing great stubborness in continuing
it. Only when all their arrows had been discharged
did they finally yield to the Californians. Their leader,
when taken, was found to be wounded. He and the
more prominent of the band under him were immedi
ately beheaded. The remainder were turned over to
the mission of Santa Clara to be civilized and chris
tianized anew. About one hundred Indians were
killed and wounded in the battle. Of the Californians
only eight or ten were killed, but a large number were
wounded. Yoscolo 's head was fixed to the top of a pole
planted in front of the church at Santa Clara, and re
mained there for several days as a warning to other
Indians. In 1839, Don Jose Ramon Estrada, the duly ap
pointed comisionado, gave away or sold the fertile
mission lands to his friends and supporters, and the
mission consequently soon fell into decay. The In
dians protestt d, but their unsupported efforts amount
ed to nothing. From that day to this the work of
decay has gone on, and now not an Indian remains,
the buildings are in sad ruins, only an adobe chapel
and a few lands in the possession of the Jesuits are
left to tell of a glory departed and forever lost.

78

CHAPTER XI.

SAN BUENAVENTURA.
From the very inception of the Upper California
Mission project Serra had always determined that a
Mission should be dedi< ated to San Buenaventura,
and that it should be located somewhere about midway
between San Diego and Monterey. Again and again
had he urged its founding, and each time some ob
stacle intervened to prevent. Political changes had
also taken place that were not advantageous to the
plans of the good Padre. The Viceroy Bucareli, who
had been his good friend, died, and henceforth, Serra
was to have to deal with a Captain- General of the
Californians, instead of directly with the Viceroy. In
June, 1779, he received the information that his
majesty — the King of Spain — had taken away Califor
nia from the jurisdiction of the new Viceroy, and
appointed Don Teodore de Croix, Captain-General,
and that he would reside in Sonona. Don Felipe de
Neve was the new Governor, who had taken Portala's
place, so Serra had now three officials to deal with.
Many annoyances were the result of this new arrange
ment, but, with persistent energy, Serra kept dili
gently working towards the high and holy end he had
in view. Letter after letter were sent to the new Vic
eroy, and the result was the latter sent a letter to Cap
tain-General de Croix, which had such an effect upon
him that he ordered Rivera "to recruit seventy-five
soldiers for the establishment of a presidio and three
Missions in the Channel of Santa Barbara. One
towards the north of the Channel, which was to be

J^JjStf^-afete

^^_

San Buenaventura Mission

80 SAN BUENAVENTURA
dedicated to the Immaculate Conception ; one towards
the south, dedicated to San Buenaventura, and a third
in the center, dedicated to Santa Barbara."
It was Serra's intense desire that the whole of the
Indians along the two hundred leagues of Pacific
Coast should be converted, and he argued that if Mis
sions were established at convenient intervals of dis
tance, they would be caught in one or the other of
them. Portala, after he made his trip from San Diego
to Monterey, reported fully to Serra the condition of
the Indians he found on the shore of the Channel
Coast. How that they, by means of pictures made in
the sand, showed that vessels had been there, and
white men, with beards, also had visited them ; thus,
undoubtedly, recalling the traditions of the Vizcaino
visit made nearly two hundred years before . Portala des
cribed their huts and the arrangement of their villages.
The one he named ' ' Assumpta ' ' was the site of the
future San Buenaventura. There, he found the Indians
more industrious and athletic, and the women better
clad, than elsewhere. They were builders of well-
shaped pine canoes, and were expert fishermen. They
were also stone-masons, using only tools made of flint.
Exchanges were made by Portala with them of curious
trinkets for highly polished wooden plates, which
showed that they were accomplished wood-workers.
Each family lived in its own hut, which was conical
in shape, made of willow poles and covered with sage
and other brush. A hole was left in the top for the
smoke to escape which rose from the fire, always built
in the center of the hut.
Reports such as these had kept Serra in a constant
ferment to establish the long-promised Mission there,
so we can imagine it was with intense delight that he re
ceived a call from Governor Neve, who in February,
1783, informed him that he was prepared to proceed at
once to the founding of the Missions of San Buenaven
tura and Santa Barbara. Although busy training his

SAN BUENAVENTURA 81
neophytes, he determined to go in person and per
form the necessary ceremonies. Looking about for a
padre to accompany him, and all his own' coadjutors
being engaged, he bethought him of Father Pedro
Benito Cambon, a returned invalid Missionary from
the Philippine Islands who was recuperating at San
Diego. He accordingly wrote Padre Cambon request
ing him, if possible, to meet him at San Gabriel. On
his way to San Gabriel, Serra passed through the In
dian villages of the Channel region, and could not
refrain from joyfully communicating the news to the
Indians that, very speedily, he would return to them,
and establish Missions in their midst. I have often
wondered, and still wonder, what the thoughts of the
Indians were, as this man, — benignant, energetic,
devout, — talked with them and revealed his purposes
towards them. Who can tell ?
In the evening of March 18, Serra reached Los
Angeles, and next evening, after walking to San
Gabriel, weighed down with his many cares, and
weary with his long walk, he still preached an excel
lent sermon, it being the feast of the patriarch St.
Joseph. Father Cambon had arrived, and after due
consultation with him and the Governor, the date for
the setting out of the expedition was fixed for Tues
day, March 26th. The week was spent in confirma
tion services, and other religious work, and, on the
date named, after solemn mass, the party set forth. It
was the most imposing procession ever witnessed in
California up to that time, and called forth many grat
ified remarks from Serra. There were seventy soldiers,
with their captain, commander for the new presidio,
ensign, sergeant, and corporals. In full gubernatorial
dignity, followed Governor Neve, with ten soldiers of
the Monterey company, their wives and families, ser
vants and neophytes.
At midnight they halted, and a special messenger
overtook them with news which led the Governor to

General View of San Buenaventura Mission

Sau Buenaventura Mission

84 SAN BUENAVENTURA
return at once to San Gabriel with his ten soldiers.
He ordered the procession to proceed, however, found
the San Buenaventura Mission, and there await his
return. Serra accordingly went forward, and on the
29th inst. , arrived at "Assumpta." Here, the next
day, on the feast of Easter, they pitched their tents,
' ' erected a large cross and prepared an altar under a
shade of evergreens," where the venerable Serra, now
soon to close his life work, blessed the cross and the
place, solemnized mass, preached a sermon to the
soldiers on the Resurrection of Christ, and formally
dedicated the Mission to God, and placed it under the
patronage of St. Joseph.
In the earlier part of this century the Mission
began to grow rapidly. Padres Francisco Dumetz
and Vicente de Santa Maria, who had been placed in
charge of the Mission from the first, were gladdened
by many accessions, and the Mission flocks and herds
also increased rapidly. Indeed we are told that ' ' in
1802, Ventura possessed finer herds of cattle and
richer fields of grain than any of her contemporaries,
and her gardens and orchards were visions of wealth
and beauty."
As one looks at the old walls he recalls when a
fierce battle raged around them. In March, 1838, the
opposing forces of Carrillo and Alvarado met here,
and Laura Bride Powers in her ' ' Story of the Old
Missions of California," graphically states that
"during the bombardment a rifleman stationed in the
church tower fired a deadly shot into the ranks of the
enemy, felling a leader ; forthwith the guns of the
opposing forces bore down upon the church, the shot
and shell beating against the walls with dogged deter
mination. The din of battle over and the smoke
uplifted, the chapel was found to have stood invincible.
The heavy guns, however, left their marks upon the
whitewashed walls in seams and scars, though time,
ere this, has almost healed the wounds of battle."

Altar at San Buenaventura Mission

86 SAN BUENAVENTURA
Father Rubio, an accomplished linguist, an excel
lent priest and a good man, is now in charge of San
Buenaventura church. Out of veneration for his ex
alted character Professor T. S. C. Lowe has retained
the name "Rubio" for the canyon reached by the
electric-trolley portion of his wonderful mountain
railway. In 1892, anxious to restore the church to,
at least, a suitable condition for worship, he raised
the necessary funds and in 1893 the renovating work
was commenced.
' ' The walls of the old Mission , which used to be
the color of the adobe, — the material they are made of,
— are now frescoed in water colors. The columns and
wainscoting resemble grey marble and granite, and
there is painted on the spaces between the columns,
high up on the walls, trailing vines and other artistic
ornaments. Around the top of the walls and next the
ceiling is a band representing carved brown wood. A
number of religious emblems can be seen on the walls
above the confessionals. The steps leading up to the
sanctuary are made to imitate grey granite and the
ones directly in front of the altar are of red granite.
The sanctuary floor is an exact imitation of inlaid
work, in the center of which is a double star of grey
marble." Some of the hands and other portions of the statu
ary had been damaged in the long years of their exis
tence, and these have been re-sculptured and regilded.
There are a few things that are not modernized.
The side doors, the baptistery and the confessionals
have been preserved in the same state as they were
when the Mission fathers put them in their places.
The ceiling is, for the present, in the same condi
tion as it was left some years ago after renewing it.
All it lacks is to be painted to correspond with the
balance of the room, which, we understand, will be
done in the near future.
The church was re-blessed, in February, 1894, by

SANTA BARBARA 87
Rev. Father Adam, of Los Angeles, with very impres
sive ceremonies.
San Buenaventura, or Ventura, as this modern,
railroad age, has rechristened it, is on the line of the
S. P. R. R., between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara.
The distance is 83 miles and the rate of fare, single
trip, $2.50; round trip, $4.50. Special round trip
tickets good for going on Saturday and returning
Tuesday, $3.00. Ventura, being the county seat, has
good hotels, where the visitor desiring a lengthy
stay can be accommodated.

CHAPTER XII.

SANTA BARBARA.
In April of 1782, on the return of Governor Neve,
a party of sixty soldiers, with their officers, set forth
to establish the Presidio and Mission of Santa Bar
bara. When about thirty miles north of San Buena
ventura, in a region thickly populated with Indians,
they found a suitable place for a presidio near the
beach, and where the shore ' ' gracefully curves and
forms a sort of small bay, in which they judged good
anchorage would be found."
A large cross was made and erected, a booth of
branches was built for a temporary chapel, containing
a rude table for an altar, and then, on the 29th of
April, 1782, the Governor and soldiers assisting, Padre
Serra celebrated Mass, preached a sermon, after which
Governor Neve took possession of the place in the
name of God and the King of Spain.
On the following day they began the erection of a
chapel, barracks for the soldiers and a storehouse,
Serra directing much of the work and giving spiritual
instructions to the soldiers at the same time. He
waited a few days, expecting the Mission would be

r '. r

Santa Barbara Mission

SANTA BARBARA 80
immediately founded, but in this he was disappointed.
The Governor decided that, for the safety of all con
cerned, in a place where there were so many Indians,
it was essential that the presidio be finished first, so,
after sending for a priest from San Juan Capistrano,
he departed for Monterey, on foot, as usual. Only
once again did he see Santa Barbara, and the Mission
was not yet founded, and full of sadness he cried out
in bitter tears : " Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the
Harvest, that He send laborers into His vineyard."
The good padre died on the 28th of August, 1784, a
little before 2 o'clock, p. m., in the seventieth year of
his age.
Father Palou, the intimate friend and biographer
of Serra, was now appointed President of the Missions,
but it was not until the 15th of December, 1786, when
Padre Fermin Francisco de Lasuen had succeeded him
that the Santa Barbara Mission was founded. Gov
ernor Pedro Fages had taken the place of Governor
Neve, and he, together with a few soldiers, on the date
named , accompanied Padre Lasuen to a spot already
chosen, about a mile from the presidio and named by
the natives "Taynayam," and the Spaniards "El
Pedragoso," and there, with appropriate ceremonies,
established the Mission. Padres Antonio Paterna
and Cristobal Oramas were left in charge, but, owing
to a severe rainy season, no buildings were erected
until spring of the following year, the priests being
sheltered during the meantime in the presidio.
Several buildings were then put up, — a house for
the padres, a kitchen, a servants' room, a granary,
and a house for the unmarried women, and also the
first small chapel. These were all built of adobe,
nearly three feet thick, with roofs of heavy rafters,
across which long poles or canes were tied, covered
with soft adobe and then thatched with straw. At
the end of this year 183 Indians were converted and
had connected themselves with the Mission .

90 SANTA BARBARA
The following year, 1788, these buildings were all
tiled, others erected, and the reports show the Indians
increased to 307.
In 1789, the second church of the Mission was
erected, together with other needed buildings. In
1793 was begun the erection, finished in 1794, of a
large adobe church, containing six chapels.
In 1806, a reservoir of stone and mortar was built
for storing water for the gardens and orchards. It is
still in good condition and is part of the system of the
water company which now supplies the city with
water. The following year the padres built a strong dam
across the " Pedragoso " creek, about a mile and a
half above the Mission, from whence the water could
flow in an open aqueduct to the mill reservoir. This
mill and reservoir were built at the same time, behind
the one referred to, and is still in use. The mill is in
ruins, and the reservoir partially demolished, but it
could easily be repaired and made to do good service.
In 1813-14 the old church was taken down, and a
new stone church commenced in 181 5. Five years
later, viz., on the 10th day of September, 1820, it was
completed, and amid the greatest rejoicing and festivi
ties ever indulged in, in the country, it was formally
dedicated and opened.
Owing to its prosperity, Santa Barbara was always
heavily taxed by the Government, even when under
the rule of Spain, but when Mexico declared its inde
pendence, it was plundered on all sides. Money be
ing scarce in those days, as now, a large amount of
cattle, sheep or wool was necessary to raise a small
amount of ready money. Hence when these exces
sive and arbitrary demands for money were made, it
taxed the resources of the mission to the last degree,
and often caused great suffering to the dependent
Indians. Here, as elsewhere, secularization accomplished,

SANTA BARBARA 91
somewhat, its ruinous work, although the buildings
have always been in the possession of the Franciscans,
except between the years 1833 and 1835, and even
then they were practically under their control.
The Mission passed through various vicissitudes,
until 1853, when, a petition having been presented to
Rome, it was erected into an Hospice, as the begin
ning of what was to be an Apostolic College for the
education of novitiates.
Being ecclesiastically isolated from the rest of the
United States, and therefore having no means of
drawing upon other communities for its novitiates,
the Minister-General petitioned that it be changed
from an independent college, and annexed to the
order throughout the United States. The petition was
granted in 1885, and it now forms an integral part of the
' ' Province of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, ' ' whose head
quarters are in the city of St. Louis, Mo.
Thus from educating Indians, the Mission of Santa
Barbara has changed into a College for the education
of its priests, who may be sent on Missions or to sup
ply any house of the Order as necessity may require.
So that, independent of its history, the Mission is most
interesting. And when one considers that history he
cannot fail to be deeply moved. As he walks in the gar
den, where but two women, the Princess Louise and
Mrs. President Harrison, have ever been permitted to
enter, he thinks of the noble workers of the past,
whose bodies lie buried there. And then as "down
through the perfume-laden air, upon the sunbeam's
ray, like a vision of the Holy Grail, floats the white-
winged dove, Heaven's emblem of purity and peace,"
the thought will come that ' ' no good and true work
can ever be in vain." God allows no good thing to
fall, and though the Indians are scattered, through
the wicked order of Secularization , He will not suffer
His own purposes to be moved.
The visitor will find Santa Barbara a most inter-

92 LA PJRISIMA CONCEPTION
esting Mission. The resident padres are kind and
obliging, and willingly afford every reasonable facility
to tourists to see all objects of interest.
Santa Barbara is reached on the line of the S. P. R.
R. and is five hours' journey from Los Angeles.
Fare, single trip, $3.35; round trip, $6.05. Round
trip special, going Saturday, good to return the follow
ing Tuesday, $3.50. Distance, no miles.
As soon as the now nearly completed Coast Lines
of the Southern Pacific are connected, Santa Barbara
can also be reached from the north by train direct, in
stead of by stage from the present northern terminus
of the Coast Line, or on the San Joaquin Valley main
line of the S. P., via Sangus.

CHAPTER XIII.

LA PURISIMA CONCEPTION.
This is the third of the Channel series of Missions
so ardently desired by Padre Serra. Originally
founded, December 8, 1787, on the Santa Ynez river,
it was removed later to Los Berros, across the river.
The building was crude and unstable, and, in 1795, it
was rapidly falling into decay. Accordingly a new
edifice was erected which was dedicated in 1802.
The great earthquake of 181 2 destroyed the new
chapel, shook down the hundred tile-roofed dwellings
of the Indians, and. to add to the horrors, a flood from
the river swept away much of what was left.
Padre Mariano Payeras was the priest in charge,
and, undismayed, he constructed temporary residences,
warehouses for the grain soon to be garnered, and

LA PURISIMA CONCEPTION 93
corrals for the six thousand head of cattle belonging to
the Mission.
Having gained permission from Mexico to again
remove the site of the Mission the present stone struc
ture was erected, and, in 1817, duly dedicated. The
building is now in ruins, and was originally a plain
and simple edifice, without any pretence to the gran
deur of some of the other Mission structures.
Padre Payeras, with commendable zeal, prepared a
catechism and a religious manual in the native lan
guage of the fifteen hundred converts to whom he
ministered, and who lived, in harmony, simplicity and
contented industry, in their dwellings on the bank of
the river.
When Secularization came in 1835, the Purisima
Mission property was valued at but sixty thousand
dollars, and the number of her Indians had dwindled
down to but one hundred and twenty.
Year after year things went on from bad to worse,
until in 1844, Governor Pio Pico, under direction
from the Departmental Assembly, with " a curious
bit of half conscience-stricken, half-politic recognition
of the Indians ' ownership of the lands ' ' of the Mis
sions, posted a proclamation at La Purisima, as well
as several other Missions, bidding the Indians return
and take possession of their lands, otherwise they
would be sold or rented. But in 1856 the U. S.
Land Commission restored the buildings to the inalien
able possession of the Catholic Church, to which they
still belong.
La Purisima Mission may be reached by rail to
Santa Barbara and thence by stage, the distance fr> m
Santa Barbara being about forty miles.

94

CHAPTER XIV.

SANTA CRUZ.
Santa Cruz was the next Mission, founded by
Padre Lasuen, on the San Lorenzo River, on Septem
ber 25, 1791.
This was the second child of the Mission of San
Francisco, the first being Santa Clara. On the 22nd
of September Padre Lasuen sent Alfirez Sal and Cor
poral Peralta, with two escoltas, from San Francisco to
the proposed locality, and, at Santa Clara, they were
joined by Padres Alonzo Salazar and Baldomero
Lopez. On the 24th the party arrived at Santa Cruz
where they found a hut already prepared for them by
kind neophytes from Santa Clara.
The chief of the Indians, Sugert, had gathered his
tribes and brought them to witness the ceremonies,
warning them not to be at all alarmed at the noise
made by the guns, or " chinchinabros.' '
The building was formally dedicated on the 10th
of May, 1794, Sugert, and all his followers, being in
terested witnesses of the ceremony.
In 1834-5, Ignacio del Valle, was appointed comis-
ionado, to put into effect the order of secularization.
He took possession of property amounting to $47,000,
exclusive of the church and its lands. Ten thousand
dollars of this amount was divided amongst the In
dians, but, where it went the rascally whites who
robbed them of it can best tell. In 1839, Hartnell
found the scattered few Indians of this Mission miser
ably poor, and with absolutely nothing to show that
they had ever received one cent.

LA SOLEDAD 95
Thus this Mission and its work sank into untimely
obscurity, only to be restored to notice by the fall of
its walls in 1856, when a band of treasure-seekers
ruthlessly polluted the ruins, digging hither and
thither in a vain search for hidden treasure.

CHAPTER XV.

LA SOLEDAD.
On October 9th of the same year, a Mission dedi
cated to "Our Lady of Solitude" was founded, but
of its history little is known. That little I glean
mainly from Laura Bride Powers 's interesting ' ' Story
of the Old Missions." She says : " From a letter writ
ten by Padre Lasuen, we learn that he himself selected
the site of the dolorous Mission, while on his way to
Santa Cruz, early in 1791. The spot was known
among the Indians as " Chuttusgelis, " but to the
Spaniards as "Soledad." The latter name was be
stowed upon it by Portala in 1769, during his famous
expedition to Monterey. In September a corps of
Christian Indians left San Carlos for Soledad, to pre
pare for the coming of Padre Lasuen. An enramada
was constructed, a hut erected, and on October 9th he
arrived with his vestments, chasubles, etc., and said
mass under a tall redwood."
As one sees its solitary ruins now, so perfectly in
accord with its name, question after question occurs
to the mind of the thoughtful spectator. Would the
padres have gone to all the wearisome trouble and
expense they did, had they been able to foresee what
three score years would have brought to them ? I
have often wondered- and still wonder, if those brave
and noble hearts would have continued their work
had they seen the decree of secularization hanging
over their heads ? If they still look down from the

96 SAN JOSE
world of spirits upon the scene of their labors, are they
able to comprehend the why and wherefore of their
failure ? Quien Sabe ?

CHAPTER XVI.

SAN JOSE.
On Trinity Sunday, June n, 1796, or, according
to"H. H."June n, 1797, in accordance with commands
from Mexico, which declared there must be founded
in California a Mission dedicated to St. Joseph, the
spiritual spouse of the Holy Virgin, Padre Lasuen
established this Mission and left Padres Isadoro Bar-
cenilla and Augustin Merino as missionaries in charge.
Its site was on the romantic foothills not far from
the mission of Santa Clara, which was clearly insight.
Situated where everything that was planted grew
abundantly, with a full supply of water, and a valley
now known throughout the world for its wonderful
fertility, and where the wild grasses give rich nourish
ment to the stock and sheep of the Mission, what
wonder that in a few years it became exceedingly
wealthy. A large amount of trapping was done by the Indi
ans; and William Heath Davis says that, in 1844, he
received from the padre in charge at San Jose, several
thousands of dollars' worth of beaver and land-otter
skins, which had been collected by his neophytes on
the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers.
It was at San Jose that Stanislaus was educated,
before referred to as connected with Yoscolo, the ren
egade, of Santa Clara. In May, 1840, Stanislaus,
with a force of about eighty Indians, came down from
the mountains and made a raid on several ranches
near San Lorenzo and captured several hundred head

SAN JUAN BAUTISTA 97
of horses. A day or two afterwards, one of the plun
dered rancheros, Guillermo Castro, with seventeen
men, set off in pursuit, coming up with the thieves
on the banks of the San Joaquin river. A severe
battle took place, during which quite a number were
killed, and, the Californians recovering their horses,
returned without any further disturbance.
Perhaps had the padres exercised a little more
strict discipline on Stanislaus, he would not have
given them so much trouble. After the seculariza
tion, when San Jose was under the control of Don
Jose Jesus Vallejo, Davis saw an Indian whipped on
the bare back. When Vallejo took possession of the
mission as Comisionado, there were 8000 head of cat
tle, about 3000 head of horses, 8000 to 10,000 sheep
and 1500 to 1800 Christianized Indians.
San Jose at first was only a small wooden struc
ture with a roof of woven grasses, but some time
after 1800 the building was erected, the ruins of which
we now see. Being so easy of access to San Fran
cisco and the city of San Jose, these ruins have per
haps been painted more than any other of the mission
buildings.

CHAPTER XVII.

SAN JUAN BAUTISTA.
In June, 1797, San Juan Bautista was founded, the
present ruined church being erected in t8oo.
The locality was known to the Spaniards as " San
Benito, " but the Indians called it " Popeloutchom."
It is a wide valley of remarkable beauty, half way
between Castroville and Gilroy, and is easily reached
by carriage, now-a-days, from either of these places.
Padre Presidente Lasuen, aided by Padres Marti-

98 SAN MIGUEL
arena and Catala with the usual help of neophytes and
soldiers, performed the usual ceremonies.
The first structure was of wood, closed in with
willow poles and a mud roof, but, as in the case of
several others, some time after the dawn of the cen
tury, the more substantial building was erected, the
ruins of which remain to this day.
Of the bells of San Juan Bautista it is said that
there were originally nine, composing a chime, from a
treble of one hundred pounds to a bass of many tons.
These bells, it is said, were all cast in Peru, and the
tones were remarkably rich and full. Says Charles
Howard Shinn, in the Overland for January, 1892,
" Some were afterwards cast in San Francisco, but so
lost sweetness and mellowness that they were con
sidered of little or no value. Three long remained at
the old Mission. One, I have heard, was stolen by a
rancher, and now, fastened to a post, serves to call his
hired men to meals."

CHAPTER XVIII.

SAN MIGUEL.
Two leagues west of Santa Barbara, in order to be
better able to minister to the Indians, President Las
uen and Padre Sitjar selected a station on a large
rancheria called " Sagshpileel," and, on July 25,
1797, with the troops from the presidio and numbers
of the Indians as witnesses, established the Mission
of San Miguel, " the most glorious prince of the
heavenly militia."
On the day of its founding, with great delight,
Padre Sitjar presented fifteen children for baptism,
and this augured well for the new Mission, as, three
years later, there were gathered together at San

SAN MIGUEL 99
Miguel four hundred christianized Indians, all engaged
in the peaceable pursuits the Padres had taught them.
It is related that the Padres here exercised consid
erable force in the conversion of Guchapa, the chief
of the rancherias of the region. Padre Martin, one
of Sitjar's successors, was not satisfied with the small
number of braves who came for conversion, so he
waited on Guchapa, and requested that he send some
of his Indians to the Mission to be Christianized. The
proud old chief defiantly refused, when Commander
de la Guerra sent a force of fourteen men and a ser
geant to take the old man prisoner. This procedure
had the desired effect. The chieftain promised any
thing and everything required if they would only set
him free, which they did, retaining his only son, how
ever, as a hostage.
In spite of this forceful method of conversion, San
Miguel was never as financially prosperous as some of
the others. The crops were small, and when the
Padres of San Miguel were required, in 1815, to con
tribute supplies for the troops of Mexico, they could
only send a small quantity of wool and wine.
The Mission, however, owned large bands of sheep,
and the surrounding country being especially adapted
to that purpose, they might have done as well as their
neighbors had they confined themselves to wool-rais
ing and weaving.
San Miguel Mission is celebrated by Ross Browne
in his ' ' Dangerous Journey. ' '
Only one bell remains of whatever chime San Mig
uel originally had, and that is swung from a pine
beam that caps the pillars of the porch. " It has been
there for at least fifty or sixty years, but the tradition
is that three bells once hung in arches close to the
eaves of red tiles."
San Miguel is in San Luis Obispo County, and is
reached from Santa Barbara by stage, or by rail on
the Coast Division of the S. P. R. R. from San Fran-

Fountain and Corridors at San Fernando

SAN FERNANDO 101
cisco, 207 miles, fare $6. Fare from Los Angeles to
Santa Barbara, $3.35 single trip; round trip, good for
ten days, $6.05. Round trip special, going Saturday,
good to return the following Tuesday, $3.50. From
Santa Barbara take stage.

CHAPTER XIX.

SAN FERNANDO.
It was the avowed intention of Serra to establish
a complete chain of Missions from San Diego to Mon
terey. President Lasuen agreed with the idea, and
accordingly on September 8, 1797, after having located
friars at San Fernando in the dwellings of the ranchero,
he dedicated the Mission to San Fernando, King of
Spain, according to instructions he had received from
the viceroy of Mexico.
The present ruined adobe structure displaced the
original building of rude wood, tules and brush, and,
in 1806, was dedicated, with imposing ceremonies, to
King Fernando III, of Spain, who was canonized in
1 67 1 by Pope Clement X.
San Fernando Mission is located in a nrost fertile
valley, — the granary of Los Angeles county, and
speedily became of considerable wealth and conse
quent importance.
The buildings were affected by the earthquake of
181 2, and thirty new beams were added to strengthen
the walls. A beautiful tiled corridor, and a large
fountain and basin in the courtyard were built, the
ruins of which still remain in picturesque attractive
ness. Under this corridor on hot days, and by the side
of this fountain on cool evenings, the Padres walked
and sat and planned and studied and prayed, watching
the waving palms, in the distance, and enjoying the
beautiful oak and alders close by. Even in its present

102 SAN FERNANDO
ruined and dilapidated condition, the semi-tropical
trees and the cacti give to San Fernando the appearance
of " a portion of Algeria."
In 1820 the Mission was in a flourishing condition,
her vineyards and grain fields being quite extensive.
In 1826 an inventory shows, besides large flocks and
herds, that the Padres had merchandise in their ware
house to the value of fifty thousand dollars, besides
ninety thousand dollars in specie.
In 1846 the Mission was sold by Pio Pico to
Eulogio Celis for fourteen thousand dollars, for the
purpose of helping towards the expenses of the war
with the U. S., although, at the time, the conquest of
California was practically complete. The sale was
confirmed by the U.S. Land Commission, and its
Mission days were ended.
It was this year that gold was first discovered in
California, at San Fernando. Some Mexicans, famil
iar with the placer mines, were passing north from
Sonora, saw the gold and began mining it at once.
That year and the next it is asserted from eighty to
one hundred thousand dollars in gold dust were taken
from the San Fernando placers, much of it finding its
way into the hands of the local merchants at Los
Angeles, San Gabriel, etc. There are still places
shown in the San Fernando mountains where the
" secret mines " of the padres were located, but they
are now utterly deserted, though gold was taken from
them up to the time of the discovery at Sutter's Creek,
in 1848, and later.
Today San Fernando Mission is in an utterly
ruined condition. The roof of the main building has
fallen in, and nothing but the rafters keep the walls
also from falling.
The Mission is about 14 miles from Los Angeles and
is easily reached in less than an hour from that city on
the main line of the S. P. R.R., going north. Tha
buildings are in the valley about a mile from the depot,

San Fernando Rey Mission

104 SAN LUIS REY DE FRANCIA
and the visitor can either walk or secure a conveyance
in the town. Many people find it most pleasant and
agreeable to drive from Los Angeles, and it is a very
comfortable day's drive.

CHAPTER XX.

SAN LUIS REY DE FRANCIA.
In 1798, on the 13th day of June, President Las
uen, assisted by Padres Santiago and Peyri founded
the Mission of San Luis Rey de Francia. In beauty
of site, as well as magnificence of structure, it is re
garded by most people as the ' ' King ' ' of the Mission
structures of California.
Five padres, especially, in all the older history of
the Missions, stand out as the well-beloved of the In
dians, and these are Serra, Palou, Crespi, Salvidea,
and Peyri, and to the wonderfully persuasive and
gentle character of the latter, is undoubtedly owing
the great success of San Luis Rey from its inception.
Not only was he possessed of the qualities that en
deared him to the people, but he was also full of the
same zeal as Serra, and possessed of equal administra
tive ability. The structure he reared was completed
in 1802. It stands upon a slight hill, gently rolling upwards
from the river and the valley, which is exceedingly
fertile, and gave good pasturage to the flocks and
herds of the Mission. These doubled about every ten
years. In 1826, Peyri had received into the folds of
the church two thousand, eight hundred and sixty
nine Indians. "The mission owned over twenty
thousand head of cattle, and nearly twenty thousand
sheep. It controlled over two hundred thousand
acres of laud, and there were raised on its fields in one

106

SAN LUIS REY DE FRANCIA

year three thousand bushels of wheat, six thousand of
barley, and ten thousand of corn."
In 1834, after the Secularization, San Luis Rey
had an Indian population of 35,000, and possessed
over 24,000 cattle, 10,000 horses, and 100,000 sheep.
It harvested 14,000 fanegas (about an English bushel)
of grain, and 200 barrels of wine.
" No other Mission had so fine a church. It was
one hundred and sixty feet long, fifty wide, and sixty
high, with walls four feet thick. A tower at one side

San Luis Rey, seen through one of the Arches
held a belfry for eight bells. The corridor on the
opposite side had two hundred and fifty six arches.
Its gold and silver ornaments are said to have been
superb." Even in its semi-ruined condition it is majestic and
imposing. Over the chancel is a perfectly-proportioned
dome, and on each side, and over the altar, are beauti
ful groined arches. Hanging high on the wall, on the
right side facing the auditors, instead of on the left, is

^^_

San I^uis.Rey de Francia as it originally appeared from an old painting

108 SAN LUIS REY DE FRANCIA
a Byzantine wooden pulpit, which is reached by a
quaint, narrow stairway from the chancel.
After the order of secularization reached San Luis
Rey, Father Peyri decided that he must leave the
scene, where, for thirty years, he had earnestly labored
for the good of his loved Indians. Knowing how dif
ficult it would be for him to get away from his ' ' In
dian children," " he slipped off by night to San Diego,
hoping to escape without the Indians' knowledge. But,
missing him in the morning, and knowing only too
well what it meant, five hundred of them mounted
their ponies in hot haste, and galloped all the way to
San Diego, forty-five miles, to bring him back by
force. They arrived just as the ship, with Father
Peyri on board, was weighing anchor. Standing on
the deck, with outstretched arms, he blessed them
amid their tears and loud cries. Some flung them
selves into the water and swam after the ship. Four
reached it, and, clinging to its sides, so implored to be
taken that the father consented, and carried them
with him to Rome, where one of them became a
priest." Could a more affecting proof of the Indians' love
for him have been given, or a higher tribute to the
superlative worth of his spiritual work amongst them?
Rest in peace ! dear soul ! in thy grave in far-away
sunny Spain. Surely thy good deeds follow thee, and
the memory of thy boundless love shall ever be a
blessing to those who hear of thee in thy California
field of labor, from which thou wast so rudely thrust !
The memory of Padre Zalvidea is also connected
with San Luis Rey Mission. William Heath Davis
relates that when he and James McKinlay were pass
ing north once, they stopped at San Luis, and there
found Zalvidea, " strong and healthy, although about
eighty years of age. He spent most of his time in
walking back and forth in the spacious piazza of the
Mission, with his prayer-book open in his hand, say-

SAN LUIS REY DE FRANCIA 109
ing his prayers, hour after hour. I stood, therefore,
some time observing him, and every time he reached
the end of the piazza he would give me a little side
glance and nod of recognition , ar d say ' Vamos si, senor'
a number of times in succession. Whenever he met
me or anyone else through the day or evening he
would make the same greeting, and never anything
else. If anyone spoke to him he would listen atten
tively until the speaker had finished, apparently hear
ing and understanding everything that was said, but
he made no reply other than the words I have quoted.
During such interviews he would never look a person
square in the face, but always gazed a little one side,
round a corner as it were. One might have supposed
he was demented from this singular conduct. I in
quired if this was so of Mr. McKinlay, who had known
him for ten years or more, and he replied that he was
always the same ; that he was so absorbed in his de
votions that he did not care to hold any intercourse
with the world or converse on worldly topics, but
gave his whole life and attention to religion.
Father Zalvidea was much beloved by the people,
who looked upon him as a saint on earth, on account
of the purity and excellence of his character. Among
his eccentricities was his custom, at meals, of mixing
different kinds of food thoroughly together on one
plate — meat, fish, vegetables, pie, pudding, sweet and
sour — a little of everything. After they were thor
oughly mingled, he would eat the preparation, instead
of taking the different dishes separately, or in such
combinations as were usual. This was accounted for
as a continual act of penance on his part. In other
words he did not care to enjoy his meals, and so made
them distasteful; partaking of food merely to maintain
existence. Whenever any ladies called on him, as
they frequently did, to make some little present as a
mark of their esteem, he never looked at them, but
turned his face away, and extending his hand to one

SAN LUIS REY DE FRANCIA ill
side received the gift, saying, " Vamos, si senora ;
muchas gracias." He never offered his hand in salu
tation to a lady. At times, in taking his walks for ex
ercise in the vicinity of the mission, the priest was
seen to touch his head lightly on either side with a
finger, throw his hands out with a quick, spasmodic
motion, and snap his fingers; as if casting out devils.
On such occasions he was heard to exclaim ' ' Vete,
satanas ! " — some improper thought, as he conceived,
probably having entered his mind."
Whatever one may think of the action of the devout
and venerable padre, his intense earnestness to lead
the best life manifested to him is an example for the
world to honor and emulate. Would there were more
men filled with his earnest endeavor.
In 1892, it was determined to repair the Mission
and have it occupied by the Franciscan order, and for
this purpose Father O'Keefe of the Santa Barbara
Mission, was sent to San Luis Rey to superintend its
restoration. For months the work had been going
forward, and on May 12, 1893, the formal dedication
of the re-established Mission occurred with all due
ceremony. The bishop of the diocese was present,
together with the Vicar-General of the Franciscan
order from Mexico, and other dignitaries. The cere
monies were as near as could be made like those of
over a century ago, and, in the church, were three old
Indian women, who had heard the original dedication
services, where Padres Santiago and Peyri were the
officiating clergymen.
Much has been done, under Father O'Keefe's in
telligent supervision, towards arresting the decay of
the old buildings, and so completely restoring them,
that they will again be suited for Divine worship. A
brick kiln occupies a portion of the interior quadran
gle, and close by is a modern windmill, pump and
water tank — rather incongruous they seem, in such a
place, and yet useful and necessary. The dome over

-,%«£H»l

~&-

Through the Old Garden Arch at San Luis Rey

SAN LUIS REY DE FRANCIA 113
the chancel has been effectively restored, in accord
ance with the original designs, and several of the
walls repaired with imported brick. But the freight
on them was so high that Father O'Keefe began the
burning of his own brick, and he is now quite success
ful. The church has been re-roofed, and excavation
of the corridors is now taking place.
Opposite the church several wooden buildings
have been erected for the temporary, and, possibly,
permanent occupation of those who come to be
trained in the work of the Franciscans, and San Luis
Rey, like Santa Barbara, is now educating priests in
stead of Indian savages.
With the delightful courtesy, so well known to vis
itors at Santa Barbara, Father O'Keefe left his other,
and doubtless onerous, duties, to show myself and
friend around, on a visit paid in October, 1894. We
drove from Oceanside on a beautiful afternoon. After
gradually rising from the ocean level, we came to a
ridge from which a lovely view of a valley with moun
tains beyond, spread out before us. Yonder in the
distance, in the valley, we could clearly see the mis
sion, on a slight elevation, the river to the right, the
valley and mountains to the left, the brown and white
of the buildings, the exquisite green of the valley, the
reddish gray and brown of the mountains combining
to make a picture as full of harmony in color as Cho
pin's Nocturnes are full of harmony in sound. As
we approached nearer we talked of the "gone by
days " of Peyri, and Zalvidea, and Serra, of the sad
demoralization of the Indians after the decree of secu
larization, and then, reverently and gladly we entered
the sacred precincts. The signs of vigorous, though
careful, restoration were most pleasing, and it is to be
hoped that nothing will be allowed to stand in the way
of a thorough completion of the work, under such
careful and competent guidance as that of the Rev.
Father O'Keefe.

>

SAN ANTONIO DE PALA 115
While its history in the past is sad, there is com
fort in the outlook for its future.
To reach San Luis Rey the visitor goes by rail on
the Surf Line of the Santa Fe System, to the town of
Oceanside, eighty-five miles from Los Angeles. Single
fare, $3.15 ; round trip, $5.65. On Sundays, returning
the same day, a special round trip rate of $3.00, from
Los Angeles and return, is given. Going Saturday
and returning Monday, a round trip ticket may be
obtained for $4.00.
From here it is four miles drive to the Mission, and
all information regarding conveyances will cheerfully
be furnished by Mr. Peiper, mine host of the Ocean-
side Hotel.

CHAPTER XXI.

SAN ANTONIO DE PALA.
When at San Luis Rey, the interested visitor
should endeavor to drive the eighteen or twenty miles
further, necessary to bring him to the picturesque
structure of San Antonio de Pala. It is not properly
a mission, but merely a chapel, or branch of San Luis
Rey, founded by Padre Peyri for the greater conven
ience of his beloved Indians, especially those who
lived in the mountains. There were no buildings for
neophytes as at the other Missions ; nothing but a
chapel and and a few scattered corrals. All readers of
Mission literature are familiar with the picturesque
belfry of Pala, crowned with a huge cactus, grown
from a seed some passing breeze doubtless lodged in
the adobe tower, where nourishing moisture fed it
into active life.
The two bells, suspended in the little tower, still
call the Indians from the surrounding hills to worship,
and most fortunate is that visitor who can be present
on one of these solemn occasions.

116 SAN ANTONIO DE PALA
The building is long, narrow, low and dark, with
adobe walls and rough beams set in them to support
the roof, under which are layers of canes and tubes.
Rude paintings cover the walls and other ornaments
are a life-sized image of Antonio Palo, the warrior and
priest from whom the mission takes its name, and a
wooden statue of ' ' St. Louis, King of France," which
is held in profound reverence by the Indians, and on
feast days is adorned with trappings and borne at the
head of the procession of believers in the true faith.
The floor is of brick, cracked and worn in recesses,
copper and brass utensils evidently very old and dented
from use, excite the curiosity of the visitor. They
play a part still on days of ceremonial observance.
The oaken door is plated with iron and stoutly riveted.
While the walls are yet secure, the storms of winter
are playing havoc with them, and, unless properly
preserved, these picturesque ruins will soon be beyond
all further help.
There is still an Indian settlement near Pala.
Once or twice a month a priest from San Diego comes
there and holds services for the Indians in this build
ing, and they occasionally have a big celebration.
There are two old Indians, a man and a woman,
who guard it quite zealously. A friend writes tome :
"When I was there the figure of the patron saint,
Pala, (which, by the way, was made by the Indians
themselves out of the native clay) had a drawn thread
handkerchief tied around his neck. Upon speaking
of it I was told it had been placed there by an Indian
woman who was suffering with a very bad cold, and
she had thus protected the neck of the Saint with this
handkerchief of her own make, hoping thereby to
secure relief from her ailment. Pala also had
several suits of clothing on, one over the other. The
Indians dress him in one set of garments, and when a
change is desired, instead of removing the suit he is
then wearing they simply place the next one on.

,r^-'.-v'' . '. ,- -*¦---

Chapel and Bell Tower at San Antonio de Pala

118 SANTA YNEZ
There are two other statues here, one of San Luis, the
patron of the San Luis Mission. The story goes that
after the decree of secularization, when the soldiers
came to take possession of, and incidentally to loot,
the San Luis Rey Mission, a lot of Indians came down
one night from their mountain retreat at Pala, stole
these two statues from the sleeping soldiers, and with
a few other articles held sacred, brought them to Pala
and safety, where they ever since have been. They
are nearly life size and are made of olive wood, said
to have been carved in, and brought from, Spain."
Tourists desiring to visit Pala can obtain accom
modation at the house of Mr. Beale, who lives near
the historic buildings, and who is the storekeeker for
all the surrounding mountain region. This would be
an interesting side trip for the tourist, as, in addition
to the mission, the neighboring Indian villages would
permit of a study of their home life and surroundings.
The country is also quite picturesque, and the drive
from Oceanside a pleasant one, easily made in a day.

CHAPTER XXII.

SANTA YNEZ.
In order to have a Mission nearer to the rancheros
of twenty-seven baptized families, than Santa Barbara,
the priests of that Mission made the request that a
new establishment be made in a suitable location.
Accordingly on September 17, 1804, Comandante
Carrillo, with nine soldiers from the Santa Barbara
presidio, a large number of neophytes from that Mis
sion and Purisima, under the guidance of Padres Jose
Calzada and Jose Gutierrez, reached the appointed
spot, and with the regulation ceremonies, solemnly
dedicated a new Mission to St. Agnes, the beautiful
virgin and martyr. One hundred and twelve persons

SAN RAFAEL 119
were immediately enrolled on the books, — the mem
bers of the twenty-seven families before referred to.
The first church was so shattered by the earth
quake of 1812, that a new edifice had to be con
structed. On Independence Day, July 4, 1817, it was
dedicated, and from that day fortune seemed to smile
more frequently upon her affairs. Although the
Indian population began to decline, her flocks and
herds multiplied rapidly, and in 1831, or thereabouts,
according to Davis, Santa Ynez Mission owned 20,000
cattle, 1,500 horses and mares, and 10,000 sheep.
In 1824, many of the Indians, both of this and
other missions, became discontented, insubordinate and
finally rebellious. More than a thousand Indians
attacked the missionaries and killed and wounded
several of their defenders. It is said "they could
easily have captured the place if it had not been for
the contagious fears of many escaped converts, who
were overwhelmed with dread at the sound of chant
ing, the solemn ringing of the bells, and the sight of
the priests armed with carnal weapons."
During this struggle many of the buildings were
partially destroyed, and they have never been rebuilt.
Santa Ynez is reached by stage or private conveyance
from Santa Barbara.

CHAPTER XXIII.

SAN RAFAEL.
In 1817, owing to a frightful mortality in San
Francisco, Lieutenant Sola suggested that, possibly,
a move across the bay, where inland breezes would
take the place of the ocean winds, might be beneficial
to those who were still sick. The suggestion was
adopted, and on December 14, 1817, a Mission was
founded by Padre Luis Taboada at San Rafael.

San Ynez Mission

LOS ANGELES CHAPEL 121
But little more than a memory remains today of
San Rafael Mission. It is reached by the North Coast
R. R. from San Francisco.

CHAPTER XXIV.

SAN FRANCISCO SOLANO.
This, the last of the Missions, was founded on
Passion Sunday, April 4, 1824. and formally dedicated
to the patron Saint of the Indies — San Francisco
Solano. It was but short-lived owing to having its
inception when the true missionary spirit was on the
wane. The building was only a temporary one, and
it has long crumbled away, until now, nothing but its
memory remains.

CHAPTER XXV.

LOS ANGELES CHAPEL.
Though not properly a Mission, the old church of
Los Angeles has long been a source of great interest
to the tourist, hence a brief account of its foundation
will not be out of place.
In 181 1 authority was gained for the erection of a
chapel in Los Angeles for the benefit of the old sol
diers who had long and faithfully served the King of
Spain, and in August, 1814, Padre Gil, of San Gabriel,
laid and blessed the corner stone. Nothing further,
except the laying of the foundation, was accomplished
until 18 1 8, when the site was changed to its present

122 SANTA MARGARITA CHAPEL
location. In 1819 seven barrels of brandy and five
hundred cattle were contributed towards the building
fund, and by the end of 1820 the walls were raised to
the window arches. Los Angeles, at this time, had a
population of about 650, and an appeal was made to
the governor in 1818, and through him to the viceroy,
that the veterans who had spent their manhood's
years in fighting for the king, and were now living in
Los Angeles, ought not to be deprived of spiritual
consolation and instruction any longer. But no priest
or chaplain was sent to them. In 1822 or 1823 the
chapel was finally completed, and formally dedicated
on the 8th of December, 1822.

CHAPTER XXVI.

SANTA MARGARITA CHAPEL.
Another of these chapels was built at Santa Marga
rita, in San Luis Obispo county. It was undoubtedly
built for the accommodation of those Indians who
dwelt on the rancheria too far away to receive instruc
tion regularly. It was built of stone but only dilapi
dated ruins now remain. The beauty of the region,
possibly, was one of the sources of attraction to the
traveler, for in 1862, J. Ross Browne wrote in Har
per's Monthly:
' ' Next day I struck into the valley of Santa Mar
garita. I shall never forget my first impression of
this valley ; encircled by ranges of blue mountains
were broad, rich pastures, covered with innumerable
herds of cattle; beautifully diversified with groves,
streams, and shrubbery, castellated cliffs in the fore
ground as the trail wound downward; a group of cat
tle grazing by the margin of a little lake, their forms
mirrored in the water; a mirage in the distance;
mountain upon mountain beyond, as far as the e3'e

¦ .v...; i.; . .": " i

Walls of Santa Margarita Chapel

124 "CUI BONO?"
could reach, till their dim outlines were lost in the
golden glow of the atmosphere. Surely a more lovely
spot never existed upon earth."

CHAPTER XXVII.

" CUI BONO ? "
One thought necessarily comes to all minds as the
work of the Mission Fathers is contemplated in the
present condition of the Indians. Cui Bono? — What
is the good of it all ?
Who can tell ? Except that no good work can fail !
There is one thing certain, and that is, that com
parison between even the wretched treatment the
missions received at the hands of the Mexican Gov
ernment, and that which they have received at the
hands of this intelligent, Christian government, is
all in favor of Mexico. To our shame be is said !
Whatever our opinion may be of the padres, we are
all compelled to share in the eloquent words of John
W. Dwindle: "They," — the padres— " at least
would have preserved these Indian races, if they had
been left to pursue unmolested their work of pious
beneficence.' '
For the preservation of the Mission buildings, I am
happy to state that a society has been organized, with
a number of earnest, active spirits at its head. The
object of the Association is "to create a fund to be
used for the preservation of the Mission buildings of
California. " The fee of membership is one dollar per
3'ear, and I trust that all those of my readers who are
interested in these marvelous memorials of heroic and
earnest Christian endeavor, will put themselves in
communication with Miss Kelso, Librarian of the City
of Los Angeles, who is chairman of the executive
committee of the association.

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
Gift of

GEORGE WATSON COLE