USA > California > History of the State of California and biographical record of Coast Counties, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 7
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The erection of a stone church was begun in February, 1797, and completed in 1806. . 1 master builder had been brought from Mexico and under his superintendence the neophytes did the mechanical labor. It was the largest and handsomest church in California and was the pride of mission architecture. The year 1812 was known in California as el ano de los tem- blores-the year of earthquakes. For months the seismic disturbance was almost continuous. On Sunday, December 8, 1812, a severe shock threw down the lofty church tower, which crashed through the vaulted roof on the congre-
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gation below. The padre who was celebrating mass escaped through the sacristy. Of the fifty persons present only five or six escaped. The church was never rebuilt. "There is not much doubt," says Bancroft, "that the disaster was dne rather to faulty construction than to the violence of the temblor." The edifice was of the usual cruciform shape, about 90x180 feet on the ground, with very thick walls and arched come-like roof all constructed of stones imbed- ded in mortar or cement. The stones were not hewn, but of irregular size and shape, a kind of structure evidently requiring great skill to en- sure solidity. The mission reached its maxi- mium in 1819; from that on till the date of its secularization there was a rapid decline in the numbers of its live stock and of its neophytes.
This was one of the missions in which Gov- ernor Figueroa tried his experiment of forming Indian pueblos of the neophytes. For a time the experiment was a partial success, but even- tually it went the way of all the other missions. Its lands were granted to private individuals and the neophytes scattered. Its picturesque ruins are a great attraction to tomists.
SANTA CLAR.A.
The mission of Santa Clara was founded Jan- mary 12, 1777. The site had been selected some time before and two missionaries designated for service at it, but the comandante of the terri- tory, Rivera y Moncada, who was an exceed- ingly obstinate person, had opposed the found- ing on various pretexts, but posititve orders coming from the viceroy Rivera did not longer delay, so on the 6th of January, 1777, a detach- ment of soldiers under Lieutenant Moraga, ac- companied by Father Peña, was sent from San Francisco to the site selected which was about sixteen leagues south of San Francisco. Here under an enramada the services of dedication were hield. The Indians were not averse to re- ceiving a new religion and at the close of the year sixty-seven had been baptized.
The mission was quite prosperous and be- came one of the most important in the territory. It was located in the heart of a rich agricul- tural district. The total product of wheat was 175,800 bushels. In 1828 the mission flocks and
hierds numbered over 30,000 animals. The neophyte population in 1827 was 1,464. The death rate was high, averaging 12.63 per cent of the population. The total number of bap- tisms was 8,640; number of deaths 6,950. In 1834 the population had declined to 800. Secularization was effected in 1837.
SAN BUENAVENTURA.
The founding of San Buenaventura had been long delayed. It was to have been among the first missions founded by Father Serra; it proved to be his last. On the 26th of March, 1782, Governor de Neve, accompanied by Father Serra (who had come down afoot from San Carlos), and Father Cambon, with a convoy of soldiers and a number of neophytes, set out from San Gabriel to found the mission. At the first camping place Governor de Neve was re- called to San Gabriel by a message from Col. Pedro Fazes, informing him of the orders of the council of war to proceed against the Yumas who had the previous year destroyed the two missions on the Colorado river and massacred the missionaries.
On the 29th, the remainder of the company reached a place on the coast named by Portolá in 1769, Asuncion de Nuestra Señora, which had for some time been selected for a mission site. Near it was a large Indian rancheria. On Easter Sunday, March 31st, the mission was for- mally founded with the usual ceremonies and dedicated to San Buenaventura (Giovanni de Fidanza of Tuscany), a follower of St. Francis, the founder of the Franciscans.
The progress of the mission was slow at first, only two adults were baptized in 1782, the year of its founding. The first buildings built of wood were destroyed by fire. The church still used for service, built of brick and adobe, was completed and dedicated. September 9, 1809. The earthquake of December 8, 1812, damaged the church to such an extent that the tower and part of the façade had to be rebuilt. After the earthquake the whole site of the mission for a time seemed to be sinking. The inhabi- tants, fearful of being engulfed by the sea, re- moved to San Joaquin y Santa Ana, where they remained several months. The mission at-
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tained its greatest prosperity in 1816, when its neophyte population numbered 1,330 and it owned 23.400 cattle.
SANTA BARBARA.
Governor Felipe de Neve founded the presidio of Santa Barbara April 21, 1782. Father Serra had hoped to found the mission at the same time, but in this he was disappointed. His death in 1784 still further delayed the founding and it was not until the latter part of 1786 that every- thing was in readiness for the establishing of the new mission. On the 22d of November Father Lasuen, who had succeeded Father Serra as president of the missions, arrived at Santa Barbara, accompanied by two missiona- ries recently from Mexico. He selected a site about a mile distant from the presidio. The place was called Taynagan (Rocky Hill) by the Indians. There was a plentiful supply of stone on the site for building and an abundance of water for irrigation.
On the 15th of December, 1786, Father Lasuen, in a hut of boughs, celebrated the first mass; but December 4, the day that the fiesta of Santa Barbara is commemorated, is considered the date of its founding. Part of the services were held on that day. A chapel built of adobes and roofed with thatch was erected in 1787. Sev- eral other buildings of adobe were erected the same year. In 1788, tile took the place of thatch. In 1789, a second church, much larger than the first, was built. A third church of adobe was commenced in 1793 and finished in 1794. A brick portico was added in 1795 and the walls plastered.
The great earthquake of December, 1812, de- molished the mission church and destroyed nearly all the buildings. The years 1813 and 1814 were spent in removing the debris of the ruined buildings and in preparing for the erec- tion of new ones. The erection of the present mission church was begun in 1815. It was com- pleted and dedicated September 10, 1820.
Father Caballeria, in his History of Santa Barbara, gives the dimensions of the church as. follows: "Length (including walls), sixty varas; width, fourteen varas; height, ten varas (a vara is thirty-four inches)." The walls are of stone
and rest on a foundation of rock and cement. They are six feet thick and are further strength- ened by buttresses. Notwithstanding the build- ing has withstood the storms of four score years, it is still in an excellent state of preservation. Its exterior has not been disfigured by attempts at modernizing.
The highest neophyte population was reached at Santa Barbara in 1803, when it numbered 1.792. The largest number of cattle was 5,200 in 1809. In 1834, the year of secularization, the neophytes numbered 556, which was a decrease of 155 from the number in 1830. At such a rate of decrease it would not, even if mission rule had continued, have taken more than a dozen years to depopulate the mission.
LA PURISIMA CONCEPCION.
Two missions, San Buenaventura and Santa Barbara, had been founded on the Santa Bar- bara channel in accordance with Neve's report of 1777, in which he recommended the founding of three missions and a presidio in that district. It was the intention of General La Croix to con- duct these on a different plan from that prevail- ing in the older missions. The natives were not to be gathered into a missionary establishment, but were to remain in their rancherias, which were to be converted into mission pueblos. The Indians were to receive instruction in religion, industrial arts and self-government while com- paratively free from restraint. The plan which no doubt originated with Governor de Neve, was a good one theoretically, and possibly might have been practically. The missionaries were bitterly opposed to it. Unfortunately it was tried first in the Colorado river missions among the fierce and treacherous Yumas. The mas- sacre of the padres and soldiers of these mis- sions was attributed to this innovation.
In establishing the channel missions the mis- sionaries opposed the inauguration of this plan and by their persistence succeeded in setting it aside: and the old system was adopted. La Purisima Concepcion, or the Immaculate Con- ception of the Blessed Virgin, the third of the channel missions, was founded December 8. 1787. by Father Lasuen at a place called by the natives Algsacupi. Its location is about twelve
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miles from the ocean on the Santa Ynez river. Three years after its founding three hundred converts had been baptized but not all of them lived at the mission. The first church was a temporary structure. The second church, built of adobe and roofed with tile, was completed in 1802. December 21, 1812, an earthquake de- molished the church and also about one hundred adobe houses of the neophytes. A site across the river and about four miles distant from the former one, was selected for new buildings. A temporary building for a church was erected there. A new church, built of adobe and roofed with tile, was completed and dedicated in 1818.
The Indians revolted in 1824 and damage.1 the building. They took possession of it and a battle lasting four hours was fought between one hundred and thirty soldiers and four hundred Indians. The neophytes eut loop holes in the church and used two old rusty cannon and a few guns they possessed; but, unused to fire arms, they were routed with the loss of several killed. During the revolt which lasted several months four white men and fifteen or twenty In- dians were killed. The hostiles, most of whom fled to the Tulares, were finally subdued. The leaders were punished with imprisonment and the others returned to their missions.
This mission's population was largest in 1804, · when it numbered 1,520. In 1834 there were but 407 neophytes connected with it. It was secular- ized in February, 1835. During mission rule from 1787 to 1834, the total number of Indian children baptized was 1.492; died 902, which was a lower death rate than at most of the southern missions.
SANTA CRUZ.
Santa Cruz, one of the smallest of the twenty- one missions of California, was founded Septem- ber 25, 1790. The mission was never very pros- perous. In 1798 many of the neophytes de- serted and the same year a flood covere I the planting fields and damaged the church. In 1812 the neophytes murdered the missionary in charge, Padre Andres Quintana. They claimed that he had treated them with great cruelty. Five of those implicated in the murder received two hundred lashes cach and were sentenced to work in chains from two to ten years, Only
one survived the punishment. The maximum of its population was reached in 1798, when there were six hundred and forty-four Indians in the mission fold. The total number bap- tized from the date of its founding to 1834 was 2,466; the total number of deaths was 2,034. The average death rate was 10.93 per cent of the population. At the time of its secularization in 1834 there were only two hundred and fifty In- dians belonging to the mission.
LA SOLEDAD.
The mission of our Lady of Solitude was founded September 29, 1791. The site selected had borne the name Soledad (solitude) ever since the first exploration of the country. The location was thirty miles northeast of San Car- los de Monterey. La Soledad, by which name it was generally known, was unfortunate in its early missionaries. One of them, Padre Gracia, was supposed to be insane and the other, Padre Rubi, was very immoral. Rubi was later on ex- pelled from his college for licentiousness. . \t the close of the century the mission had become fairly prosperous, but in 1802 an epidemic broke out and five or six deaths occurred daily. The Indians in alarm fled from the mission. The largest population of the mission was seven hundred and twenty-five in 1805. At the time of secularization its population had decreased to three hundred. The total number of baptisms during its existence was 2,222; number of deaths 1,803.
SAN JOSE.
St. Joseph had been designated by the visita- dor General Galvez and Father Junipero Serra as the patron saint of the mission colonization of California. Thirteen missions had been founded and yet none had been dedicated to San José. Orders came from Mexico that one be estab- lished and named for him. Accordingly a de- tail of a corporal and five men, accompanied by Father Lasnen, president of the missions, pro- ceeded to the site selected, which was about twelve miles northerly from the pueblo of San José. There, on June II, 1797. the mission was founded. The mission was well located agricul- turally and became one of the most prosperous in California. In 1820 it had a population of
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1,754, the highest of any mission except San Luis Rey. The total number of baptisms from its founding to 1834 was 6,737; deaths 5,109. Secularization was effected in 1836-37. The to- tal valuation of the mission property, not in- cluding lands or the church, was $155,000.
SAN JUAN BAUTISTA.
In May, 1797, Governor Borica ordered the comandante at Monterey to detail a corporal and five soldiers to proceed to a site that had been previously chosen for a mission which was about ten leagues northeast from Monterey. Here the soldiers erected of wood a church, priest's house, granary and guard house. June 24, 1797, President Lasuen, assisted by Fathers Catala and Martiari, founded the mission of San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist). At the close of the year, eighty-five converts had been baptized. The neighboring Indian tribes were hostile and some of them had to be killed before others learned to behave themselves. A new church, measuring 60x160 feet, was com- pleted and dedicated in 1812. San Juan was the only mission whose population increased between 1820 and 1830. This was due to the fact that its numbers were recruited from the eastern tribes, its location being favorable for obtaining new recruits from the gentiles. The largest popula- tion it ever reached was 1,248 in 1823. In 1834 there were but 850 neophytes at the mission.
SAN MIGUEL.
Midway between the old missions of San An- tonio and San Luis Obispo, on the 25th of July, 1797, was founded the mission of San Miguel Arcangel. The two old missions contributed horses, cattle and sheep to start the new one. The mission had a propitious beginning : fifteen children were baptized on the day the mission was founded. At the close of the century the number of converts reached three hundred and eighty-five, of whom fifty-three had died. The mission population numbered 1,076 in 1814; after that it steadily declined until, in 1834, there were only 599 attached to the establishment. Total number of baptisms was 2,588; deaths 2,038. The average death rate was 6.91 per cent of the population, the lowest rate in any
of the missions. The mission was secularized in 1836.
SAN FERNANDO REY DE ESPANA.
In the closing years of the century explora- tions were made for new mission sites in Cali- fornia. These were to be located between mis- sions already founded. Among those selected at that time was the site of the mission San Fer- nando on the Encino Rancho, then occupied by Francisco Reyes. Reyes surrendered whatever right he had to the land and the padres occupied his house for a dwelling while new buildings were in the course of erection.
September 8. 1797, with the tistal ceremo- nies, the mission was founded by President Lasten, assisted by Father Dumetz. According to instructions from Mexico it was dedicated to San Fernando Rey de España (Fernando III., King of Spain, 1217-1251). At the end of the year 1797, fifty-five converts had been gathered into the mission fold and at the end of the cen- tury three hundred and fifty-two had been bap- tized.
The adobe church began before the close of the century was completed and dedicated in De- cember, 1806. It had a tiled roof. It was but slightly injured by the great earthquakes of De- cember, 1812, which were so destructive to the mission buildings at San Juan Capistrano, Santa Barbara, La Purisima and Santa Ynez. This inission reached its greatest prosperity in 1819. when its neophyte population numbered 1,080. The largest number of cattle owned by it at one time was 12,800 in 1819.
Its decline was not so rapid as that of some of the other missions, but the death rate, espe- cially among the children, was fully as high. Of the 1,367 Indian children baptized there during the existence of mission rule 965, or over seventy per cent, died in childhood. It was not strange that the fearful death rate both of children and adults at the missions sometimes frightened the neophytes into running away.
SAN LUIS REY DE FRANCIA.
Several explorations had been made for a mis- sion site between San Diego and San Juan Capistrano. There was quite a large Indian
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population that had not been brought into the folds of either mission. In October, 1797, a new exploration of this territory was ordered and a site was finally selected, although the ag- ricultural advantages were regarded as not sat- isfactory.
Governor Borica, February 28, 1798, issued orders to the comandante at San Diego to furnish a detail of soldiers to aid in erecting the necessary buildings. June 13, 1798, President Lasuen, the successor of President Serra, as- sisted by Fathers Peyri and Santiago, with the usual services, founded the new mission. It was named San Luis Rey de Francia (St. Louis, King of France). Its location was near a river on which was bestowed the name of the mis- sion. The mission flourished from its very be- ginning. Its controlling power was Padre An- tonio Peyri. He remained in charge of it from its founding almost to its downfall, in all thirty- three years. He was a man of great executive abilities and under his administration it be- came one of the largest and most prosperous missions in California. It reached its maximum in 1826, when its neophyte population numbered 2,869, the largest number at one time connected with any mission in the territory.
The asistencia or auxiliary mission of San Antonio was established at Pala, seven leagues casterly from the parent mission. A chapel was erected here and regular services held. One of the padres connected with San Luis Rey was in charge of this station. Father Peyri left Cal- ifornia in 1831, with the exiled Governor Vic- toria. He went to Mexico and from there to Spain and lastly to Rome, where he died. The mission was converted into an Indian pueblo in 1834, but the pueblo was not a success. Most of the neophytes drifted to Los Angeles and San Gabriel. During the Mexican conquest American troops were stationed there. It has recently been partially repaired and is now used for a Franciscan school under charge of Father J. J. O'Keefe.
SANTA YNEZ.
Santa Ynez was the last mission founded in Southern California. It was established Sep- tember 17, 1804. Its location is about forty miles
northwesterly from Santa Barbara, on the east- erly side of the Santa Ynez mountains and eighteen miles southeasterly from La Purisima. Father Tapis, president of the missions from 1803 to 1812, preached the sermon and was assisted in the ceremonies by Fathers Cipies, Calzada and Gutierrez. Carrillo, the comandante at the presidio, was present, as were also a num- ber of neophytes from Santa Barbara and La Purisima. Some of these were transferred to the new mission.
The earthquake of December, 1812, shook down a portion of the church and destroyed a number of the neophytes' houses. In 1815 the erection of a new church was begun. It was built of adobes, lined with brick, and was completed and dedicated July 4, 1817. The Indian revolt of 1824, described in the sketch of La Purisima, broke out first at this mission. The neophytes took possession of the church. The mission guard defended themselves and the padre. At the approach of the troops from Santa Barbara the Indians fled to La Purisima.
San Ynez attained its greatest population, 770, in 1816. In 1834 its population had de- creased to 334. From its founding in 1804 to 1834, when the decrees of secularization were put in force, 757 Indian children were baptized and 519 died, leaving only 238, or about thirty per cent of those baptized to grow up.
SAN RAFAEL.
San Rafael was the first mission established north of the Bay of San Francisco. It was founded December 14, 1817. At first it was an asistencia or branch of San Francisco. An epi- demic had broken out in the Mission Dolores and a number of the Indians were transferred to San Rafael to escape the plague. Later on it attained to the dignity of a mission. In 1828 its population was 1,140. After 1830 it began to decline and at the time of its secularization in 1834 there were not more than 500 connected with it. In the seventeen years of its existence under mission rule there were 1.873 baptisms and 698 deaths. The average death rate was 6.09 per cent of the population. The mission was secularized in 1834. All traces of the mission building have disappeared.
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SAN FRANCISCO SOLANO.
The mission of San Francisco de Asis had fallen into a rapid decline. The epidemic that had carried off a number of the neophytes and had caused the transfer of a considerable num- ber to San Rafael had greatly reduced its popu- lation. Besides, the sterility of the soil in the vicinity of the mission necessitated going a long distance for agricultural land and pasturage for the herds and flocks. On this account and also for the reason that a number of new converts might be obtained from the gentiles living in the district north of the bay, Governor Arguello and the mission authorities decided to establish a mission in that region. Explorations were made in June and July, 1823. On the 4th of July a site was selected, a cross blessed and raised, a volley of musketry fired and mass said at a place named New San Francisco, but after- wards designated as the Mission of San Fran- cisco Solano. On the 25th of August work was begun on the mission building and on the 4th of April, 1824, a church, 24x105 feet, built of wood, was dedicated.
It had been intended to remove the neophytes from the old mission of San Francisco to the new; but the padres of the old mission opposed its depopulation and suppression. A com- promise was effected by allowing all neophytes of the old mission who so elected to go to the new. Although well located, the Mission of Solano was not prosperous. Its largest popula- tion, 996, was reached in 1832. The total num- ber of baptisms were 1,315; deaths, 651. The average deatlı rate was 7.8 per cent of the pop- ulation. The mission was secularized in 1835, at which time there were about 550 neophytes at- tached to it.
The architecture of the missions was Moorish -that is, if it belonged to any school. The padresin most cases were the architects and mas- ter builders. The main feature of the buildings was massiveness. Built of adobe or rough stone. their walls were of great thickness. Most of the church buildings were narrow, their width being out of proportion to their length. This was necessitated by the difficulty of procuring joists and rafters of sufficient length for wide build- ings. The padres had no means or perhaps no 5
knowledge of trussing a roof, and the width of the building had to be proportioned to the length of the timbers procurable. Some of the buildings were planned with an eye for the pic- turesque, others for utility only. The sites se- lected for the mission buildings in nearly every case commanded a fine view of the surrounding country. In their prime, their white walls loom- ing up on the horizon could be seen at long distance and acted as beacons to guide the trav- cler to their hospitable shelter.
Col. J. J. Warner, who came to California in 1831, and saw the mission buildings before they had fallen into decay, thus describes their gen- eral plan: "As soon after the founding of a mission as circumstances would permit, a large pile of buildings in the form of a quadrangle, composed in part of burnt brick, but chiefly of sun-dried ones, was erected around a spacious court. A large and capacious church, which usually occupied one of the outer corners of the quadrangle, was a conspicuous part of the pile. In this massive building, covered with red tile, was the habitation of the friars, rooms for guests and for the major domos and their families. In other buildings of the quadrangle were hospital wards, storehouses and granaries, rooms for carding, spinning and weaving of woolen fab- rics, shops for blacksmithis, joiners and carpen- ters, saddlers, shoemakers and soap boilers, and cellars for storing the product (wine and brandy) of the vineyards. Near the habitation of the friars another building of similar material was placed and used as quarters for a small number -about a corporal's guard-of soldiers under command of a non-commissioned officer, to hold the Indian neophytes in check as well as to pro- tect the mission from the attacks of hostile In- dians." The Indians, when the buildings of the establishment were complete, lived in adobe houses built in lines near the quadrangle. Some of the buildings of the square were occupied by the alcaldes or Indian bosses. When the In- dians were gathered into the missions at first they lived in brush shanties constructed in the same manner as their forefathers had built them for generations. In some of the missions these luts were not replaced by adobe buildings for a generation or more. Vancouver, who visited
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