History of California

han any other road in the new world. Over it had passed Montezuma with all the splendor of his pagan court. On it, too, had marched and counter marched his grim conqueror, the great Cortez.

nly a priest in the brownish gray cloak of the order of St. Francis. He was slight in figure, and limped painfully from a sore on his leg, caused, it is supposed, by the bite of some poisonous reptile. The chan

rted thousands calling me," was all the answer he gave. So on foot, with no luggage

reatest desire to go to them as a missionary. At eighteen he became a priest; but it was not until his thirty-sixth year that he gained the opportunity of which

ich was coming to meet them. So he started out on foot, with only such companion

ter affairs in the new world. Flourishing settlements were by this time scattered over a large portion of Mexico, and even in the peninsula of Lower California there were a number of missi

ey to help you," was the answer returned by the officers of the govern

California; and, many years later, the expenses of founding the twenty-one missions of Upper California came from the same source. This fund became the subject of a long dispute between Mexico and the United States, of which an account is given in Chapter XI. - In 1767 all the Jesuit priests in New Spain were called back to Europe, and a large portion of their wealth and missions on the peninsula were given over to the order of St. Franci

check the ambitious schemes of a foreign power; and lastly, to carry out a plan formed by Philip the Third, as long ago as

California, two by land, two by sea. Captain Portola, governor of the peninsula,

se, back they will come, and I shall have the whole thing to do over again. I must find some one who is interested in the work, some one who will not find

a success?" asked Galvez, after he h

y the cross of the holy faith [Santa Fe] into the wilderness, and He will go with us; can you not hear the heat

ng's counselor-down on the wharf, even workin

d was passed along, and in a short t

n another ship; while a third vessel which started later was never heard from. Padre Junipero, who accompanied the second land party, under the charge of Governor Portola, became so ill

, and cure my

ocked at the idea, "I am no su

t, my child," said the padre

eg was so much better that the cure was thought to be a miracle. Still the padre was very weak; and there was great rejoicing in the party when at last they looked down from a height on San Diego Bay, with the two ships-the S

ure of the ship San Antonio, which was to be sent back for supplies, and packing up food and other necessities for the journey to Monterey. The San Anto

eat work-the conversion of the heathen. He had written back in his own peculiar way

eph, and Mary, This t

friend

San Diego. We find Gentiles [the name given to the wild Indians] here in great numbers. They seem to lead tempe

converted Indian, whom he had brought with him from the peninsula, was appointed to ring them. As the sweet tones sounded on the clear air, all the party who were able gathered about the padre, who stood lifting the cross of Christ on high. All

what they thought to be Point Pinos, the name given by Cabrillo to the pine-covered cape to the south of Monterey Bay. They were right in thinking thi

ights, could be the well-inclosed port lying at the foot of hills richly green, so warmly described by Vizcaino in his winter voyage. It was a great disappointment, for

an open bay, or roadstead, lying between the point on which they stood, and one extending into the sea far to the northwest. Upon looking at their map of Vizcaino's voyage, they rightly decided that this farther projection was Point Reyes; the little bay sheltered by the curve of its arm was the one named on the map St. Francis, and now

, it was decided to travel no further, but to camp here while Sergeant Ortega was dis

little imagining the honor which was soon to be his. Leading this expedition, he was the first white man to explore the peninsula where now stands the guardian city of the

ed hidden from European explorers, baffling the anxious gaze of Cabrillo, the faithfu

second surprise, when from the Presidio hills he looked down

you come. We k

e commander and his party so weakened by sickness and the lack of food that it had been decided to explore no fart

ed, that the bay was filled up with sand. Keener still was his grief when Portola, after looking over the supply of food, announced that unless the sh

e beginning of the march toward Lower California, the padres went to the heights overlooking the bay, where they remained watching and praying. At sea a heavy fog hung over the water. Hour after hour passed as they gazed out on the lovely bay. Noon came, but they would not return to the mission to rest o

sions but fresh orders from Galvez to hurry the work at Monte

to Padre Palou: "By the favor of God, after a month and a half of painful navigation, the San Antonio found anchor in

uthority, that the oak remained standing until 1838, when th

io, gay with bunting, swinging at anchor a short distance out, while on shore were grouped the sailors in the bright dress of seamen of those times, the soldiers in leather uniform, the governor and his staff in the handsome costumes of Spanish officials, and the

orrowed from the Roman presidium. The word meant a fort or fortified town. These presidios were intended to g

d saluting the royal banner, pulling up bunches of grass, and casting stones, which was an ancient manner of taking possession of a piece of land or cou

the Carmelo River. Although not so wealthy as some of the missions, it was the home of Padre

or Father Francisco, head of our order, is there to be no mission for him?" To which Galvez had replied, "If Saint Francis wants a mission, let him cause his port to be found and it will be placed there." When the beautiful bay was discovered by Sergeant Ortega, it was thought that this might be the harbor Saint Francis intended for himself, but before na

vy, with the San Carlos, had the h

hen, as it was a little slow in returning, he daringly pushed on in the darkness into the unknown water. His small craft bobbed and plunged in the rough water of the

tion of San Francisco known as the Mission District, at the corner of Sixteenth and Dolores streets, the mission of San Francisco. This is often called Mission Dolores from the name of a small lake and

nity of Monterey Bay there were, besides the San Carlos mission, Santa Cruz on the northern curve of the bay, and in the fertile valley back of the Santa Cru

elligent and industrious than in other portions of the country settled by the missionaries,

unded. Between San Gabriel and San Diego were placed San Juan Capistrano, San Luis Rey, and the chapel of Pala. San

es might be told. It would be well if those who live near one of these noble ruins would seek out its particular history

a wilderness inhabited only by savage men and wild animals, hundreds of miles

ssions of Lower California, a little live stock, some church furniture, and always the bells; yet in a little over forty years they had succe

f the land,-buildings that have lasted for a hundred years and may last many years longer if care is taken to preserve t

s from Mexico, developed, under their care, into the great fields of grain, groves of oranges and olives, and the wide-

ily for the good of their souls in the truths of the Christian religion, while for their bodily needs they were taught to plow the earth, to plant seed, to raise and

and hands, but his every thought and action seemed to be for others. Back and forth from Monterey to San Diego, from mission to mission, he traveled almost constantly, teaching, baptizing, c

they finally died. The inhabitants of California may well honor the mission padres for their earnest, unselfish lives, and in no way can this be don

n fancy, visit the missions in the

hundred horses, and twenty asses brought up by Padre Junipero in 1769 to be divided among the earlier missions, San Diego had only its due share; yet under the wise management of the padres, they have now at this mission, feeding on the green plains, thousands of cattle, horses, and

y. He sends us a servant to show us to our room, a small square apartment with a hard earthen floor and bare, whitewashed walls with no ornament but a cross. The beds are of rawhide stretched

t his trade by the padre himself. The Indian boys who wait on the table also show careful training, performing their duties quickly and quietly. Here we can find for bread the tortilla,-still the food of the Indian and Mexican people of C

nches thick, and the walls are laid two or three bricks deep, those of the church itself being nearly four feet in thickness. It seems almost impossible that so large and well made a building could have been constructed by untrained workmen. Next to the church are the rooms of

g and cutting square holes in logs for the beams of new buildings which the padres wish to put up. Saddle makers, squatted on the ground, are busy fashioning saddletrees, carving, and sewing leather. The shoemaker is hard at work with needle and a

cloth. Others are cutting out and sewing garments. Some, squatted on the ground, are grinding corn into a coarse meal for the atole, or mush. At the zanja several are engaged in washing clothes. Here these girls live under the care of an old Indian woman, and unless she accompanies them they may not, until they are ma

nd sixty feet long, fifty-eight feet wide, and sixty feet high. Its one square, two-story tower has a chime of bells, the sweet clear tones of which reached our ears while we were yet miles from the mission. Counting the arches of the long corridor, we find there are tw

away from his Indian children, as he called them, slipped off by night to San Diego. In the morning the Indians missed him. Learning what had happened, 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 Padre Peyri on board, wa

ar of our Declaration of Independence, but in 1812 it was destroyed by an earthquake, the massive towers and noble arch falling in

d company,-Indians in their best clothes, their faces shining from a liberal use of mission soap and water; soldiers in their leather suits freshened up for the holiday; a few ranc

the Rooster Mass, is long since over. The crowd is now gathered for the Pastorel, which, l

ny of shepherds. The entertainment is very simple. There is the announcement of the birth of the Savior, the adoration of the babe, and the offering of gifts. The play concludes with a protracted struggle between San Gabriel and Satan for the po

region, and enter the valley of the Los Angeles River. After traveling for several hours, we come to a large plantation of trees, vines, and grainfields, in the midst of which lies the mission of San Fernando. Its land extends for

be killed and the fat rendered into tallow for the market. As hides and tallow are about the only commodities the padres have for sale, this is an important event. Indians tend the caldrons of bubbling grease, and ke

e coast we come

a hillside creamy rise The mission towers who

them, followed by a long procession of dusky reapers, up the ascent to the church. As they approach, the bells burst out in a joyous peal, and from the mission doors the padres come forth, one bearing a cross, anot

Junipero Serra, and, at the time we see it, his monument as well; for in it at last his weary body was laid to rest beside his friend Padre Juan Crespi, to whose writings, next to those of Padre Francisco Palou, w

eople had been waiting, listening for the news from the sick room. When the tolling of the bell announced

tearing the padre's robe from his body, so earnestly did they d

etimes from the freshly killed beeves, but generally in a dried state called carne seco. After breakfast the workers go in groups to their various employments. Dinner is served at eleven, and they have a resting period until two. Then work is again taken up and continued until an hour before sunset, when the bells call to evening prayer. Supper follows

the work, which was seldom very heavy. When disobedient or lazy, they were punished severely, judging by the standards of to-day, but really no harder than was at that time the custom in schools and in navies the world over. When the soldiers came in

ut Padre Junipero begged so hard for the culprits, who, he said, knew no better, having no knowledge of God, that he was finally allowed to have his way. Gentleness and patience won the day; not only the Indians who made the attack were converted, but many more of their tribe, and the mis

he soldiers or run the government in Upper California, and for a long

rk, and were not so energetic. Their influence was not always good for the Indians, who quickly saw the difference between them and their old padres. They had little confidence

control of the church, but to be his own master like any other citizen. As for the padres, they were to give up their wealth and lands, and leave for other missionary fields. That this would create a great change in California all realized; still it was no new idea, b

to work and became troublesome. Many, however, when they found that the padres were to leave them, became ver

hey still needed some one to guide them. They not only began to drink and gamble, but were cheated and ill-treated on all sides, until many of them became afraid

the truth is that the padres taught them by thousands, not only to cultivate the soil, to irrigate wisely, to raise domestic cattle, but to work at every trade that could be of use in a new country. They were encouraged to choose from among themselves

through the country, many of them going back to the wild life in the forest and mountains, where they no longer had any religious instructions. Yet to-day, after all the years that have passed, ther

as only ruin where a short time before there had been thousands of busy people leading comfortable lives. Soon the churches were neglected and began to crumble away, bats flew in and out of the broken arches,

ns from dus

to God i

ntered 'roun

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