San Miguel:

While researching the San Miguel Mission I learned about the beautiful architecture put into the San Miguel mission, and the area in which it was built. The San Miguel mission is situated along the El Camino Real between Missions San Antonio and Mission San Luis Obispo. The inside of the mission has actually never been repainted. The coolest part of the fact that the inside of the mission has never been repainted is that the original interior painting of the mission San Miguel was done by the Native Americans in that area. Inside we can find various religious murals directed by artist, rancher and Spanish diplomat Esteban Carlos Munras and painted by the San Miguel Natives. This mission is considered the best preserved of all the California missions in the mission chain. One reason this mission may have been so well preserved is because in 1946 only eleven years after the Catholic Church had secularized the mission was sold for $600 as private property, and obviously the owner did not disturb any part of its original design.Today the mission is surrounded by modern brick and stone structures which may match the mission but are as I've stated modern and as such not part of the original San Miguel area. In fact the Native Americans were literally next door neighbors to the mission. The San Miguel Natives lived off of the land. For this reason the natives were attached to this building as an inherited part of their culture. This being so, the natives helped this mission survive throughout the years. As of today the only part of the mission structure itself that still survives is the base foundation. While researching the San Miguel mission I also learned about the day to day work done on the mission. The San Miguel mission was always vibrantly busy with farm work to do. The economy of this mission much like its counterparts is sustained by wheat and corn (the staple crops), vineyards, and farm animals such as cows and sheep. The main work done by the San Miguel mission natives was the manufacturing of roof tiles. This process thanks to the natives is considered a main reason why this mission was one of the most prosperous of them all. Also this mission was detrimental to the other missions because the Miguel missions traded their tiles with other missions and these missions because of the different weather and earthquake patterns needed these roofing materials to rebuild their structures. Mission San Miguel has the only church with paintings and decorations inside that have never been retouched by subsequent artists. The view presented to the visitor, except for the more modern bench pews. The church is exactly the same as that seen by the Indian converts. In its museum, a good amount of effort was put in to present the tools used in mission industries like, a spinning wheel and loom, a beehive oven, fish traps, branding irons, forging tools, and a tile kiln. The tile kiln is even still in operation.One of the most interesting of the exhibits is a "mission window". The reason this missing window is so interesting is because it is type used before the padres obtained glass. It is a wooden frame, over which cowhide is stretched very thinly, then shaved and greased to increase its translucence. These frames were pegged into the window openings during periods of cold or inclement weather. The long and leisurely road that formed El Camino Real, used to be a passage that travelers took across California and they’d stop in at the mission because of how close it was on their journey. Today people still use this passage to move across California because now it’s a huge highway but now many of its travelers speed past Mission San Miguel without pause. However every so often travelers are attracted to the beauty of the adobe mission and its gardens, so they stop and discover for themselves achievements of these California natives and pioneers. So this just goes to show past or present those missionaries who decided to place this mission right next to the El Camino Real were some very smart cookies because travelers from all over pass it every day.

San Inez:

While researching the San Inez mission I learned about the discovery of the land on which the mission was found. A Portuguese navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was given credit for the discovery of the Santa Barbara Channel during an exploratory voyage in October 1542. He is said to have claimed the land in the name of the Spanish king. Sixty years after Cabrillo claimed the land Sebastian Viscaino named the channel in honor of Saint Barbara as he sailed in on The Eve of the Feast of St. Barbara, December 3, 1602. Also a century after this Franciscan Missionaries joined the Spanish military in settling “Alta” or upper California with the goal of a political and spiritual conquest of the new land. While in Mi guel there was only one real form of financing the economy Inez  there are multiple forms and way of the economy making money. The natives of the area are known as the Chumash. These natives made up the bulk of the money put into the economy. They had a diversified and interdependent economy based on their many talents and craftsmanship. I learned about the people that found this area. In the early 1500’s the Portuguese navigated the area near Inez. One of the Portuguese navigators was Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was the discoverer who found the Santa Barbara Channel. Through this channel the Spanish raveled to this area and charted the land that they would later build their mission upon. Also I learned about the specifications of the building. In 1804 the mission was just a row of buildings. These buildings were 232 feet in length and 19 feet in both height and width. This construction style reminds me of the longhouses that Native Americans sometimes lived in. The mission President Fermin Francisco de Lasuen claimed the land Inez was on for Viceroy Branciforte. Inez was the 16th mission founded. One of the main purposes of the new mission was a station during travel between Mission San Luis Obispo and San Antonio. The mission system was so devised that each mission was a day's travel from its neighbor. In my research of the Inez mission I learned about the original claiming of the land on which The San Inez Mission was founded. The Portuguese navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo as I said before was the man credited for finding the Santa Barbara Channel. This discovery was supposedly during an exploratory voyage in October 1542, in which he claimed the land in the name of the Spanish king. Sixty years later a man named Sebastian Viscaino renamed the channel in honor of Saint Barbara, the ship on which he sailed in on. He started his sailing voyage December 3, 1602. It was going to be years before the Franciscans were able to launch their new Mission. The reason for this was the governor died, so approval was then needed from his successor, Jose de Arrillaga, in Baja California. Being unfamiliar to the area Governor Arrillaga wrote to Father Lasuen in April 1803. He wrote about the number of guards that would be needed for the new Mission, but then Father Lasuen died. The Capuchin Franciscan fathers were the priests who did the restorations. They began full restoration of the Mission in 1947. When men working to restore the mission removed the roof from part of the building, they discovered several rooms that had been used as living quarters in the previous century by the Mission fathers. This revealed a balcony with rooms behind it, above the arches. Many repairs were made on the roof of the church and sections of the south end of the building were actually completely remodeled, unlike the rest which is mainly still intact.

La Purisima:

While researching the La Purisima mission I learned about the area that the mission was in and the date of its founding. The La Purisima mission was founded in 1787. The mission land has decreased since its active days. The Spanish who owned the mission in 1787 owned 470 square miles of land that they used for the mission and agricultural activities involved with it. Bordering the La Purisima Mission were the Santa Maria River to its North and the Gaviota coastline to its South. The Chumash people made up the bulk of the mission neophytes, or priests in training. Hours worked by the neophytes were not to exceed five hours per day. To keep them at the mission unfortunately even pregnant, nursing, and aged women, as well as children were required to perform small amounts of work. This light work was called piece work. The neophytes were taught how to deal with the soldiers and other people outside of the mission. The neophytes did not like to work for the soldiers because the soldiers over-burdened them, or deprived them of the necessities enjoyed by those at the mission.The La Purisima mission was founded by Father and Mission president Fermin de Lasuen. He founded this mission as the 11^th of the 21 California missions that were to be established. The mission was dedicated to “the Immaculate Conception of Most Holy Mary.” The mission’s rather long official name is Misión La Purisima Concepcion De Maria Santísima. The La Purisima mission was solely established to convert the Chumash Natives to Catholicism and make them subjects under the King of Spain. This mission was one of five specific missions in the area dedicated solely to the conversion of this specific native people. The idea behind this of course was labor, the Chumash Natives were a large people and to have control of them as a work force would be a huge benefit to the king. The site chosen for La Purisima Mission was known to the Spanish as the plain of Rio Santa Rosa and by the Chumash as Algsacpi. Unlike what I had expected to read in my research I discovered that for the most part the Chumash while they weren't exactly respected they were treated quite well. The Chumash neophytes, or ministers in training, actually lived on the mission grounds. While the natives were the bulk of the work force they never worked over five hours per day of course not including work considered piece work. These tasks usually only included cooking and cleaning. The padres had many ups and downs with their first few years of construction. By far the Chumash natives had to be their most favors up, while they did have to attract them to the idea of helping the padres with work the fact that they did is what made this mission venture even possible. The construction projects included the church, living quarters, workshops, storage, water systems, and clearing land for all of the above as well as an area for planting. The planting that they had to clear land for varied from crops, to orchards and even vineyards. In 1802, church structure was completed. This project heightened the Padres' fear about their lack of construction knowledge and their need for skilled craftsmen at the mission. The doorway of this structure still stands at the original mission site. This mission is now owned by the City of Lompoc. For the construction masons from other missions were brought in. There were little coin or forms of money in use in California at the time. The main items used for trading were soap, cigars, horses, cattle, hides and tallow. Obviously, there were supplies that the mission could not produce on their own. Each year, ships from San Blas, Mexico, brought china sugar, fine cloth, and other commodities and these items were exchanged for mission products. The fathers yearly received four hundred dollars worth of mission equipment. Of course as expected it started with the natives. The natives felt that the mission was a blow to their tribe’s pride. As such they left the mission life. Without the natives, the backbone and blood of the mission, the work could not be done. Without the mission prospering it fell apart and was sold.
 

Carmel - Bautista and Soledad

San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo: (Find on Yelp)

Father Junipero Serra, president of the mission chain at the time, was a man true to his vow of poverty. When Father Junipero Serra died on August 28, 1784, his only possessions were a board cot, a blanket, one table, one chair, a chest, a candlestick, and a gourd, and nothing else. He is buried in the Mission sanctuary along with Fathers Juan Crespi and Fermin Lasuen. In 1985, Pope John Paul II declared Junipero Serra venerable and in 1988 he was beatified in recognition of his heroic virtues. He is one of the most important figures in the history of California and the United States of America. The mission had to take responsibility for sustaining itself through the long winters and dry summers. During the summer of 1773 came without bringing the supply ship. Neither Carmel nor Monterey was anything like self-supporting. The presidio had some cattle and the stock belonging to the projected northern missions. No doubt there had been some planting but certainly no more than was necessary for its own personnel. In December '72 Father Crespí had sown about five bushels of wheat and a bit of barley in the field called San Jose. Early in '73 he planted a few pecks of beans and corn in the field called San Carlos. The land in both cases was but poorly spaded as they were not able to plow. July 5, there fell a frost which ruined the beans and half the corn. The rest yielded about fifteen bushels. The soldiers in the area didn't help too much in persuading the neophytes, most of which being Native Americans, to keep the faith. Father Junipero Serra realized that Monterey was not a very good location for his mission. There were too few Indians and it was too close to the presidio and the soldiers (some of whom were "leather-jacket" soldiers, who were often recruited from jails). Serra did not want his Indian neophytes exposed to their influence. Also, there was no good agricultural land around Monterey, and the mission would have to grow much of its own food. When the ship San Antonio left on July 9, 1770, just five weeks after the founding of Monterey, it carried a message asking permission to move the mission to Carmel. As at the presidio, the first buildings at the new mission site there were logs stuck into the ground, with additional logs forming a framework for a thatched roof. The first buildings included one room for a chapel, a four-room dwelling, a granary, and a dwelling for the servants and its kitchen. These were surrounded by a stockade about 130 by 200 feet in size, which included a guardhouse for the soldiers. After the new mission had been settled, life was divided between short intervals of sufficiency followed by long waits for additional supplies from Mexico. The early years were hard, with few provisions. The padres depended mostly on the Indians for supplies. Later local crops became sufficient, and the temporary buildings were replaced with adobe structures.

San Juan Bautista:

The mission was founded in summer of 1797. The founders name was Fr. Fermin de Lasuen, and he was the President of the California Missions. This mission was the fifteenth mission to be founded. At the time of Mission san Juan Bautista’s founding the California Missions president was Father Fermin Lasuen. This area lands right on the San Andreas Fault line. An interesting this about the part of the fault they were on was that is was not very dangerous at all and the magnitude of its shakes and quakes never caused to extensive of damage. While the damage and magnitude of these quakes was never extensive to frequency was. An account of one past visitor of the old mission was “In October 1798 the shaking was so bad that the missionaries slept outside for the whole month. The earth shook as many as 6 times on one day, leaving many huge cracks in both the buildings and the ground.” While researching the San Juan Batista mission I learned the supposed story of its founding. According to the Athanasius privately owned California missions records site, it all “began with a group of leather-jacketed soldiers and a few Native Americans watching a tonsured Franciscan priest raise his eyes and hands toward the sky.” With religious inspiration Father Fermin Lasuen founded the mission site. The site was founded in honor of Saint John the Baptist. The founding happened Saturday June 24^th 1797 and was the 15^th of the 21 missions in the California mission chain. The mission fortunately for the people of that time was furnished by a skilled American carpenter. Half-way through his job the carpenter, Thomas Doak decided to marry the daughter of one Jose Castro. Doing such according to Spanish law at the time gave him the choice to be American or Spanish and seeing as her family was his only family he became Spanish. I see this as slightly ironic because while today people in Mexico try to find employment in America, usually being work in the same category as carpentry and usually seeking citizenship, this American in his own time period came to a Spanish territory to do carpentry work and ended up a Mexican citizen. The San Juan Buatista Mission actually has its own legend. This legend was the legend of the Mission del Rio de los Santos Reyes. As the story goes this mission wasn’t a mission at all but rather was just the result of the mission fever that these Spanish missionaries had. “In 1831, a Boston stonemason, Caleb Merrill, arrived at Mission San Diego. His services were appreciated at once by the Franciscans, and it was not long before he was working at Carmel. A short time later, a missionary expedition arrived at San Juan Bautista leaving behind them a pile of adobe masonry which was still evident in the 1860's.” So that’s the story the all famous Mission del Rio de los Santos Reyes was nothing more than a pile of rubble that the stonemason’s decided not to lug across the kings river. Lastly and most interesting to me is the musical instrument that the mission acquired which was a big deal seeing as the missionaries were big on being dirt poor in order to grow closer to God. “An English barrel organ was acquired in 1826 and this crank-operated music maker produced wonder and enjoyment for the neophytes.” This was a new idea for the mission because of the type of music organs would be used to play. “The organ is an odd thing to have in a church, though. Its tunes are reported to include "Go to the Devil, Spanish Waltz, College Hornpipe, and Lady Campbell's Reel.", tunes better known by rowdy sailors than pious fathers.” Also the mission was used in a horror movie no less. “The mission is seen in Alfred Hitchcock's film Vertigo. Fans of the movie may notice that the bell tower, featured in two dramatic scenes in the movie, does not exist.”


Soledad:

While studying the Soledad mission I learned a little about the background some of its most prestigious friars had. The two friars of whom I speak are Fr. Marino Rubi and Fr. Bartolome Gili. They had known each other forever it seemed before they were working side by side at the mission. Their story began back in college when they were both attending the College of San Fernando. In their records it’s said that “they were a constant source of alarm and discomfort to their fellows and the charges against them range from robbing the storeroom of the community chocolate to rolling balls through the college dormitory after midnight.” (According to athanasius.com) The mission Soledad actually didn’t have a name when it came to where it was now it was just an idea of one of the missionary monks that the mission could be used well in this area. The name of the mission was actually taken from the native people. When the Spanish missionaries came to the area the mission is now they were led by a native American man who answered every question the missionaries gave them with one solitary word that seemed similar the Spanish word for solitude. Soledad was that Spanish word for solitude and even though this wasn’t the word the native used being that the mission was a Spanish mission its name soon evolved into a Spanish word. The land under the mission was beautiful rolling hills and valleys. While these valleys may have been inviting in the spring the winter invited only floods. For this reason I saw I learned about the native relationship to the mission; the natives and the mission monks had to struggle to survive together many winters. I wouldn't know off hand what it’s like to truly depend on someone for survival during floods but I could imagine it’s a mighty emotional process. The mission monks, the natives, and frankly everybody else in the area depended on the river for life. That river was not only used for drinking and fishing but for irrigation throughout the land. The name solitude really describes this mission area well because the mission other than that one river was a desolate hill covered valley. Besides the minter flooding and summer turning the area into a desolate desert another natural disaster that frequented the area was earthquakes. I also learned that the mission wasn’t only owned by the Catholic Church. I learned that when Spain lost its power over Mexico and Mexico gained its independence the Spanish sold the mission to a private owner. The reason for the sale was without Spain occupying Mexico any longer keeping control of the missions would be too much of an economic hassle. In 1841 the Catholic Church decided that they should just sell off the property from all 21 missions this way they would just cut their losses and save themselves a lot of money. The mission was sold for a heaping 800 dollars which at the time was a lot of money. Fortunately for both history and the Catholic Church Abraham Lincoln in 1863 signed an act declaring that property from all 21 original Spanish missions should be returned to the Catholic Church. While the length of this mission’s survival in comparison to the other missions is not in any way better the damages it recovered from were extensive. The Soledad mission functioned and with stood drought flooding and even earthquakes for a good 60 years. The mission had a give and take relationship with the resident natives in the area. The natives either were related to or were themselves neophytes in the Catholic Church the fact that the church was used as a hospital for the gravely ill diseased natives the local Nootka natives was why the natives felt responsible for the survival of the mission so during the natural disasters that often struck this mission the monks weren’t alone in fighting the elements.

The Twin Cities and Santa Cruz

Santa Clara:

The Santa Clara mission was named the same way the city was. The city of Santa Clara was named after Saint Claire. Saint Claire was from a place known as Assisi. This is why the mission is known as the Santa Clara Asis. The founder of this mission was Fray Tomas de la Peña (Junipero Serra). This eighth mission was founded on January 12, 1777. There is an entire college named after this mission. As well as this there is also a cemetery names after the Santa Clara mission. In this cemetery are buried some of the dead Native Americans that came to this mission too late to be saved. It seems that this college is really connected to it. The first sight that greets visitors to Santa Clara University. on the outside at least, looks exactly lie the restored church of Mission Santa Clara de Asis. Santa Clara University, the oldest college in California, is also the only college in the state to be the successor of a Spanish mission. The history of both institutions is intimately bound up with the history of the state. While researching this mission I learned about the original exploration Gaspar de Portola took in the land that became the Santa Cruz mission. European explorers first saw the Santa Clara Valley in 1769. When Gaspar de Portola’s took his land expedition to Monterey Bay it continued up the coast to San Francisco, then rounded the southern tip of San Francisco Bay. Other early expeditions passed through the valley during the 1770s. The diarists of these expeditions, such as Juan Crespí, Francisco Palou, Pedro Font, and Juan Bautista de Anza, described the Santa Clara Valley as a broad grassy plain covered with oaks and well-watered with marshy creeks and rivers, whose courses could be traced from a distance by the trees growing along their banks.During the original expeditions exploration was overseen by Spanish Viceroy Antonio Bucareli. This mission site had something special about it that I did not know about. This site was the home base of the viceroy’s expeditions. One of these expeditions, in 1774, was specially ordered by the Spanish Viceroy Antonio Bucareli to select sites for future missions. Just as I had said before in the Santa Clara cemetery there are buried some of the dead Native Americans that came to this mission too late to be saved. As one of the mission commodities there was a hospital but because medicine in the colonial period was still a medieval science many were lost and laid to rest in this cemetery. This cemetery still takes recipients and is a part of the cities heritage. Anna S. a local resident and critic of the Santa Clara Mission cemetery from yelp told her story about how the mission cemetery is a part of her life, “This is a cute and well-maintained cemetery. For some reason I used to play here in the sprinklers as a kid. my parents are not exactly the religious type. It’s a pretty peaceful place to hop the fence and just chill out in, at night. not that I’d do that at my age, I am a law-abiding citizen.” One a less present note another interesting part of the missions work was the conversion of the native groups in the area and the connection they had to the mission. “The Indians the missionaries wished to convert, known as Costanoans (from the Spanish Costenos, or people of the coast) or Ohlones (an Indian word of uncertain meaning), had lived in the hills and valleys around the Bay for thousands of years before the arrival of the Spanish. Unlike the Indians of Mexico, the Ohlones built no great cities, nor did they develop agriculture. They lived in tiny settlements, called by the Spanish rancherías, and survived by hunting and gathering. Although their staple food was the acorn, ground by the women in stone mortars and made into porridge or cakes, they varied their diet with fish and shellfish from the Bay and rivers, with seeds and roots from the meadows, and with venison, rabbit, and quail. The Ohlones lived a peaceful life in harmony with their environment, a life that changed irrevocably with the coming of the Franciscan missionaries.” When researching the Mission Santa Clara I realized how this mission is connected with Mission San Jose. Of course the Santa Clara mission came first. The padres did their best to keep the mission and the pueblo separated. They did this with strong knowledge of the detrimental influence of civilians on the neophytes. Ultimately, mission and pueblo grew into the twin cities of Santa Clara and San Jose. 

San Jose:

Mission San Jose was founded June 11, 1797.The founder of the Mission San Jose was Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuen. He was the President of the California Missions Chain. As this he had in mind plans for multiple more mission sites in the California area, so this site was almost a headquarters for his mission plants.The site on which the mission president was saying with was no accident. He chose this site because of the access it gave him to the routes to his other missions. The site was part of a natural highway by way of the Livermore Valley to the San Juaquin Valley. Currently the mission of course is in San Jose. The Mission Church and museum are open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. They are closed on New Year's Day, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. San Jose mission is the only mission east of the San Francisco Bay Many sources incorrectly name Mission San Jose as Mission San Jose de Guadalupe. “The site chosen for the only mission on the east side of San Francisco Bay had been inhabited for countless generations -by the Ohlone Indians. Their village at this site was known as Orisom. The Ohlones lived close to the land in harmony with nature, taking what they needed for their sustenance but never wasting irreplaceable resources. What we could call ecology was a way of life for them. Their food included seeds, roots, berries, acorn meal, small game and seafood. Three years after the founding of Mission San Jose, several hundred Ohlones had come to live at the Mission. They were introduced to a new way of life by the Spanish Franciscan missionaries. Thousand of cattle roamed the mission ranges. Acres of wheat and other crops were planted and harvested under the direction of the padres.” The men did a variety of jobs, having learned from the missionaries how to plow, sow, irrigate, cultivate, reap, thresh, and glean. In addition, they were taught to build adobe houses, tan leather hides, shear sheep, and weave rugs and clothing from wool, make ropes, soap, paint, and other useful articles. The work day was six hours, interrupted by dinner and a two-hour siesta, and ending with supper and social activities. About 90 days of the year were religious or civil holidays, free from manual labor. More recently,  After extensive archaeological excavations and planning, construction began in 1982 on a replica of the 1809 adobe church. It was completed and rededicated on June 11, 1985. With its simple and forthright exterior, the mission church stands as a tribute to those whose efforts made this dream come true. The richly decorated interior follows the descriptions in the historic inventories of the 1830's when the church had been extensively decorated. The walls vary in thickness from 4 to 5 feet. The lumber used in the reconstruction has been given a hand-hewn appearance. Two of the original statues have been placed on the two side altars. "Ecce Homo", a figure of Christ clothed in a scarlet robe and crowned with thorns, stands on a balcony above one of the side altars.

Santa Cruz:

The area along Monterey Bay's northern shore got its name years ago before a mission was built there. In 1769, Captain Gaspar de Portola rode through the area and gave it the name Santa Cruz (which is Spanish for Holy Cross). Father Francisco Palou crossed the San Lorenzo River in 1774. Father Francisco Palou was impressed by the amazing look and feel of the country around him. He all the beauty found in the plants and forest of tall trees, and concluded the place would support a large and successful community. The full Spanish name of the mission is "Misión la exaltación de la Santa Cruz." The mission was named after a feast day in the Church calendar which occurs on September 14: The Exaltation of the Holy Cross. This feast was to celebrate the Christian symbol of the cross on which Jesus was crucified." In the beginning, the new Mission Santa Cruz was successful, and experienced only a few problems. Although the first rainy season in 1791 caused the San Lorenzo River to flood, the padres (priest or "fathers") ended this problem by moving the mission buildings higher up the hill. On February 17, 1793, work began on a new church that had a stone foundation and five-feet-thick adobe made brick walls. It was 112 feet long and 29 feet wide, and took a year to build. This was to be the main church at the mission for about 65 years. Father Fermin Lasuen (the current father-president of the mission system a the time) arrived at the Santa Cruz location 22 years after Captain Gaspar de Portola rode through the area. On August 28, 1791, he raised a large cross on the site he had chosen for the next mission, which officially was named Mission de la Exaltation de la Santa Cruz. A more formal ceremony was planned for about a month later, but when the day came, (September 25, 1791), Father Lasuen was too busy to be able to attend. Therefore, Father I. Salazar and Father B. Lopez, the first Franciscan priest at the mission, conducted the formal ceremony. Either August 28 or September 25th may be considered the founding date of the Mission Santa Cruz, which is the twelfth mission established in Alta California. Branciforte, the county where mission was, was conceived as an 18th Century welfare state, in simpler word this place was an old fashion poor city With the Spanish idea of mixing the races which had proved so effective in colonizing other provinces in Latin America, every Native American chief had a house marked as a residence of an Indian "chief." It was believed that such an arrangement would hasten the development of the natives into ideal Spanish citizens. While the plan had worked admirably in some parts of Mexico, there were no real Indian chiefs in California. What leaders there were presented a dismal contrast to the Spanish kings of the Indian civilizations to the south? Indians did come to Branciforte, but not as fellow citizens. Neophytes were the ministers in training and were usually Native Americans from the area. Usually they were runaway neophytes from across the river who were soon ensnared by the pleasures of the tempting bottle, alcohol,  and pressed into service by the indolent whites. While researching about this specific mission I learned some of the terrible ways in which people killed off native, like poison blankets. The natives not only ran away to avoid the terrifying diseases but also to escape the strict rules and harsh punishment that often occurred at the mission. Some priests would order the soldiers stationed at the missions to carry out beatings for many "offenses," including working too slowly, going near Branciforte, or bringing dirty blankets to church. Punishment also included wearing leg irons, or being thrown into prison. Soon the priest ordered that once the natives were baptized, they could not return to their villages in the hills. However, many natives tried to leave, perhaps not fully understanding this change. Captured runaways received the worst punishment. Even so, in 1798 alone, nearly one-fourth of the native population ran away.


Special Thanks to: http://www.athanasius.com for research purposes.

Sonoma, San Rafael, and San Francisco

Sonoma:

The Sonoma mission was established by the Spanish. The Spanish established the Sonoma mission in the name of the king of Spain. As a mission it is also in the name of God. God was an important thing to these people. The Spanish came from a catholic background. As such the Missions were all set up and built by Catholic masons, builders or carpenters, and padres, Spanish fathers or heads of the church. The Sonoma mission was founded by Father Jose Altimira. He founded the mission July 4th, 1823. This mission was named after St. Francis Solano. St. Francis Solano was a missionary to the Peruvian Indians. Sonoma was the Twenty-first Mission that was founded.The mission was built by the Mexican authorities as a barrier. This barrier was to stop Russia’s attempts to extend control to the federal territory of Alta California. During the years the Mission was active, General Mariano Vallejo, who the city of Vallejo was named after, lived in the town. He was tasked with monitoring the activities of Russia at their nearby settlement of Fort Ross. Some of the Vallejo family’s belongings can still be found at the mission.The mission is now at the corner of Spain & First St.. This mission is no longer in use as it had been during their establishment. This mission is only 20 miles north of current San Francisco on State Highway 12.  The mission is now used as a museum. This museum is preserved and used to host student and family field trips alike and has even upgraded to include such new aged offers as free WiFi internet, which in my mind at least beats watering my horse.

San Rafael:

I have learned many interesting things through my days of research on the San Rafael mission induced in the interesting things I've learned is the San Rafael mission's full name is. The Spanish as very religious people tended to dedicate their missions to saints and angels. The San Rafael name is known as the San Rafael Arcangel. Mission San Rafael is the twentieth mission. It was founded December 14, 1817. However it did not receive it's mission status until October 19, 1822. The person who founded the San Rafael mission was Father Vicente de Sarria. He founded this mission actually as more of a hospital than anything. This was because the bad weather and series of diseases. The mission started as a hospital to treat the sick Indians from Mission San Francisco de Asis. The mission is now back under owner ship of the catholic church and for nearly 200 years now, Saint Raphael Church and Mission San Rafael Archangel have served as significant historical, cultural and spiritual centers in San Rafael community. This mission is no longer for use as a hospital to native Americans however it is still a community icon. This mission is still used as a church. It is also used as a historical museum. As I have told you the San Rafael mission is named the Arc Angel, the reason why is Archangel Rafael is the angel of bodily healing and this mission name seemed fit for a mission that had a main use as a hospital.

San Francisco:

As we all know San Francisco is a very popular city now and second only to New York in its population. Well in its early mission years it was still actually an undiscovered beauty in fact San Francisco's mission is one of the few that has a name that doesn't involve its city name. The mission’s actual name the Mission Dolores. The settlement was named for St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan Order and this is why it is the San Francisco mission. However the presence of a nearby creek named Arroyo de Nuestra Señora de Los Dolores is why this mission is also commonly known as the mission Dolores. Arroyo de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores means "Our Lady of Sorrows Creek." This mission is the oldest standing building in all of San Francisco. This mission in San Francisco is also known as the San Francisco Asis. This was the sixth mission established. The founder of this mission was Father Francisco Palou. The mission was used as a catholic church. Unfortunately not everyone could make it there. The was often cold and damp weather on the journey to these areas. This kept the Native Americans way from this place, and it took almost a whole year before the first Native Americans were baptized there.Today the mission Dolores of San Francisco is still put to great use. True to its origins, the Basilica Parish of Mission Dolores reflects the incredible diversity and vibrancy of modern San Francisco. The mission today is seen as a historical monument. Tours are given of this monument. The mission is more of a museum than mission now. 

Things to Remember:

The first thing I want you to remember if your going to read about these missions is the California was not part of the United States of America when the California missions were founded and in operation. Mexico owned California, and Spain owned Mexico. Mexico before it gave California to the United states finally received it's independence from Spain, when they did this Mexico needed to put large amounts of money into making their government work. This meant they could no longer afford to pay for the cleaning and running of 21 missions that were further away from Mexico's capital than Mexico's more important structures.
What does this mean?
This means  that these missions had to be sold like a car that a person can't afford to buy gas for.
The 21 California missions were owned as private property by regular people. Even though the Native Americans of the area were in all cases offered the land before it was sold other owners the Native Americans either never wanted it or could never afford it.