† California Mission!

San Antonio:

The San Antonio mission was founded July 14 1771 as the third of the 21 California missions. The founder of this missions name was Father Junipero Serra. The mission was named in honor of St. Anthony, who was laid to rest in Padua, Italy, when he died. The San Antonio mission’s full name is really San Antonio de Padua. While researching the San Antonio mission I learned that San Antonio was not originally going to be the third mission in the series of 21. Instead the San Buenaventura mission was actually supposed to be the third mission. The reason San Buenaventura was not was because the conditions were deemed not right for its founding, and Fr. Junipero Serra did not want to wait until they were. He decided to build the new mission in the San Antonio Valley, in Monterey County. This area had been chosen during the Portola expedition in 1769. They gave their campsite the name "La Hoya de la Sierra de Santa Lucia." “This valley, at the foot of the Santa Lucia Mountains was known by Serra as the ‘Valley of the Oaks’” (better known now as Los Robles). Also while researching I learned about the expedition that found the area on which the mission is today. 

“Early in July, 1771, a little party of Spanish missionaries, headed by three Franciscan padres, walked into a beautiful, oak-mantled valley near the coastal region of central California.” There they set up camp and prepared for the devotion they always did. A huge bronze bell was moved from the mule-pack and secured to a lower branch of one of the nearby trees. The Franciscan fathers were unusually careful in their preparations, because they camped that night knowing that this would be more than just a mere overnight camp site, but that they would establish a house of God here. This was to be the site of a new mission named in honor of Saint Anthony of Padua who meant a lot to these missionary fathers. For a while no one spoke, then, suddenly, the oldest padre leaped to his feet and ran forward to the bell. With all his energy, he rang the heavy clapper back and forth. The woodland silence shattered into a thousand clashing echoes, but the old man rang on even louder. In a strong, clear voice that matched the fervor of the bell, he called out to the empty wilderness about him. He said "Oh, ye gentiles! Come, come to the holy Church! Come to receive the faith of Jesus Christ."His two companions seemed embarrassed of the old man's uncontrolled emotion but they said nothing. The aged Franciscan was their leader, Father Junipero Serra. He was the President of the Franciscan missionaries, who first established the Christian faith in California. Finally, the youngest, Father Miguel Pieras, grew alarmed for the well-being of his superior and said, "Why, Father, do you tire yourself? There is not a single gentile in the whole vicinity. It is useless to ring the bell." To this of course Fr. Serra turned to him and rebutted, "Father, let me give vent to my heart which desires that this bell might be heard around the world."

And the old Father was right because the California missions truly are a gift to this world now. Just like every other mission before and after masons for this mission came from already previously established sister missions in this case there were only two previously established missions. The padres at San Antonio pushed building operations from the start. During the year 1776, the church was roofed with mortar and tiles and a street lined with adobe dwellings for the Indians was completed. Storerooms, barracks, warehouses and shops were erected, and irrigation ditches were dug to carry water to the fields from the San Antonio River. The mission had various improvements done in 1778. The close proximity of the San Antonio river was a big part of the upgrades added to the mission. In 1778, improvements expanded to include construction of an adobe building on the San Antonio River. Construction and repair kept up its pace with production and population increases at the mission. The additions to the mission included the following a grist mill, tannery, numerous storehouses and factories, garden walls, corrals, wells, and an extensive network of stone lined irrigation ditches added over the coming years. A building 133 feet long for the church and sacristy was started in 1779 and finished the next year. Some old records revealed that there was quick progress in building during the next few years. The new church was completed in 1813 and was connected to the already set up water powered mill for grinding grain. The native community in the area grew much more quickly as the improvements were made. Wells were dug and a reservoir and aqueduct was built. There were heavy rains that came in the San Antonio in 1825 and this caused the collapse of a number of the constructed structures, but these were replaced by larger and stronger buildings not long after the rains stopped. After Mexico won its independence from Spain, it also won the missions but found that it could no longer afford to keep the missions running as Spain had done. In 1834, Mexico decided to end the mission system and sell all of the lands. Of course the natives in the area just like the ones near all the other missions were close to the mission fathers. Being close with the mission the natives were offered the mission. However these natives did not want the lands or could not come up with the purchase price. The lands were divided into smaller Ranchos and sold to Mexican citizens who were helpful during the war for independence.The present reconstruction to make the mission what it is today did not get under way until 1948. The only reason it was able to start then was the mission received a grant of $50,000 from the half-million dollar fund established by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation for mission restoration. As a result of all the time past, Mission San Antonio today is largely a reconstruction rather than a preserved ruin. Something that I found interesting is that the little hills of earth that once had formed the adobe brick of the original walls were carefully reformed in the same simple fashion practiced by the padres and their neophytes 150 years before. 

San Luis Obispo:

The San Luis Obispo mission was the fifth of the 21 California missions. The mission was discovered in 1769. This mission was given its name, San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, during the expedition in which it was found.  This mission was actually not to find more land for missions but actually to find the Monterey bay. The mission was founded on September 1, 1772. The founder of the San Luis Obispo mission was Father Junipero Serra, a prominent face in the founding of many missions after this one. The mission was dedicated to Saint Luis, Bishop of Toulouse. Along with the San Luis Obispo mission The Valley of the Bears was so named by Don Gaspar de Portola and his men on their first expedition from San Diego north in search of Monterey Bay in 1769. This mission just like its predecessors and later to come sister missions were all made by the same set of masons. In August of 1772, Father Serra received word at his mission in Monterey that the San Carlos and the San Antonio had arrived in San Diego with supplies. The two ship captains shared a bad idea of their previous journeys to the north, and had mutually decided that San Diego would be as far north as they would venture. They forwarded this opinion to Fr. Serra with the suggestion that supplies be taken overland from the southern port. Friar Serra immediately set off for San Diego, determined to persuade at least one captain to sail to Monterey. The Friar unlike the masons and sailors truly wanted to move forward with the mission chain. While researching the San Luis Obispo mission I learned about the dangerous of the expedition that it took to find the land on which the San Luis Obispo mission was laid. Slowly the group march northward on their journey, Portola (The man that discovered the valley of bears) and his soldiers fittingly encountered many bears between the mouth of the Santa Maria River and the present site of San Luis Obispo, and killed some of them for food. In their graphic diaries of the journey, Fathers Juan Crespi and Francisco Gomez told of an astonishingly large number of bears. When starvation threatened the early settlements, they wrote, a hunting party sent out by Portola returned with more than 9,000 pounds of bear meat. It was at the same moment of this hunt, a few months later that Mission San Luis Obispo was founded. Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was founded on September 1, 1772 by Father Junipero Serra, President of the California Missions Chain. It was the 5th mission in the 21 mission chain in Alta California. It was named for Saint Louis, Bishop of Toulouse. It is the only mission with an L-shaped church. The mission site was selected as it is midway between San Diego and Monterey. Father Serra left one priest to begin the buildings, Father Jose Cavalier.When Father Serra left the mission, there was little in the way of food. There were however, many bear. The local Chumash Indians were grateful for the Spaniards guns that killed the bear as they were giving the Indians a terrible time. The Indians brought food to the soldiers who were helping out with the bear problem. In 1872, during the 100th anniversary of the mission the real improvements began. It wasn't until Father John Harnett came to the mission in 1933 that real restoration began. Harry Downie was in charge of the restoration. Harry was the same man who created the L-shaped church to accommodate more people at services. As you know there was a period after Mexico won its independence that the missions were sold to private owners, this period was known as secularization. The mission fell into apart during the period of secularization and the priests that were left would rent out rooms to help support the mission. The Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa became the first courthouse and jail in the San Luis Obispo County.

Santa Barbara:

The Santa Barbara mission’s official founding date was December 4, 1786. The mission’s founder was Father Fermin Lasuen, the same founder as many of the previous missions. In April of 1782  the mission was dedicated to Saint Barbara. This Spanish mission unlike many of the others was not found by someone that was involved with the mission itself. Santa Barbara, like San Diego and Monterey, was listed on the Spanish maps of California long before the arrival of the Franciscans. It was named by Sebastian Vizcaíno around 60 years after its discovery by Cabrillo in 1542. From the time of the first march of the Portola expedition, it had been known as a likely good spot for mission settlement to be established.  When the mission’s governor finally met the expedition at Santa Barbara, the new presidio was quickly established. Missions President Father Serra was an eager participant in preparing the military chapel. After this had been completed and the governor did not make a move toward the creation of the projected mission, Fr. Junipero approached de Neve and asked him when he intended to order the work on the mission. The governor replied that Santa Barbara could wait until the Franciscans were willing to follow the new plan, which had been ignored at San Buenaventura. In their hearts each probably knew that the other would never give in and since the governor had obviously won at Santa Barbara, there was nothing for the defeated father to do but to return to his own mission at Carmel. It was five years before the Father President received word that a mission would at last be placed at Santa Barbara. By that time, de Neve was gone and his place had been taken by the former governor, Pedro Fages. Some years before, Fr. Serra had made the long trip to Mexico in order to secure Fages' removal and it must have been a discouraging experience for the aging padre to learn that his former enemy had returned. The old father did not survive long; he passed away on August 28, 1784, leaving the burden of mission problems to be taken over by the able and willing Father Lasuen.Padre Junipero Serra, who founded the first nine missions, had died 1784. Serra had planned to build this mission, raising the cross at the presidio of Santa Barbara in 1782. It was Padre Fermin Francisco de Lasuen, his successor, who raised the cross here and placed Padre Antonio Paterna, a companion of Serra, in charge. Paterna put up the first buildings and made the first converts.  First of all Santa Barbara is known as the "Queen of the Missions". The story of the "Queen of the Missions" goes like this, on a spring day in 1782 the Padre President of the California Missions, Father Junipero Serra, and the Spanish Governor de Neve founded (as Serra supposed) the presidio and mission of Santa Barbara. I also learned that nowadays the mission archives preserve the record book of the mission which the earnest padre carefully started on that day. But it is said that the arbitrary governor would not allow the actual establishment of the mission, and a frustrated Father Serra retired to Carmel, where he died two years later on August 28, 1784. Father Fermin Lasuen, one of the missionaries who had arrived with Serra at San Diego, became the new Padre President and the actual founder of Mission Santa Barbara, December 4, 1786. Santa Barbara was the first mission founded by Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuen, Father Serra's successor as President of the California missions. Although Father Serra dedicated the site of the Fort Santa Barbara presidio in April of 1782, he did not have permission at that time to found a mission in Santa Barbara. The Governor at that time, Filipe de Neve, was jealous of the power he believed the Franciscans gained with each new mission. Through his superior, the Viceroy in Mexico, he was able to delay the necessary funding for new missions.Lastly I learned about the importance of the time period of Serra's unfortunate death. Unfortunately, Father Serra died only one month after the new Governor gave him permission to found his longed for mission in Santa Barbara. It was Father Lasuen who traveled to Santa Barbara and selected the mission site. It was one and a half miles northeast from the Presidio Fort. The mission was founded in a hilly area called "rocky mound". The Santa Barbara mission was founded in the perfect place for a beautiful view of the valley and channel beside it.