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53-495: Father Juan Crespí picked the spot for Mission Vieja because water was available at what is now called the Whittier Narrows . The place for Mission Vieja was found in the expedition of Portolá in the summer of 1769. Gaspar de Portolá , Miguel Costansó and Father Juan Crespí recorded the expedition. In 1771 the fathers of Pedro Cambon and the fathers of Angel Somera, with a decree from Governor Pedro Fages , set out to build

106-527: A "mother" mission. However, the plan's expansion never came to fruition. In addition to the presidio (royal fort) and pueblo (town), the misión was one of the three major agencies employed by the Spanish sovereign to extend its borders and consolidate its colonial territories. Asistencias ("satellite" or "sub" missions, sometimes referred to as "contributing chapels") were small-scale missions that regularly conducted Mass on days of obligation but lacked

159-463: A barred window. After the marriage ceremony the woman moved out of the mission compound and into one of the family huts. These "nunneries" were considered a necessity by the priests, who felt the women needed to be protected from the men, both Indian and de razón ("instructed men", i.e. Europeans). The cramped and unsanitary conditions the girls lived in contributed to the fast spread of disease and population decline . So many died at times that many of

212-442: A colony of any size. California was months away from the nearest base in colonized Mexico, and the cargo ships of the day were too small to carry more than a few months' rations in their holds. To sustain a mission, the padres required converted Native Americans , called neophytes , to cultivate crops and tend livestock in the volume needed to support a fair-sized establishment. The scarcity of imported materials, together with

265-481: A lack of skilled laborers, compelled the missionaries to employ simple building materials and methods in the construction of mission structures. Although the missions were considered temporary ventures by the Spanish hierarchy , the development of an individual settlement was not simply a matter of "priestly whim." The founding of a mission followed longstanding rules and procedures; the paperwork involved required months, sometimes years of correspondence, and demanded

318-633: A mission in the Spanish Empire of Alta California , in what is now called the Los Angeles Basin . The first building was 45 by 18 feet made of adobe and wood. The roof was made with tule reeds from the waters of the Whittier Narrows. The building had around it a weak Palisade fence. Father Angel Somera and Father Pedro Cambon, both Franciscan missionaries , founded Mission Vieja, the original Mission San Gabriel Arcangel, on September 8, 1771;

371-488: A resident priest; as with the missions, these settlements were typically established in areas with high concentrations of potential native converts. The Spanish Californians had never strayed from the coast when establishing their settlements; Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad was located farthest inland, being only some thirty miles (48 kilometers) from the shore. Each frontier station was forced to be self-supporting, as existing means of supply were inadequate to maintain

424-544: A scarcity of land for agriculture and potable water left the success of such a venture in doubt, so no effort to found an island mission was ever made. In September 1821, the Rev. Mariano Payeras, " Comisario Prefecto " of the California missions, visited Cañada de Santa Ysabel east of Mission San Diego de Alcalá as part of a plan to establish an entire chain of inland missions. The Santa Ysabel Asistencia had been founded in 1818 as

477-473: A two-hour siesta , and ended with evening prayers and the rosary , supper, and social activities. About 90 days out of each year were designated as religious or civil holidays, free from manual labor . The labor organization of the missions resembled a slave plantation in many respects. Foreigners who visited the missions remarked at how the priests' control over the Indians appeared excessive, but necessary given

530-462: Is an accepted version of this page The Spanish missions in California ( Spanish : Misiones españolas en California ) formed a series of 21 religious outposts or missions established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the U.S. state of California . The missions were established by Catholic priests of the Franciscan order to evangelize indigenous peoples backed by the military force of

583-594: The Camino Real . The detailed planning and direction of the missions was to be carried out by Friar Junípero Serra , O.F.M. (who, in 1767, along with his fellow priests , had taken control over a group of missions in Baja California Peninsula previously administered by the Jesuits). After Serra's death, Rev. Fermín Francisco de Lasuén established nine more mission sites, from 1786 through 1798; others established

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636-590: The Spanish Empire . The missions were part of the expansion and settlement of New Spain through the formation of Alta California , expanding the empire into the most northern and western parts of Spanish North America . Civilian settlers and soldiers accompanied missionaries and formed settlements like the Pueblo de Los Ángeles . Indigenous peoples were forced into settlements called reductions , disrupting their traditional way of life and negatively affecting as many as one thousand villages. European diseases spread in

689-478: The Tongva residents) being the most likely locations, the reasoning being that an offshore mission might have attracted potential people to convert who were not living on the mainland, and could have been an effective measure to restrict smuggling operations. Governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga approved the plan the following year; however, an outbreak of sarampión ( measles ) killing some 200 Tongva people coupled with

742-892: The First Expedition into California, 1769-1770 (2001) provided valuable records of these expeditions. One chapel he built, at the Misión San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco in Landa , is reported as still standing. A Catholic boys' school, Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino , is named for him, as was a middle school in the West Contra Costa Unified School District . The latter was renamed Betty Reid Soskin Middle School on her hundredth birthday on 22 September 2021. Spanish missions of California This

795-594: The Franciscan order at the age of seventeen. He came to New Spain in 1749, and accompanied explorers Francisco Palóu and Junípero Serra . In 1767 he went to the Baja California Peninsula and was placed in charge of the Misión La Purísima Concepción de Cadegomó . In 1769, Crespí joined the expedition led by Gaspar de Portolá and Junípero Serra (see Timeline of the Portolá expedition ). He traveled in

848-494: The French, and financing for military payroll and missions in California ceased. In 1821, Mexico achieved independence from Spain , yet did not send a governor to California until 1824. The missions maintained authority over indigenous peoples and land holdings until the 1830s. At the peak of their influence in 1832, the coastal mission system controlled approximately one-sixth of Alta California. The First Mexican Republic secularized

901-575: The Indian residents of the missions urged the priests to raid new villages to supply them with more women. As of December 31, 1832 (the peak of the mission system's development) the mission padres had performed a combined total of 87,787 baptisms and 24,529 marriages, and recorded 63,789 deaths. The death rate at the missions, particularly of children, was very high and the majority of children baptized did not survive childhood. At Mission San Gabriel , for instance, three of four children died before reaching

954-513: The Mission Period); under Mexican rule the number rose to 21,066 (in 1824, the record year during the entire era of the Franciscan missions). During the entire period of Mission rule, from 1769 to 1834, the Franciscans baptized 53,600 adult Indians and buried 37,000. Dr. Cook estimates that 15,250 or 45% of the population decrease was caused by disease. Two epidemics of measles , one in 1806 and

1007-649: The Spanish colonizers of the New World with the purpose of totally assimilating indigenous populations into European culture and the Catholic religion. It was a doctrine established in 1531, which based the Spanish state's right over the land and persons of the Indies on the Papal charge to evangelize them. It was employed wherever the indigenous populations were not already concentrated in native pueblos . Indians were congregated around

1060-657: The age of two. The high rate of death at the missions have been attributed to several factors, including disease, torture, overworking, malnourishment, and cultural genocide . Forcing native people into close quarters at the missions spread disease quickly. While being kept at the missions, native people were transitioned to a Spanish diet that left them more unable to ward off diseases, the most common being dysentery , fevers with unknown causes, and venereal disease . The death rate has been compared to that of other atrocities. American author and lawyer Carey McWilliams argued that "the Franciscan padres eliminated Indians with

1113-480: The attention of virtually every level of the bureaucracy. Once empowered to erect a mission in a given area, the men assigned to it chose a specific site that featured a good water supply, plenty of wood for fires and building materials, and ample fields for grazing herds and raising crops . The padres blessed the site, and with the aid of their military escort fashioned temporary shelters out of tree limbs or driven stakes, roofed with thatch or reeds ( cañas ). It

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1166-702: The center of old Rancho la Merced in East Montebello. Recently restored, Rancho la Merced is the Montebello's oldest standing structure. The earliest reported San Andreas Fault earthquake in California was on July 28, 1769, at the future site of the Mission Vieja. The earthquake was recorded by members the Portolá Spanish expedition charting a land route from San Diego to Monterey. Ship captains in California and other explorers also documented earthquakes. Based on

1219-640: The close quarters of the missions, causing mass death. Abuse, malnourishment, and overworking were common. At least 87,787 baptisms and 63,789 deaths occurred. Indigenous peoples often resisted and rejected conversion to Christianity . Some fled the missions while others formed rebellions. Missionaries recorded frustrations with getting indigenous people to internalize Catholic scripture and practice. Indigenous girls were taken away from their parents and housed at monjeríos . The missions' role in destroying Indigenous culture has been described as cultural genocide . By 1810, Spain's king had been imprisoned by

1272-456: The early 20th century. They have become a symbol of California, appearing in many movies and television shows, and are an inspiration for Mission Revival architecture . Concerns have been raised by historians and Indigenous peoples of California about the way the mission period in California is taught in educational institutions and memorialized . The oldest European settlements of California were formed around or near Spanish missions, including

1325-641: The east of San Francisco Bay. The Fages expedition members were the first Europeans to see the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin Valley . In 1774, Crespí was chaplain of the expedition to the North Pacific conducted by Juan José Pérez Hernández . His diaries, first published in H. E. Bolton's Fray Juan Crespi (1927, repr. 1971), and published in the original Spanish with facing page translations as A Description of Distant Roads: Original Journals of

1378-785: The effectiveness of Nazis operating concentration camps ." (2,685 children) 2,869 people in 1826 1,701 people in 1817 1,320 people in 1834 1,080 people in 1819 1,330 people in 1816 770 people in 1816 334 people remaining in 1834 1,520 people in 1804 407 people in remaining in 1834 852 people in 1803 1,076 people in 1814 599 people remaining in 1834 1,296 people in 1805 725 people in 1805 300 people remaining 644 people in 1798 250 people remaining in 1834 927 people in 1790, 1,464 in 1827 1,754 people in 1820 1,140 people in 1828 Less than 500 people remaining 996 people in 1832 About 550 people remaining At least 90,000 Indigenous peoples were kept in well-guarded mission compounds throughout

1431-531: The expedition that explored as far north as present-day San Francisco, and became one of the first Europeans to see San Francisco Bay . All told, the expedition traveled in the future state of California through the present-day coastal counties of San Diego , Orange , Los Angeles , Ventura , Santa Barbara , San Luis Obispo , Monterey , Santa Cruz , San Mateo , and San Francisco . In 1772, Crespí accompanied Captain Pedro Fages on an exploration of areas to

1484-608: The first exploration by Europeans of interior areas of Alta California . Crespí is credited with giving Los Angeles its name, after having named the region's primary river El Río de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula , meaning, in Spanish, "the River of Our Lady Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula". The town that later formed nearby took its name from this river. After reaching Monterey in October 1769, Crespí continued with

1537-460: The four largest: Los Angeles , San Diego , San Jose , and San Francisco . Santa Barbara , and Santa Cruz were also formed near missions, and the historical imprint reached as far north as Sonoma in what became the wine country. Prior to 1754, grants of mission lands were made directly by the Spanish Crown. But, given the remote locations and the inherent difficulties in communicating with

1590-409: The geographic features of the particular site. Once the spot for the church had been selected, its position was marked and the remainder of the mission complex was laid out. The workshops , kitchens , living quarters, storerooms, and other ancillary chambers were usually grouped in the form of a quadrangle , inside which religious celebrations and other festive events often took place. The cuadrángulo

1643-653: The last three compounds, along with at least five asistencias (mission assistance outposts). Work on the coastal mission chain was concluded in 1823, completed after Serra's death in 1784. Plans to build a twenty-second mission in Santa Rosa in 1827 were canceled. The Rev. Pedro Estévan Tápis proposed establishing a mission on one of the Channel Islands in the Pacific Ocean off San Pedro Harbor in 1784, with either Santa Catalina or Santa Cruz (known as Limú to

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1696-542: The location is today near the intersection of San Gabriel Boulevard and the Rio Hondo River. The establishment of the mission marked the beginning of the Los Angeles region's settlement by Spaniards and the fourth of twenty-one missions ultimately established along California's El Camino Real . The mission did well initially as a farm and cattle ranch. Six years after its founding, however, a destructive flood in 1776 led

1749-455: The lodge, and drove part of them back.... On the road they did the same with those of the lodge at San Jose. On arriving home the men were instructed to throw their bows and arrows at the feet of the priest, and make due submission. The infants were then baptized, as were also all children under eight years of age; the former were left with their mothers, but the latter kept apart from all communication with their parents. The consequence was, first,

1802-408: The men engaged in building. The men worked a variety of jobs, having learned from the missionaries how to plow, sow, irrigate, cultivate, reap, thresh, and glean. They were taught to build adobe houses, tan leather hides, shear sheep, weave rugs and clothing from wool, make ropes, soap, paint, and other useful duties. The work day was six hours, interrupted by dinner (lunch) around 11:00 a.m. and

1855-432: The mission fathers to relocate the mission five miles north, to its current location in what is the present day City of San Gabriel . During the early years of the mission's existence, the region operated under a "Rancho" land grant system. The current city of Montebello consists of land from Rancho San Antonio , Rancho La Merced , and Rancho Paso de Bartolo . The Juan Matias Sanchez Adobe, built in 1844, still stands at

1908-580: The mission proper through forced resettlement, in which the Spanish "reduced" them from what they perceived to be a free "undisciplined'" state with the ambition of converting them into "civilized" members of colonial society. The civilized and disciplined culture of the natives, developed over 8,000 years, was not considered. A total of 146 Friars Minor , mostly Spaniards by birth, were ordained as priests and served in California between 1769 and 1845. Sixty-seven missionaries died at their posts (two as martyrs : Padres Luis Jayme and Andrés Quintana ), while

1961-410: The missions out of curiosity and sincere desire to participate and engage in trade, many found themselves trapped once they were baptized . On the other hand, Indians staffed the militias at each mission and had a role in mission governance. To the padres , a baptized Indian person was no longer free to move about the country, but had to labor and worship at the mission under the strict observance of

2014-452: The missions with the Mexican secularization act of 1833 , which emancipated indigenous peoples from the missions. Mission lands were largely given to settlers and soldiers, along with a minority of indigenous people. The surviving mission buildings are the state of California's oldest structures and most-visited historic monuments, many of which were restored after falling into near disrepair in

2067-458: The missions, or they would allow them to visit their home village. However, the Franciscans would only allow this so that they could secretly follow the neophytes. Upon arriving to the village and capturing the runaways, they would take back Indians to the missions, sometimes as many as 200 to 300 Indians. On one occasion," writes Hugo Reid , "they went as far as the present Rancho del Chino, where they tied and whipped every man, woman and child in

2120-503: The other in 1828, caused many deaths. The mortality rates were so high that the missions were constantly dependent upon new conversions. Young native women were required to reside in the monjerío (or "nunnery") under the supervision of a trusted Indian matron who bore the responsibility for their welfare and education. Women only left the convent after they had been "won" by an Indian suitor and were deemed ready for marriage. Following Spanish custom, courtship took place on either side of

2173-400: The priests and overseers, who herded them to daily masses and labors. If an Indian did not report for their duties for a period of a few days, they were searched for, and if it was discovered that they had left without permission, they were considered runaways. Large-scale military expeditions were organized to round up the escaped neophytes. Sometimes, the Franciscans allowed neophytes to escape

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2226-481: The priests' direction. Indians were initially attracted into the mission compounds by gifts of food, colored beads, bits of bright cloth, and trinkets. Once a Native American " gentile " was baptized, they were labeled a neophyte , or new believer. This happened only after a brief period during which the initiates were instructed in the most basic aspects of the Catholic faith. But, while many natives were lured to join

2279-456: The records the earthquake was moderate to strong earthquake. Some expedition diaries noted it as violent, and over a few days, aftershocks. The next large quake on this fault was the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake . Marker on the site reads: Joan Cresp%C3%AD Juan Crespí ( Catalan : Joan Crespí ; 1 March 1721 – 1 January 1782) was a Franciscan missionary and explorer of Las Californias . A native of Majorca , Crespí entered

2332-495: The remainder returned to Europe due to illness, or upon completing their ten-year service commitment. As the rules of the Franciscan Order forbade friars to live alone, two missionaries were assigned to each settlement, sequestered in the mission's convento . To these the governor assigned a guard of five or six soldiers under the command of a corporal, who generally acted as steward of the mission's temporal affairs, subject to

2385-552: The ringing the mission bells. The daily routine began with sunrise Mass and morning prayers , followed by instruction of the natives in the teachings of the Roman Catholic faith. After a breakfast of atole , the able-bodied men and women were assigned their tasks for the day. The women were committed to dressmaking, knitting, weaving, embroidering, laundering, and cooking, while some of the stronger girls ground flour or carried adobe bricks (weighing 55 lb , or 25 kg each) to

2438-481: The state as de facto slaves . The policy of the Franciscans was to keep them constantly occupied. Bells were vitally important to daily life at any mission. The bells were rung at mealtimes, to call the Mission residents to work and to religious services, during births and funerals, to signal the approach of a ship or returning missionary, and at other times; novices were instructed in the intricate rituals associated with

2491-466: The territorial governments, he delegated authority to make grants to the viceroys of New Spain. During the reign of King Charles III , they granted lands to allow establishing the Alta California missions. They were motivated in part by presence of Russian fur traders along the California coast in the mid 1700s. The missions were to be interconnected by an overland route which later became known as

2544-424: The time who could not compete economically with the advantage of the mission system. The Franciscans began to send neophytes to work as servants of Spanish soldiers in the presidios . Each presidio was provided with land, el rancho del rey, which served as a pasture for the presidio livestock and as a source of food for the soldiers. Theoretically the soldiers were supposed to work on this land themselves but within

2597-468: The vanguard of the land expedition to San Diego, led by Captain Fernando Rivera y Moncada , where a presidio and mission were established. Crespí then continued north with Portolá and Rivera to identify the port of Monterey. Because he was the only one of the Franciscans to make the entire journey by land, Crespí became the first official diarist for the missions . He was one of three diarists to document

2650-533: The white men's isolation and numeric disadvantage. Subsequently, the Missions operated under strict and harsh conditions; A 'light' punishment would've been considered 25 lashings (azotes). Indians were not paid wages as they were not considered free laborers and, as a result, the missions were able to profit from the goods produced by the Mission Indians to the detriment of the other Spanish and Mexican settlers of

2703-437: The women consented to the rite and received it, for the love they bore their children; and finally the males gave way for the purpose of enjoying once more the society of wife and family. Marriage was then performed, and so this contaminated race, in their own sight and that of their kindred, became followers of Christ. A total of 20,355 natives were "attached" to the California missions in 1806 (the highest figure recorded during

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2756-579: Was rarely a perfect square because the missionaries had no surveying instruments at their disposal and simply measured off all dimensions by foot. Some fanciful accounts regarding the construction of the missions claimed that tunnels were incorporated in the design, to be used as a means of emergency egress in the event of attack; however, no historical evidence (written or physical) has ever been uncovered to support these assertions. The Alta California missions, known as reductions ( reducciones ) or congregations ( congregaciones ), were settlements founded by

2809-406: Was these simple huts that ultimately gave way to the stone and adobe buildings that exist to the present. The first priority when beginning a settlement was the location and construction of the church ( iglesia ). The majority of mission sanctuaries were oriented on a roughly east–west axis to take the best advantage of the sun's position for interior illumination ; the exact alignment depended on

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