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69-475: Francisco Xavier Antonio Chaboya (1803–1865) was the son of De Anza Expedition soldier Marcos Chaboya, and a brother of Anastasio Chaboya, grantee of Rancho Sanjon de los Moquelumnes . Antonio Chaboya married his first wife Maria Juliana Feliciana Rosario Buitron in 1826. After her death, he married Maria Ramona Encarnacion Higuera in 1846. With the cession of California to the United States following

138-487: A presidio and Franciscan mission at each location. A more direct land route and further colonization were desired, especially at present-day San Francisco , which Portolá saw but was not able to colonize. By the time of Juan Bautista de Anza's expedition, three more missions had been established, including Mission San Antonio de Padua in the Salinas Valley . In 1772, Anza proposed an expedition to Alta California to

207-569: A punitive expedition against the Comanche group of Native Americans, who had been repeatedly raiding Taos during 1779. With his Ute and Apache Native American allies, and around 800 Spanish soldiers, Anza went north through the San Luis Valley , entering the Great Plains at what is now Manitou Springs, Colorado . Circling "El Capitan" (current day Pikes Peak), he surprised a small force of

276-529: 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 the Spanish Empire . The missions were part of the expansion and settlement of New Spain through the formation of Alta California , expanding

345-527: 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

414-463: 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

483-520: A campaign against the Comanche on the eastern plains and by 1784 they were suing for peace. The last of the Comanche chiefs eventually acceded and a formal treaty was concluded on 28 February 1786 at Pecos Pueblo . This paved the way for traders and the development of the Comanchero trade. Juan Bautista de Anza remained as governor of Nuevo Mexico (New Mexico) until 1787 when he returned to Sonora . He

552-442: 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

621-481: 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

690-488: 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

759-568: A route from Santa Fe to Sonora, west of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro . His various local military expeditions against tribes defending their homelands were often successful, but the Quechan (Yuma) Native American tribe which he had established peace with earlier rebelled, and he fell out of favor with the military commander of the Northern Frontier, the frontier-general. In 1783 Anza led

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828-544: 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

897-788: A southern route along the Rio Altar ( Sonora y Sinaloa , New Spain), then paralleled the present-day Mexico–California border, crossing the Colorado River at its confluence with the Gila River . This was in the domain of the Yuma tribe, with which he established good relations. Anza reached Mission San Gabriel Arcángel , near the California coast, on March 22, 1774, and Monterey, California , Alta California's future capital (Alta California split from Las Californias 1804, creating Baja and Alta), on April 19. He returned to Tubac by late May 1774. This expedition

966-473: 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

1035-1120: Is located in Riverside, California at the corner of Magnolia Ave. and 14th Street, and another statue stands in Lake Merced park, San Francisco . A 10-foot-high (3 m) portrait of de Anza by Albert Herter in 1929 hangs in the History Room of the Los Angeles Central Library. The de Anza and De Anza spellings are also the namesake of streets, schools, and buildings in his honor including: De Anza Boulevards in San Mateo and Cupertino , De Anza Park in Sunnyvale , De Anza College in Cupertino, De Anza High School in Richmond , Juan Bautista De Anza elementary school in San Jacinto, Juan De Anza K-5 in

1104-769: Is located within the village of Borrego Springs, California , which is entirely surrounded by the park. A building named the Juan de Anza House in San Juan Bautista, California is a National Historic Landmark . However, it was constructed c. 1830 with its connection unclear. The Juan Bautista de Anza Community Park is in Calabasas, California , and De Anza Park and the De Anza Community and Teen Center are in Ontario , California. A 20-foot (6.1 m) statue of Anza, sculpted in 1939,

1173-622: Is marked as the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail . Despite DeAnza's successes, Spanish ambitions to establish a permanent overland route from Sonora to Alta California were thwarted in 1781, when a revolt of the Yumas tribe closed the trail at the Yuma Crossing of the Colorado River. The route was not reopened until the late 1820s, and the only regular travel to Alta California during

1242-561: The Apache , during the course of which he explored much of what is now Arizona . The Spanish began colonizing Alta California with the Portolá expedition of 1769–1770. The two-pronged Portolá effort involved both a long sea voyage against prevailing winds and the California Current , and a difficult land route from Baja California. Colonies were established at San Diego and Monterey , with

1311-703: The Berkeley Hills , and Anza Avenue and Anza Elementary School in Torrance . The town of Anza, California , is a small town of 7,000 people on State Route 371 in the mountains south of Palm Springs . Also named in his honor is Juan Bautista Circle in the Parkmerced development in San Francisco. Spanish missions of California This is an accepted version of this page The Spanish missions in California ( Spanish : Misiones españolas en California ) formed

1380-594: 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

1449-620: The Mexican–American War , the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Yerba Buena was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852, and the grant was patented to Antonio Chaboya in 1859. Gustave Touchard (1818–1888) bought part of Rancho Yerba Buena from Chaboya. Touchard was a San Francisco furniture dealer, and president of

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1518-666: The San Gabriel Valley the trail is in the Puente Hills just north of Whittier, California . Also named for Anza is Anza-Borrego Desert State Park , located mostly in eastern San Diego County , California. The park contains a long and difficult stretch of the Anza trail, traveling west from the Imperial Valley to the coastal mountain passes northeast of San Diego . The de Anza Country Club and its 18-hole championship Golf course

1587-478: 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

1656-505: The Viceroy of New Spain. This was approved by the King of Spain and on January 8, 1774, with 3 padres, 20 soldiers, 11 servants, 35 mules, 65 cattle, and 140 horses, Anza set forth from Tubac Presidio , south of present-day Tucson, Arizona . Anza heard of a California Native American called Sebastian Tarabal who had fled from Mission San Gabriel to Sonora, and took him as guide. The expedition took

1725-597: The Comanche near present-day Colorado Springs . Pursuing them south down Fountain Creek , he crossed the Arkansas River near present-day Pueblo, Colorado . He found the main body of the Comanche on Greenhorn Creek, returning from a raid in Nuevo México, and won a decisive victory. Chief Cuerno Verde , for whom Greenhorn Creek is named, and many other leaders of the Comanche were killed. In late 1779, Anza and his party found

1794-494: 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

1863-575: 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

1932-566: 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

2001-690: The Presidio of Fronteras. His family was a part of the military leadership in Nueva España , as his father and maternal grandfather, Captain Antonio Bezerra Nieto, had both served Spain, their families living on the frontier of Nueva Navarra. He was the son of Juan Bautista de Anza I . It is traditionally thought that he may have been educated at the College of San Ildefonso in Mexico City , and later at

2070-649: 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

2139-480: The Union Insurance Company from 1866 to 1888. During a lengthy court proceeding regarding a boundary dispute, squatters settled on portions of the property. In 1861, San Jose sheriff Murphy evicted the squatters. Antonio Chaboya died in 1865, leaving the property to his family. His son, Francisco Chaboya, and nephew, Salvador Chaboya (1837–) were named as executors of the will. The marshy area of

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2208-1090: The Wiseburn Elementary School District of Hawthorne , De Anza Middle School in Ontario , De Anza Middle School in Ventura , De Anza Elementary School in El Centro , and the De Anza School in Baldwin Park, the landmark De Anza Hotel in San Jose , and the historic De Anza Hotel in Calexico —all in California . Using just Anza in his honor are: Anza Vista Avenue within the Anza Vista neighborhood of San Francisco, Anza Street in that city's Richmond District , Lake Anza in Tilden Regional Park above Berkeley in

2277-657: 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

2346-480: 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

2415-422: The captives among them as slaves; Anza kept the fifteen female captives and their newborns as his share. In Anza's diary on March 25, 1776, he states that he "arrived at the arroyo of San Joseph Cupertino (now Stevens Creek ), which is useful only for travelers. Here we halted for the night, having come eight leagues in seven and a half hours. From this place we have seen at our right the estuary which runs from

2484-591: The colonists having suffered greatly from the winter weather en route. The expedition continued on to Monterey with the colonists. Having fulfilled his mission from the Viceroy, he continued north with the priest Pedro Font and a party of twelve others, following an inland route to the San Francisco Bay established in 1770 by Pedro Fages . On the way, he led a raid on Apache settlements near Presidio San Ignacio de Tubac , capturing forty Apaches. The soldiers divided

2553-456: 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

2622-785: 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

2691-466: 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 the close quarters of

2760-460: 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

2829-409: 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

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2898-535: The intervening years was by sea. On his return from this successful expedition in 1777 he journeyed to Mexico City with the chief of the lower Colorado River area Quechan (Yuma) Native American tribe who requested the establishment of a mission. On August 24, 1777, the Viceroy of New Spain appointed Anza as the Governor of the Province of Nuevo México , the present-day U.S. state of New Mexico . Governor Anza led

2967-653: 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

3036-455: 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,

3105-408: 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

3174-415: The military academy there. In 1752 he enlisted in the army at the Presidio of Fronteras. He advanced rapidly and had become a captain by 1760. He married in 1761. His wife was Ana María Pérez Serrano (b. January 1744/45, d. date unknown), the daughter of Spanish mine owner Francisco Pérez Serrano. They had no children. His military duties mainly consisted of hostile forays against Native Americans , such as

3243-580: 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

3312-410: 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

3381-452: 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

3450-618: 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

3519-458: 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

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3588-503: 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

3657-570: The port of San Francisco." Pressing on, Anza located the sites for the Presidio of San Francisco and Mission San Francisco de Asis in present-day San Francisco, California on March 28, 1776. He did not establish the settlement; it was established later by José Joaquín Moraga . While returning to Monterey, he located the original sites for Mission Santa Clara de Asis and the town of San José de Guadalupe (present-day San Jose, California ), but again did not establish either settlement. Today this route

3726-400: 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

3795-481: 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

3864-468: The rancho known as Laguna Socayre was drained for farmland, and is now the site of Lake Cunningham Park and Eastridge Mall in San José; Lake Cunningham serves as a storm water retention basin . 37°17′24″N 121°46′12″W  /  37.290°N 121.770°W  / 37.290; -121.770 De Anza Expedition Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto (July 6 or 7, 1736 – December 19, 1788)

3933-495: 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

4002-496: 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

4071-431: 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

4140-408: 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

4209-424: 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

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4278-425: 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

4347-437: 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

4416-488: Was an expeditionary leader, military officer, and politician primarily in California and New Mexico under the Spanish Empire . He is credited as one of the founding fathers of Spanish California and served as an official within New Spain as Governor of the province of New Mexico . Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto was born in Fronteras , New Navarre , New Spain (today Sonora , Mexico ) in 1736 (near Arizpe ), most probably at Cuquiarachi, Sonora, but possibly at

4485-437: Was appointed commander of the Presidio of Tucson in 1788 but died before he could depart and take office. He was 52 years old. Anza was survived by his wife. Juan Bautista de Anza died in Arizpe, in what is now the State of Sonora, Mexico, and was buried in the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Arizpe . In 1963, with the participation of delegations from the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco , he

4554-529: Was closely watched by Viceroy and King, and on October 2, 1774, Anza was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel , and ordered to lead a group of colonists to Alta California. The Spanish were desirous of reinforcing their presence in Alta California as a buffer against Russian colonization of the Americas advancing from the north, and possibly establish a harbor that would give shelter to Spanish ships. The expedition got under way on October 23, 1775, and arrived at Mission San Gabriel Arcángel in January 1776,

4623-421: Was disinterred and reburied in a new marble memorial mausoleum at the same Church. The primary legacy is the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail in California and Arizona, administered by the US National Park Service , for hiking and driving the route of his expedition exploring Las Californias In the San Fernando Valley the trail crosses the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve , and in

4692-579: 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

4761-406: 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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