California Genealogy, Author at California Genealogy

Old Mission Stories of California

Of the last six stories comprising the seven in this little collection of Stories of the Old Missions, all but one have, as a basis, some modicum, larger or smaller, of historical fact, the tale of Juana alone being wholly fanciful, although with an historical background. The first story of the series may be considered as introductory to the mission tales proper. In these quiet, unpretending stories the writer has attempted to give a faithful picture of life among the Indians and Spaniards in Nueva California during the early days of the past century. The Indian Sibyl’s Prophecy The Flight … Read more

La Beata Juana

It was a bright summer morning in the month of June of the year 1798. All was bustle and excitement at the wharf in the harbor of the town of Acapulco, on the western coast of Mexico, for at noon a ship was to sail away for the province of Nueva California, in the far north. This was always an event to attract the attention of the town, partly from its infrequent occurrence, but more especially because, in those days, this northern Mexican province was an almost unknown land to the general mind. The first expedition to the new country, … Read more

Father Uria’s Saints

“Therefore I went to Father Uria and told him your story. He was very kind, and bade me write to you that you might trust him to find you something to do if you should decide to come here. Have no fear; there are not enough men at San Buenaventura to prevent a single man from having all the work he may wish. Make haste and come. Do not delay. Diego.” The reader finished the letter, and there was a silence of some minutes between the two, reader and listener. The former, a young man, not much more than twenty-five … Read more

The Wealth of the Missions

In the latter days of their prosperity, when all the Missions had been founded and their surroundings completed, two hundred thousand head of cattle were killed yearly, netting a profit usually of ten dollars each. The hides and tallow were the chief articles of commerce with cities on the Atlantic coast, Boston leading in the early thirties of the last century. The flesh of the cattle found consumers among the Mission Indians and the needy elsewhere. The padres permitted none to want for food in the regions around them. Their hospitality, like their faith, was boundless. All the Missions from … Read more

Santa Inez Mission

The Santa Inez Mission was not comprehended in the original plan of the padres, but nearly thirty years after the founding of the first three Missions, a colony of several families that had years before located on lands in the valley of the Santa Inez, about forty miles northwest of Santa Barbara, and beyond the mountains, appealed to the President of the Missions for the founding of one in their vicinity. They argued that they, being baptized families, were entitled to the rites of divine worship without undergoing the hardship and inconvenience of frequent trips to Santa Barbara, or La … Read more

Santa Cruz Mission

Santa Cruz, on the Bay of Monterey, was inspired and planned by President Lasuen in his home in the an Francisco Mission. It was founded in the autumn of 1791, with the accustomed ceremony of a mass, chanting by neophytes from another Mission, and the raising of a cross on the spot over which the altar was designed to rest. Chief Sugert and a large following of his tribe attended, themselves representing the very people from which the good padres planned to recruit the company of their converts. The church was dedicated in May 1794, in the presence of these … Read more

Santa Clara Mission

Santa Clara was founded in the following year, 1777. Padre Tomas de la Pena officiated at the ceremonies, seven years before the death of Junipero Serra. This Mission is in Santa Clara County, three miles from San Jose, the county seat. The two places are connected by an old boulevard made by the padres, and lined on each side by a triple row of trees, planted in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, equidistant from each other, on opposite sides of the roadway. They are now of great height, shading the entire route. An old legend says that they … Read more

Santa Barbara Mission

In April 1782, Governor Neve, with sixty soldiers, arrived at Santa Barbara, thirty miles west by north I of the new Ventura, so named, and built a presidio for the military protection of the Mission near the beach, which here curves to form a small bay. The site selected was not far from the old Indian mound, on a high mesa, upwards of a mile from the coast, commanding a view of the Santa Inez Mountains on the north, and the ocean in other directions for more than a hundred miles on a clear day. An electric railway now extends … Read more

San Miguel Mission

Early forty leagues north of Santa Barbara the Mission of San Miguel was founded on the twenty-fifth of July, 1797, in honor of the “Prince of the Heavenly Militia.” The ceremonies were performed by President Lasuen and Padre Sitjar, and baptism was administered to fifteen children at the time. The Indians did not respond generally to the invitations of the padres; so Padre Martin went to the Chief Guchapa and begged him to send his Indians to the Mission, but met prompt refusal. Thereupon Commander de la Guerra sent a file of his soldiers and took the old chief prisoner. … Read more

San Luis Obispo De Tolosa Mission

In September 1772, the great Mission of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was founded on the coast, about one hundred and twenty miles south of the Gulf of Monterey. This port subsequently became important to commerce and trade. Padre Serra and Padre Cavalier, with a small party of soldiers such as invariably accompanied similar expeditions, started from Monterey in the latter part of August, and located the Mission on the first of September. The ceremonies were performed and the building was begun without delay. The Indians, trained by the Jesuits, and under the direction of Cavalier, were given the task … Read more