: California Missions: A Guide to the Historic Trails of the Padres by Brown Karl F Karl Frederick Newcomb Rexford Author Of Introduction Etc Ray Floyd Photographer - Missions Spanish California

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A GUIDE TO THE HISTORIC TRAILS OF THE PADRES

COPYRIGHT 1939 BY KARL F. BROWN AND FLOYD RAY GARDEN CITY PUBLISHING CO., Inc. NEW YORK

Along the strand of the Pacific between San Diego and Sonoma, the intrepid monks of the Order of Saint Francis strung that cordon of missions that were to become, as time went on, the outposts of civilization along the sunset coast of California.

And what was the routine by which these fervent priests of Old Spain hoped to convert the backward natives of the coast into God-fearing, self-supporting and self-respecting subjects of his Hispanic majesty, the king? The system of training prescribed plenty of work accompanied by instruction in the handcrafts and Christian doctrine. To this end, each day, the morning bell assembled the Indians in the chapel for prayers and mass. Following this, breakfast was eaten, after which each went to his assigned task. At eleven o'clock dinner was eaten; then a siesta. Work, resumed at 2 P.M., continued until an hour before sunset, when the Angelus recalled all to worship. After prayers and rosary, supper was eaten, after which recreation ensued until early bedtime.

This was the happy pattern of life that obtained in these picturesque missions which at once comprised the early churches, the first schools, the first factories and the work-a-day habitations of the priests and their charges. Viewed in this light these old buildings become real human documents and are therefore very precious to all interested in the beginnings of civilization within our broad land.

Through the glamor that time and an exotic origin have cast over these old monuments, they continue to hold for us a fascination matched by that of few American structures. And, in journeying to these historic shrines, you will discover how these hard-headed priests, in sheltering their converts, created in simplicity and strength a type of architecture which considered from the standpoint of practical living, climatic background, materials of construction and ethnic significance, has rarely been equalled in any land. What a matchless artistic heritage they have left us!

On July 16th, 1769, sixteen days after his arrival in San Diego, Father Serra established the first mission in California--the Mission San Diego de Alcal?. The original site was unsatisfactory so a spot was later chosen six miles back from the ocean in Mission Valley where the present buildings now stand. San Diego was one of the wealthiest of the missions. It had extensive orchards and vineyards, irrigated by an aqueduct which brought water from the valley. Parts of the old mission dam which was twelve feet thick, may still be seen. The olive trees around the Mission form the mother orchard of all California mission olives. The whole Mission has been restored in every detail. Its belfry, one of the most magnificent of all the missions, is a three-story wall pierced by five arches in which hang the old bells.

Four miles inland from Oceanside, in a beautiful valley, stands Mission San Luis Rey de Francia. The present buildings were started in 1811 by Father Peyri, who managed the Mission for thirty years. It is now used as a church and a Franciscan college. A feature not found in any other mission is the mortuary chapel, a small octagonal shaped room off the main chapel. San Luis Rey is typically Spanish in its architecture and while not one of the most beautiful, it has a stately magnificence that none of the other missions possesses.

Twenty miles inland from Mission San Luis Rey stands San Antonio de Pala, founded as an asistencia. In its chapel are Indian frescoes covered for many years with a coat of whitewash given the wall by a well-meaning padre. Its campanile, in which hang the original bells, stands in the old cemetery. Pala, nestling at the base of the Palomar Mountains, is a spot of enchanting beauty.

The first attempt to found San Juan Capistrano was in 1775, but due to an Indian uprising Father Lasu?n was forced to return to San Diego. The next year Father Serra came and established the Mission. It took nine years to build and was the largest and most beautiful of all. In 1812 there was an earthquake that destroyed the buildings and killed forty Indians who were worshiping in the chapel. All of the buildings have been rebuilt except the chapel, of which one of the seven large domes still stands in its lonely grandeur, a delight to the artist. Capistrano, elaborately decorated and artistically constructed, is sometimes called "Jewel of the Missions."

San Gabriel Arc?ngel was a welcomed pause in the long journey from Mexico to Monterey; it was the first stop after crossing the desert and mountains. It is distinctively Moorish in its architecture. Its high buttressed walls are stone to the windows and brick above and have an outside stairway to the choir loft and campanile. In the courtyard is one of the largest and oldest grape vines in California.

At one time Mission San Fernando Rey de Espa?a had an Indian population of eleven hundred. Today nothing remains of the Mission but one large building. In it one can see the wine cellar and the large copper brandy still. Across the street is a large star-shaped fountain copied from one in Cordova, Spain, a monument to the artistic work of the Indians.

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