A Map Showing Location of the California Missions
California Missions
A GUIDE TO THE HISTORIC TRAILS OF THE PADRES
By KARL F. BROWN
Illustrated with seventy-eight photographs
By FLOYD RAY
Foreword by
REXFORD NEWCOMB
Dean, College of Fine and Applied Arts
University of Illinois
COPYRIGHT 1939 BY KARL F. BROWN AND FLOYD RAY
GARDEN CITY PUBLISHING CO., Inc.
NEW YORK
Chapel, San Diego De Alcalá
Façade, San Diego De Alcalá
Foreword
Along the strand of the Pacific betweenSan Diego and Sonoma, the intrepidmonks of the Order of Saint Francis strungthat cordon of missions that were to become,as time went on, the outposts ofcivilization along the sunset coast ofCalifornia.
Begun in 1769, this chain of churchesalong El Camino Real was complete by1823, and in these establishments the devotedfollowers of Padre Junípero Serrasought to win for Christ and the Crown ofSpain devotees among the dusky inhabitantsof this land. How well they succeeded6may be judged when we learn that often inthe more prosperous missions as many astwo thousand Indians were being trainedat one time.
Cloister, San Diego De Alcalá
And what was the routine by whichthese fervent priests of Old Spain hopedto convert the backward natives of thecoast into God-fearing, self-supporting andself-respecting subjects of his Hispanicmajesty, the king? The system of trainingprescribed plenty of work accompanied byinstruction in the handcrafts and Christiandoctrine. To this end, each day, the morningbell assembled the Indians in thechapel for prayers and mass. Followingthis, breakfast was eaten, after which eachwent to his assigned task. At eleven o’clockdinner was eaten; then a siesta. Work, resumedat 2 P.M., continued until