soldiers, women and children, and great herds of cattle and flocks of
sheep. In due time he reached what is now the village of Chamita,
calling it San Gabriel de los Espanoles, a few miles north of Santa Fe,
and there established, in September, 1598, the first town of New Mexico,
and the second of the United States (St. Augustine, in Florida, having
been the first, established in 1560 by Aviles de Menendez).

The work of Onate and the epoch it represents is graphically,
sympathetically and understandingly treated, _from the Indian's
standpoint_, by Marah Ellis Ryan, in her fascinating and illuminating
novel, _The Flute of the Gods_, which every student of the Missions of
New Mexico and Arizona (as also of California) will do well to read.

New Mexico has seen some of the most devoted missionaries of the world,
one of these, Fray Geronimo de Zarate Salmeron, having left a most
interesting, instructive account of "the things that have been seen and
known in New Mexico, as well by sea as by land, from the year 1538 till
that of 1626."

This account was written in 1626 to induce other missionaries to enter
the field in which he was so earnest a laborer. For eight years he
worked in New Mexico, more than 280 years ago. In 1618 he was parish
priest at Jemez, mastered the Indian language and baptized 6566 Indians,
not counting those of Cia and Santa Ana. "He also, single-handed and
alone, pacified and converted the lofty pueblo of Acoma, then hostile to
the Spanish. He built churches and monasteries, bore the fearful
hardships and dangers of a missionary's life then in that wilderness,
and has left us a most valuable chronicle." This was translated by Mr.
Lummis and appeared in _The Land of Sunshine_.

The missionaries who accompanied Juan de Onate in 1597 built a chapel at
San Gabriel, but no fragment of it remains, though in 1680 its ruins
were referred to. The second church in New Mexico was built about 1606
in Santa Fe, the new city founded the year before by Onate. This church,
however, did not last long, for it was soon outgrown, and in 1622, Fray
Alonzo de Benavides, the Franciscan historian of New Mexico, laid the
foundation of the parish church, which was completed in 1627. When, in
1870, it was decided to build the stone cathedral in Santa Fe, this old
church was demolished, except two large chapels and the old sanctuary.
It had been described in the official records shortly prior to its
demolition as follows: "An adobe building 54 yards long by 9-1/2 in
width, with two small towers not provided with crosses, one containing
two bells and the other empty; the church being covered with the
_Crucero_ (the place where a church takes the form of a cross by the
side chapels), there are two large separate chapels, the one on the
north side dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary, called also 'La
Conquistadorea;' and on the south side the other dedicated to
St. Joseph."

Sometime shortly after 1636 the old church of San Miguel was built in
Santa Fe, and its original walls still form a part of the church that
stands to-day. It was partially demolished in the rebellion of 1680, but
was restored in 1710.

In 1617, nearly three hundred years ago, there were eleven churches in
New Mexico, the ruins of one of which, that of Pecos, can still be seen
a few miles above Glorieta on the Santa Fe main line. This pueblo was
once the largest in New Mexico, but it was deserted in 1840, and now its
great house, supposed to have been much larger than the many-storied
house of Zuni, is entirely in ruins.

It would form a fascinating chapter could I here tell of the stirring
history of some of the Missions established in New Mexico. There were
martyrs by the score, escapes miraculous and wonderful. Among the Hopis
one whole village was completely destroyed and in the neighborhood of
seven hundred of its men--all of them--slain by their fellow-Hopis of
other towns, simply because of their complaisance towards the hated,
foreign long-gowns (as the Franciscan priests were called). Suffice it
to say that Missions were established and churches built at practically
all of the Indian pueblos, and also at the Spanish settlements of San
Gabriel and Santa Cruz de la Canyada, many of which exist to this day.
In Texas, also, Missions had been established, the ruins of the chief of
which may be visited in one day from the city of San Antonio.



CHAPTER II

THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE MISSIONS OF LOWER CALIFORNIA (MEXICO) AND ALTA
CALIFORNIA (UNITED STATES)

Rightly to understand the history of the Missions of the California of
the United States, it is imperative that the connection or relationship
that exists between their history and that of the Missions of Lower
California (Mexico) be clearly understood.

As I have already shown, the Jesuit padres founded fourteen Missions in
Lower California, which they conducted with greater or less success
until 1767, when the infamous Order of Expulsion of Carlos III of Spain
drove them into exile.

It had always been the intention of Spain to colonize and missionize
Alta California, even as far back as the days of Cabrillo in 1542, and
when Vizcaino, sixty years later, went over the same region, the
original intention was renewed. But intentions do not always fructify
and bring forth, so it was not until a hundred and sixty years after
Vizcaino that the work was actually begun. The reasons were diverse and
equally urgent. The King of Spain and his advisers were growing more
and more uneasy about the aggressions of the Russians and the English
on the California or rather the Pacific Coast. Russia was pushing down
from the north; England also had her establishments there, and with her
insular arrogance England boldly stated that she had the right to
California, or New Albion, as she called it, because of Sir Francis
Drake's landing and taking possession in the name of "Good Queen Bess."
Spain not only resented this, but began to realize another need. Her
galleons from the Philippines found it a long, weary, tedious and
disease-provoking voyage around the coast of South America to Spain, and
besides, too many hostile and piratical vessels roamed over the Pacific
Sea to allow Spanish captains to sleep easy o' nights. Hence it was
decided that if ports of call were established on the California coast,
fresh meats and vegetables and pure water could be supplied to the
galleons, and in addition, with _presidios_ to defend them, they might
escape the plundering pirates by whom they were beset. Accordingly plans
were being formulated for the colonization and missionization of
California when, by authority of his own sweet will, ruling a people who
fully believed in the divine right of kings to do as they pleased, King
Carlos the Third issued the proclamation already referred to, totally
and completely banishing the Jesuits from all parts of his dominions,
under penalty of imprisonment and death.

I doubt whether many people of to-day, even though they be of the
Catholic Church, can realize what obedience to that order meant to these
devoted priests. Naturally they must obey it--monstrous though it
was--but the one thought that tore their hearts with anguish was: Who
would care for their Indian charges?

For these ignorant and benighted savages they had left their homes and
given up all that life ordinarily means and offers. Were they to be
allowed to drift back into their dark heathendom?

No! In spite of his cruelty to the Jesuits, the king had provided that
the Indians should not be neglected. He had appointed one in whom he had
especial confidence, Don Jose Galvez, as his _Visitador General_, and
had conferred upon him almost plenary authority. To his hands was
committed the carrying out of the order of banishment, the providing of
members of some other Catholic Order to care for the Indians of the
Missions, and later, to undertake the work of extending the chain of
Missions northward into Alta California, as far north as the Bay of
Monterey, and even beyond.

To aid him in his work Galvez appealed to the Superior of the Franciscan
Convent in the City of Mexico, and Padre Junipero Serra, by common
consent of the officers and his fellows, was denominated as the man of
all men for the important office of Padre Presidente of the Jesuit
Missions that were to be placed henceforth under the care of the
Franciscans.

This plan, however, was changed within a few months. It was decided to
call upon the priests of the Dominican Order to take charge of the
Jesuit Missions, while the Franciscans put all their strength and energy
into the founding of the new Missions in Alta California.

Thus it came to pass that the Franciscans took charge of the founding of
the California Missions, and that Junipero Serra became the first real
pioneer of what is now so proudly denominated "The Golden State."

The orders that Galvez had received were clear and positive:

"Occupy and fortify San Diego and Monterey for God and the King of
Spain." He was a devout son of the Church, full of enthusiasm, having
good sense, great executive ability, considerable foresight, untiring
energy, and decided contempt for all routine formalities. He began his
work with a truly Western vigor. Being invested with almost absolute
power, there were none above him to interpose vexatious formalities to
hinder the immediate execution of his plans.

[Illustration: JUNIPERO SERRA Founder and First Padre Presidente of the
Franciscan Missions of California From the Schumacker crayon]

[Illustration: MAP OF THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA, SHOWING THE FRANCISCAN
MISSION ESTABLISHMENTS. Map originally made for Palou's Life of Padre
Junipero Serra, published in Mexico in 1787.]

In order that the spiritual part of the work might be as carefully
planned as the political, Galvez summoned Serra. What a fine
combination! Desire and power hand in hand! What nights were spent by
the two in planning! What arguments, what discussions, what final
agreements the old adobe rooms occupied by them must have heard! But it
is by just such men that great enterprises are successfully begun and
executed. For fervor and enthusiasm, power and sense, when combined,
produce results. Plans were formulated with a completeness and rapidity
that equalled the best days of the _Conquistadores_. Four expeditions
were to go: two by land and two by sea. So would the risk of failure be
lessened, and practical knowledge of both routes be gained. Galvez had
two available vessels: the "San Carlos" and the "San Antonio."

For money the visitor-general called upon the Pious Fund, which, on the
expulsion of the Jesuits, he had placed in the hands of a governmental
administrator. He had also determined that the Missions of the peninsula
should do their share to help in the founding of the new Missions, and
Serra approved and helped in the work.

When Galvez arrived, he found Gaspar de Portola acting as civil and
military governor, and Fernando Javier Rivera y Moncada, the former
governor, commanding the garrison at Loreto. Both were captains, Rivera
having been long in the country. He determined to avail himself of the
services of these two men, each of them to command one of the land
expeditions. Consequently with great rapidity, for those days,
operations were set in motion. Rivera in August or September, 1768, was
sent on a commission to visit in succession all the Missions, and gather
from each one all the provisions, live-stock, and implements that could
be spared. He was also to prevail upon all the available families he
could find to go along as colonists. In the meantime, others sent out by
Galvez gathered in church furniture, ornaments, and vestments for the
Missions, and later Serra made a tour for the same purpose. San Jose was
named the patron saint of the expedition, and in December the "San
Carlos" arrived at La Paz partially laden with supplies.

The vessel was in bad condition, so it had to be unloaded, careened,
cleaned, and repaired, and then reloaded, and in this latter work both
Galvez and Serra helped, the former packing the supplies for the Mission
of San Buenaventura, in which he was particularly interested, and Serra
attending to those for San Carlos. They joked each other as they worked,
and when Galvez completed his task ahead of Serra he had considerable
fun at the Padre Presidente's expense. In addition to the two Missions
named, one other, dedicated to San Diego, was first to be established.
By the ninth of January, 1769, the "San Carlos" was ready. Confessions
were heard, masses said, the communion administered, and Galvez made a
rousing speech. Then Serra formally blessed the undertaking, cordially
embraced Fray Parron, to whom the spiritual care of the vessel was
intrusted, the sails were lowered, and off started the first division of
the party that meant so much to the future California. In another vessel
Galvez went along until the "San Carlos" doubled the point and started
northward, when, with gladness in his heart and songs on his lips, he
returned to still further prosecute his work.

The fifteenth of February the "San Antonio," under the command of Perez,
was ready and started. Now the land expeditions must be moved. Rivera
had gathered his stock, etc., at Santa Maria, the most northern of the
Missions, but finding scant pasturage there, he had moved eight or ten
leagues farther north to a place called by the Indians Velicata. Fray
Juan Crespi was sent to join Rivera, and Fray Lasuen met him at Santa
Maria in order to bestow the apostolic blessing ere the journey began,
and on March 24 Lasuen stood at Velicata and saw the little band of
pilgrims start northward for the land of the gentiles, driving their
herds before them. What a procession it must have been! The animals,
driven by Indians under the direction of soldiers and priests,
straggling along or dashing wildly forward as such creatures are wont to
do! Here, as well as in the starting of the "San Carlos" and "San
Antonio," is a great scene for an artist, and some day canvases worthy
the subjects should be placed in the California State Capitol at
Sacramento.

Governor Portola was already on his way north, but Serra was delayed by
an ulcerated foot and leg, and, besides, he had not yet gathered
together all the Mission supplies he needed, so it was May 15 before
this division finally left Velicata. The day before leaving, Serra
established the Mission of San Fernando at the place of their
departure, and left Padre Campa in charge.

Padre Serra's diary, kept in his own handwriting during this trip from
Loreto to San Diego, is now in the Edward E. Ayer Library in Chicago.
Some of his expressions are most striking. In one place, speaking of
Captain Rivera's going from Mission to Mission to take from them
"whatever he might choose of what was in them for the founding of the
new Missions," he says: "Thus he did; and altho it was with a somewhat
heavy hand, it was undergone for God and the king."

The work of Galvez for Alta California was by no means yet accomplished.
Another vessel, the "San Jose," built at his new shipyard, appeared two
days before the "San Antonio" set sail, and soon afterwards Galvez went
across the gulf in it to secure a load of fresh supplies. The sixteenth
of June the "San Jose" sailed for San Diego as a relief boat to the "San
Carlos" and "San Antonio," but evidently met with misfortune, for three
months later it returned to the Loreto harbor with a broken mast and in
general bad condition. It was unloaded and repaired at San Blas, and in
the following June again started out, laden with supplies, but never
reached its destination, disappearing forever without leaving a
trace behind.

[Illustration: SERRA MEMORIAL CROSS, MONTEREY, CALIF]

[Illustration: SERRA CROSS ON MT. RUBIDOUX, RIVERSIDE, CALIF. Under
which sunrise services are held at Easter and Christmastide.]

[Illustration: SERRA STATUE. Erected by Mrs. Leland Stanford, at
Monterey]

[Illustration: STATUE TO JUNIPERO SERRA. The gift of James D. Phelan, in
Golden Gate Park San Francisco.]

The "San Antonio" first arrived at San Diego. About April 11, 1769, it
anchored in the bay, and awakened in the minds of the natives strange
feelings of astonishment and awe. Its presence recalled to them the
"stories of the old," when a similar apparition startled their
ancestors. That other white-winged creature had come long generations
ago, and had gone away, never to be seen again. Was this not to do
likewise? Ah, no! in this vessel was contained the beginning of the end
of the primitive man. The solitude of the centuries was now to be
disturbed and its peace invaded; aboriginal life destroyed forever. The
advent of this vessel was the death knell of the Indian tribes.

Little, however, did either the company on board the "San Antonio" or
the Indians themselves conceive such thoughts as these on that memorable
April day.

But where was the "San Carlos," which sailed almost a month earlier than
the "San Antonio"? She was struggling with difficulties,--leaking
water-casks, bad water, scurvy, cold weather. Therefore it was not until
April 29 that she appeared. In vain the captain of the "San Antonio"
waited for the "San Carlos" to launch a boat and to send him word as to
the cause of the late arrival of the flagship; so he visited her to
discover for himself the cause. He found a sorry state of affairs. All
on board were ill from scurvy. Hastily erecting canvas houses on the
beach, the men of his own crew went to the relief of their suffering
comrades of the other vessel. Then the crew of the relieving ship took
the sickness, and soon there were so few well men left that they could
scarcely attend the sick and bury the dead. Those first two weeks in the
new land, in the month of May, 1769, were never to be forgotten. Of
about ninety sailors, soldiers, and mechanics, less than thirty
survived; over sixty were buried by the wash of the waves of the Bay of
Saint James.

Then came Rivera and Crespi, with Lieutenant Fages and twenty-five
soldiers.

Immediately a permanent camp was sought and found at what is now known
as Old San Diego, where the two old palms still remain, with the ruins
of the _presidio_ on the hill behind. Six weeks were busily occupied in
caring for the sick and in unloading the "San Antonio." Then the fourth
and last party of the explorers arrived,--Governor Portola on June 29,
and Serra on July 1. What a journey that had been for Serra! He had
walked all the way, and, after two days out, a badly ulcerated leg began
to trouble him. Portola wished to send him back, but Serra would not
consent. He called to one of the muleteers and asked him to make just
such a salve for his wound as he would put upon the saddle galls of one
of his animals. It was done, and in a single night the ointment and the
Father's prayers worked the miracle of healing.

After a general thanksgiving, in which exploding gunpowder was used to
give effect, a consultation was held, at which it was decided to send
back the "San Antonio" to San Blas for supplies, and for new crews for
herself and the "San Carlos." A land expedition under Portola was to go
to Monterey, while Serra and others remained at San Diego to found the
Mission. The vessel sailed, Portola and his band started north, and on
July 16, 1769, Serra raised the cross, blessed it, said mass, preached,
and formally established the Mission of San Diego de Alcala.

It mattered not that the Indians held aloof; that only the people who
came on the expedition were present to hear. From the hills beyond,
doubtless, peered and peeped the curious natives. All was mysterious to
them. Later, however, they became troublesome, stealing from the sick
and pillaging from the "San Carlos." At last, they made a determined
raid for plunder, which the Spanish soldiers resisted. A flight of
arrows was the result. A boy was killed and three of the new-comers
wounded. A volley of musket-balls killed three Indians, wounded several
more, and cleared the settlement. After such an introduction, there is
no wonder that conversions were slow. Not a neophyte gladdened the
Father's heart for more than a year.



CHAPTER III

THE MISSIONS FOUNDED BY PADRE JUNIPERO SERRA

San Diego Mission founded, Serra was impatient to have work begun
elsewhere. Urging the governor to go north immediately, he rejoiced when
Portola, Crespi, Rivera, and Pages started, with a band of soldiers and
natives. They set out gaily, gladly. They were sure of a speedy journey
to the Bay of Monterey, discovered by Cabrillo, and seen again and
charted by Vizcaino, where they were to establish the second Mission.

[Illustration: EASTER SUNRISE SERVICE, 1913, UNDER SERRA CROSS, MT.
RUBIDOUX, RIVERSIDE, CALIF.]

[Illustration: MEMORIAL TABLET AND GRAVES OF PADRES SERRA, CRESPI, AND
LASUEN, IN MISSION SAN CARLOS BORROMEO, CARMEL VALLEY, MONTEREY.]

Strange to say, however, when they reached Monterey, in the words of
Scripture, "their eyes were holden," and they did not recognize it. They
found a bay which they fully described, and while we to-day clearly see
that it was the bay they were looking for, they themselves thought it
was another one. Believing that Vizcaino had made an error in his chart,
they pushed on further north. The result of this disappointment was of
vast consequence to the later development of California, for, following
the coast line inland, they were bound to strike the peninsula and
ultimately reach the shores of what is now San Francisco Bay. This
was exactly what was done, and on November 2, 1769, one of Portola's
men, ascending ahead of the others to the crest of a hill, caught sight
of this hitherto unknown and hidden body of water. How he would have
shouted had he understood! How thankful and joyous it would have made
Portola and Crespi and the others. For now was the discovery of that
very harbor that Padre Serra had so fervently hoped and prayed for, the
harbor that was to secure for California a Mission "for our father Saint
Francis." Yet not one of them either knew or seemed to comprehend the
importance of that which their eyes had seen. Instead, they were
disheartened and disappointed by a new and unforeseen obstacle to their
further progress. The narrow channel (later called the Golden Gate by
Fremont), barred their way, and as their provisions were getting low,
and they certainly were much further north than they ought to have been
to find the Bay of Monterey, Portola gave the order for the return, and
sadly, despondently, they went back to San Diego.

On the march south, Portola's mind was made up. This whole enterprise
was foolish and chimerical. He had had enough of it. He was going back
home, and as the "San Antonio" with its promised supplies had not yet
arrived, and the camp was almost entirely out of food, he announced the
abandonment of the expedition and an immediate return to Lower
California.

Now came Serra's faith to the fore, and that resolute determination and
courage that so marked his life. The decision of Portola had gone to his
heart like an arrow. What! Abandon the Missions before they were fairly
begun? Where was their trust in God? It was one hundred and sixty-six
years since Vizcaino had been in this port, and if they left it now,
when would another expedition be sent? In those years that had elapsed
since Vizcaino, how many precious Indian souls had been lost because
they had not received the message of salvation? He pleaded and begged
Portola to reconsider. For awhile the governor stood firm. Serra also
had a strong will. From a letter written to Padre Palou, who was left
behind in charge of the Lower California Missions, we see his intention:
"_If we see that along with the provisions hope vanishes, I shall remain
alone_ with Father Juan Crespi and hold out to the last breath."

With such a resolution as this, Portola could not cope. Yielding to
Serra's persuasion, he consented to wait while a _novena_ (a nine days'
devotional exercise) was made to St. Joseph, the holy patron of the
expedition. Fervently day by day Serra prayed. On the day of San Jose
(St. Joseph) a high mass was celebrated, and Serra preached. On the
fourth day the eager watchers saw the vessel approach. Then, strange to
say, it disappeared, and as the sixth, seventh and eighth days passed
and it did not reappear again, hope seemed to sink lower in the hearts
of all but Serra and his devoted brother Crespi. On the ninth and last
day--would it be seen? Bowing himself in eager and earnest prayer Serra
pleaded that his faith be not shamed, and, to his intense delight,
doubtless while he prayed, the vessel sailed into the bay.

Joy unspeakable was felt by every one. The provisions were here, the
expedition need not be abandoned; the Indians would yet be converted to
Holy Church and all was well. A service of thanksgiving was held, and
happiness smiled on every face.

With new energy, vigor, and hope, Portola set out again for the search
of Monterey, accompanied by Serra as well as Crespi. This time the
attempt was successful. They recognized the bay, and on June 3, 1770, a
shelter of branches was erected on the beach, a cross made ready near an
old oak, the bells were hung and blessed, and the services of founding
began. Padre Serra preached with his usual fervor; he exhorted the
natives to come and be saved, and put to rout all infernal foes by an
abundant sprinkling of holy water. The Mission was dedicated to San
Carlos Borromeo.

Thus two of the long desired Missions were established, and the passion
of Serra's longings, instead of being assuaged, raged now all the
fiercer. It was not long, however, before he found it to be bad policy
to have the Missions for the Indian neophytes too near the _presidio_,
or barracks for the soldiers. These latter could not always be
controlled, and they early began a course which was utterly demoralizing
to both sexes, for the women of a people cannot be debauched without
exciting the men to fierce anger, or making them as bad as their women.
Hence Serra removed the Missions: that of San Diego six miles up the
valley to a point where the ruins now stand, while that of San Carlos he
re-established in the Carmelo Valley.

The Mission next to be established should have been San Buenaventura,
but events stood in the way; so, on July 14, 1771, Serra (who had been
zealously laboring with the heathen near Monterey), with eight soldiers,
three sailors, and a few Indians, passed down the Salinas River and
established the Mission of San Antonio de Padua. The site was a
beautiful one, in an oak-studded glen, near a fair-sized stream. The
passionate enthusiasm of Serra can be understood from the fact that
after the bells were hung from a tree, he loudly tolled them, crying the
while like one possessed: "Come, gentiles, come to the Holy Church, come
and receive the faith of Jesus Christ!" Padre Pieras could not help
reminding his superior that not an Indian was within sight or hearing,
and that it would be more practical to proceed with the ritual. One
native, however, did witness the ceremony, and he soon brought a large
number of his companions, who became tractable enough to help in
erecting the rude church, barracks and houses with which the priests and
soldiers were compelled to be content in those early days.

[Illustration: MISSION SAN CARLOS AND BAY OF MONTEREY.]

[Illustration: JUNIPERO OAK, SAN CARLOS PRESIDIO MISSION, MONTEREY]

[Illustration: STATUE OF SAN LUIS REY, AT PALA MISSION CHAPEL _See page
246._]

On September 8, Padres Somera and Cambon founded the Mission of San
Gabriel Arcangel, originally about six miles from the present site.
Here, at first, the natives were inclined to be hostile, a large force
under two chieftains appearing, in order to prevent the priests from
holding their service. But at the elevation of a painting of the Virgin,
the opposition ceased, and the two chieftains threw their necklaces at
the feet of the Beautiful Queen. Still, a few wicked men can undo in a
short time the work of many good ones. Padre Palou says that outrages by
soldiers upon the Indian women precipitated an attack upon the
Spaniards, especially upon two, at one of whom the chieftain (whose wife
had been outraged by the man) fired an arrow. Stopping it with his
shield, the soldier levelled his musket and shot the injured husband
dead. Ah! sadness of it! The unbridled passions of men of the new race
already foreshadowed the death of the old race, even while the good
priests were seeking to elevate and to Christianize them. This attack
and consequent disturbance delayed still longer the founding of San
Buenaventura.

On his way south (for he had now decided to go to Mexico), Serra
founded, on September 1, 1772, the Mission of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa.
The natives called the location Tixlini, and half a league away was a
famous canyada in which Fages, some time previously, had killed a number
of bears to provide meat for the starving people at Monterey. This act
made the natives well disposed towards the priests in charge of the new
Mission, and they helped to erect buildings, offered their children for
baptism, and brought of their supply of food to the priests, whose
stores were by no means abundant.

While these events were transpiring, Governor Portola had returned to
Lower California, and Lieutenant Fages was appointed commandant in his
stead. This, it soon turned out, was a great mistake. Fages and Serra
did not work well together, and, at the time of the founding of San Luis
Obispo, relations between them were strained almost to breaking. Serra
undoubtedly had just cause for complaint. The enthusiastic, impulsive
missionary, desirous of furthering his important religious work,
believed himself to be restrained by a cold-blooded, official-minded
soldier, to whom routine was more important than the salvation of the
Indians. Serra complained that Fages opened his letters and those of his
fellow missionaries; that he supported his soldiers when their evil
conduct rendered the work of the missionaries unavailing; that he
interfered with the management of the stations and the punishment of
neophytes, and devoted to his own uses the property and facilities of
the Missions.

In the main, this complaint received attention from the Junta in
Mexico. Fages was ultimately removed, and Rivera appointed governor in
his place. More missionaries, money, and supplies were placed at Serra's
disposal, and he was authorized to proceed to the establishment of the
additional Missions which he had planned. He also obtained authority
from the highest powers of the Church to administer the important
sacrament of confirmation. This is a right generally conferred only upon
a bishop and his superiors, but as California was so remote and the
visits of the bishop so rare, it was deemed appropriate to grant this
privilege to Serra.

Rejoicing and grateful, the earnest president sent Padres Fermin
Francisco de Lasuen and Gregorio Amurrio, with six soldiers, to begin
work at San Juan Capistrano. This occurred in August, 1775. On the
thirtieth of the following October, work was begun, and everything
seemed auspicious, when suddenly, as if God had ceased to smile upon
them, terrible news came from San Diego. There, apparently, things had
been going well. Sixty converts were baptized on October 3, and the
priests rejoiced at the success of their efforts. But the Indians back
in the mountains were alarmed and hostile. Who were these white-faced
strangers causing their brother aborigines to kneel before a strange
God? What was the meaning of that mystic ceremony of sprinkling with
water? The demon of priestly jealousy was awakened in the breasts of
the _tingaivashes_--the medicine-men--of the tribes about San Diego, who
arranged a fierce midnight attack which should rid them forever of these
foreign conjurers, the men of the "bad medicine."

Exactly a month and a day after the baptism of the sixty converts, at
the dead of night, the Mission buildings were fired and the eleven
persons of Spanish blood were awakened by flames and the yells of a
horde of excited savages. A fierce conflict ensued. Arrows were fired on
the one side, gun-shots on the other, while the flames roared in
accompaniment and lighted the scene. Both Indians and Spaniards fell.
The following morning, when hostilities had ceased and the enemy had
withdrawn, the body of Padre Jayme was discovered in the dry bed of a
neighboring creek, bruised from head to foot with blows from stones and
clubs, naked, and bearing eighteen arrow-wounds.

The sad news was sent to Serra, and his words, at hearing it, show the
invincible missionary spirit of the man: "God be thanked! Now the soil
is watered; now will the reduction of the Dieguinos be complete!"

At San Juan Capistrano, however, the news caused serious alarm. Work
ceased, the bells were buried, and the priests returned.

In the meantime events were shaping elsewhere for the founding of the
Mission of San Francisco. Away yonder, in what is now Arizona, but was
then a part of New Mexico, were several Missions, some forty miles
south of the city of Tucson, and it was decided to connect these, by
means of a good road, with the Missions of California. Captain Juan
Bautista de Anza was sent to find this road. He did so, and made the
trip successfully, going with Padre Serra from San Gabriel as far north
as Monterey.

On his return, the Viceroy, Bucareli, gave orders that he should recruit
soldiers and settlers for the establishment and protection of the new
Mission on San Francisco Bay. We have a full roster, in the handwriting
of Padre Font, the Franciscan who accompanied the expedition, of those
who composed it. Successfully they crossed the sandy wastes of Arizona
and the barren desolation of the Colorado Desert (in Southern
California).

On their arrival at San Gabriel, January 4, 1776 (memorable year on the
other side of the continent), they found that Rivera, who had been
appointed governor in Portola's stead, had arrived the day before, on
his way south to quell the Indian disturbances at San Diego, and Anza,
on hearing the news, deemed the matter of sufficient importance to
justify his turning aside from his direct purpose and going south with
Rivera. Taking seventeen of his soldiers along, he left the others to
recruit their energies at San Gabriel, but the inactivity of Rivera did
not please him, and, as things were not going well at San Gabriel, he
soon returned and started northward. It was a weary journey, the rains
having made some parts of the road well-nigh impassable, and even the
women had to walk. Yet on the tenth of March they all arrived safely and
happily at Monterey, where Serra himself came to congratulate them.

After an illness which confined him to his bed, Anza, against the advice
of his physician, started to investigate the San Francisco region, as
upon his decision rested the selection of the site. The bay was pretty
well explored, and the site chosen, near a spring and creek, which was
named from the day,--the last Friday in Lent,--_Arroyo de los Dolores_.
Hence the name so often applied to the Mission itself: it being commonly
known even to-day as "Mission Dolores."

His duty performed, Anza returned south, and Rivera appointed Lieutenant
Moraga to take charge of the San Francisco colonists, and on July 26,
1776, a camp was pitched on the allotted site. The next day a building
of tules was begun and on the twenty-eighth of the same month mass was
said by Padre Palou. In the meantime, the vessel "San Carlos" was
expected from Monterey with all needful supplies for both the _presidio_
and the new Mission, but, buffeted by adverse winds, it was forced down
the coast as far as San Diego, and did not arrive outside of what is now
the bay of San Francisco until August 17.

The two carpenters from the "San Carlos," with a squad of sailors, were
set to work on the new buildings, and on September 17 the foundation
ceremonies of the _presidio_ took place. On that same day, Lord Howe, of
the British army, with his Hessian mercenaries, was rejoicing in the
city of New York in anticipation of an easy conquest of the army of the
revolutionists.

It was the establishment of that _presidio_, followed by that of the
Mission on October 9, which predestined the name of the future great
American city, born of adventure and romance.

Padres Palou and Cambon had been hard at work since the end of July.
Aided by Lieutenant Moraga, they built a church fifty-four feet long,
and a house thirty by fifteen feet, both structures being of wood,
plastered with clay, and roofed with tules. On October 3, the day
preceding the festival of St. Francis, bunting and flags from the ships
were brought to decorate the new buildings; but, owing to the absence of
Moraga, the formal dedication did not take place until October 9. Happy
was Serra's friend and brother, Palou, to celebrate high mass at this
dedication of the church named after the great founder of his Order, and
none the less so were his assistants, Fathers Cambon, Nocedal, and Pena.

Just before the founding of the Mission of San Francisco, the Spanish
Fathers witnessed an Indian battle. Natives advanced from the region of
San Mateo and vigorously attacked the San Francisco Indians, burning
their houses and compelling them to flee on their tule rafts to the
islands and the opposite shores of the bay. Months elapsed before these
defeated Indians returned, to afford the Fathers at San Francisco an
opportunity to work for the salvation of their souls.

In October of the following year, Serra paid his first visit to San
Francisco, and said mass on the titular saint's day. Then, standing near
the Golden Gate, he exclaimed: "Thanks be to God that now our father,
St. Francis, with the holy professional cross of Missions, has reached
the last limit of the Californian continent. To go farther he must
have boats."

The same month in which Palou dedicated the northern Mission, found
Serra, with Padre Gregorio Amurrio and ten soldiers, wending their way
from San Diego to San Juan Capistrano, the foundation of which had been
delayed the year previous by the San Diego massacre. They disinterred
the bells and other buried materials and without delay founded the
Mission. With his customary zeal, Serra caused the bells to be hung and
sounded, and said the dedicatory mass on November 1, 1776. The original
location of this Mission, named by the Indians _Sajirit_, was
approximately the site of the present church, whose pathetic ruins speak
eloquently of the frightful earthquake which later destroyed it.

Aroused by a letter from Viceroy Bucareli, Rivera hastened the
establishment of the eighth Mission. A place was found near the
Guadalupe River, where the Indians named _Tares_ had four _rancherias_,
and which they called _Thamien_. Here Padre Tomas de la Pena planted the
cross, erected an _enramada_, or brush shelter, and on January 12, 1777,
said mass, dedicating the new Mission to the Virgin, Santa Clara, one of
the early converts of Francis of Assisi.

On February 3, 1777, the new governor of Alta California, Felipe de
Neve, arrived at Monterey and superseded Rivera. He quickly established
the pueblo of San Jose, and, a year or two later, Los Angeles, the
latter under the long title of the pueblo of "Nuestra Senora, Reina de
los Angeles,"--Our Lady, Queen of the Angels.

In the meantime, contrary to the advice and experience of the padres,
the new Viceroy, Croix, determined to establish two Missions on the
Colorado River, near the site of the present city of Yuma, and conduct
them not as Missions with the Fathers exercising control over the
Indians, but as towns in which the Indians would be under no temporal
restraint. The attempt was unfortunate. The Indians fell upon the
Spaniards and priests, settlers, soldiers, and Governor Rivera himself
perished in the terrific attack. Forty-six men met an awful fate, and
the women were left to a slavery more frightful than death. This was the
last attempt made by the Spaniards to missionize the Yumas.

With these sad events in mind the Fathers founded San Buenaventura on
March 31, 1782. Serra himself preached the dedicatory sermon. The
Indians came from their picturesque conical huts of tule and straw, to
watch the raising of the cross, and the gathering at this dedication was
larger than at any previous ceremony in California; more than seventy
Spaniards with their families, together with large numbers of Indians,
being there assembled.

The next month, the _presidio_ of Santa Barbara was established.

In the end of 1783, Serra visited all the southern Missions to
administer confirmation to the neophytes, and in January, 1784, he
returned to San Carlos at Monterey.

For some time his health had been failing, asthma and a running sore on
his breast both causing him much trouble. Everywhere uneasiness was felt
at his physical condition, but though he undoubtedly suffered keenly, he
refused to take medicine. The padres were prepared at any time to hear
of his death. But Serra calmly went on with his work. He confirmed the
neophytes at San Luis Obispo and San Antonio, and went to help dedicate
the new church recently built at Santa Clara, and also to San Francisco.
Called back to Santa Clara by the sickness of Padre Murguia, he was
saddened by the death of that noble and good man, and felt he ought to