grandfather. The family lived in a house just southwest of the Mission,
and there this grandfather was born. He was baptized, confirmed, and
married in the old church, and when, after secularization, the Mission
property was offered for sale, he purchased it. As the church--in the
years of pitiful struggle for possession, of its temporalities--had been
allowed to go to ruin, this true son of the Church erected the building,
the ruins of which now bring sadness to the hearts of all who care for
the Missions.



CHAPTER XXIII

SAN JOSE DE GUADALUPE

There was a period of rest after the founding of Santa Cruz and La
Soledad. Padre Presidente Lasuen was making ready for a new and great
effort. Hitherto the Mission establishments had been isolated units of
civilization, each one alone in its work save for the occasional visits
of governor, inspector, or presidente. Now they were to be linked
together, by the founding of intermediate Missions, into one great
chain, near enough for mutual help and encouragement, the boundary of
one practically the boundary of the next one, both north and south. The
two new foundations of Santa Cruz and Soledad were a step in this
direction, but now the plan was to be completed. With the viceroy's
approval, Governor Borica authorized Lasuen to have the regions between
the old Missions carefully explored for new sites. Accordingly the
padres and their guards were sent out, and simultaneously such a work of
investigation began as was never before known. Reports were sent in, and
finally, after a careful study of the whole situation, it was concluded
that five new Missions could be established and a great annual saving
thereby made in future yearly expenses. Governor Borica's idea was that
the new Missions would convert all the gentile Indians west of the Coast
Range. This done, the guards could be reduced at an annual saving of
$15,000. This showing pleased the viceroy, and he agreed to provide the
$1000 needed for each new establishment on the condition that no added
military force be called for. The guardian of San Fernando College was
so notified August 19, 1796; and on September 29 he in turn announced to
the viceroy that the required ten missionaries were ready, but begged
that no reduction be made in the guards at the Missions already
established. Lasuen felt that it would create large demands upon the old
Missions to found so many new ones all at once, as they must help with
cattle, horses, sheep, neophyte laborers, etc.; yet, to obtain the
Missions, he was willing to do his very best, and felt sure his brave
associates would further his efforts in every possible way. Thus it was
that San Jose was founded, as before related, on June 11, 1797. The same
day all returned to Santa Clara, and five days elapsed ere the guards
and laborers were sent to begin work. Timbers were cut and water brought
to the location, and soon the temporary buildings were ready for
occupancy. By the end of the year there were 33 converts, and in 1800,
286. A wooden structure with a grass roof served as a church.

In 1809, April 23, the new church was completed, and Presidente Tapis
came and blessed it. The following day he preached, and Padre Arroyo de
la Cuesta said mass before a large congregation, including other
priests, several of the military, and people from the pueblo and Santa
Clara, and various neophytes. The following July the cemetery was
blessed with the usual solemnities.

In 1811 Padre Fortuni accompanied Padre Abella on a journey of
exploration to the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. They were gone
fifteen days, found the Indians very timid, and thought the shores of
the Sacramento offered a favorable site for a new Mission.

In 1817 Sergeant Soto, with one hundred San Jose neophytes, met twelve
soldiers from San Francisco, and proceeded, by boat, to pursue some
fugitives. They went up a river, possibly the San Joaquin, to a marshy
island where, according to Soto's report, a thousand hostiles were
assembled, who immediately fell upon their pursuers and fought them for
three hours. So desperately did they fight, relying upon their superior
numbers, that Soto was doubtful as to the result; but eventually they
broke and fled, swimming to places of safety, leaving many dead and
wounded but no captives. Only one neophyte warrior was killed.

In 1820 San Jose reported a population of 1754, with 6859 large stock,
859 horses, etc., and 12,000 sheep.

For twenty-seven years Padre Duran, who from 1825 to 1827 was also the
padre presidente, served Mission San Jose. In 1824 it reached its
maximum of population in 1806 souls. In everything it was prosperous,
standing fourth on the list both as to crops and herds.

Owing to its situation, being the first Mission reached by trappers,
etc., from the east, and also being the nearest to the valleys of the
Sacramento and San Joaquin, which afforded good retreats for fugitives,
San Jose had an exciting history. In 1826 there was an expedition
against the Cosumnes, in which forty Indians were killed, a rancheria
destroyed, and forty captives taken. In 1829 the famous campaign against
Estanislas, who has given his name to both a river and county, took
place. This Indian was a neophyte of San Jose, and being of more than
usual ability and smartness, was made alcalde. In 1827 or early in 1828
he ran away, and with a companion, Cipriano, and a large following, soon
made himself the terror of the rancheros of the neighborhood. One
expedition sent against him resulted disastrously, owing to insufficient
equipment, so a determined effort under M.G. Vallejo, who was now the
commander-in-chief of the whole California army, was made. May 29 he and
his forces crossed the San Joaquin River on rafts, and arrived the next
day at the scene of the former battle. With taunts, yells of defiance,
and a shower of arrows, Estanislas met the coming army, he and his
forces hidden in the fancied security of an impenetrable forest.
Vallejo at once set men to work in different directions to fire the
wood, which brought some of the Indians to the edge, where they were
slain. As evening came on, twenty-five men and an officer entered the
wood and fought until dusk, retiring with three men wounded. Next
morning Vallejo, with thirty-seven soldiers, entered the wood, where he
found pits, ditches, and barricades arranged with considerable skill.
Nothing but fire could have dislodged the enemy. They had fled under
cover of night. Vallejo set off in pursuit, and when, two days later, he
surrounded them, they declared they would die rather than surrender. A
road was cut through chaparral with axes, along which the field-piece
and muskets were pressed forward and discharged. The Indians retreated
slowly, wounding eight soldiers. When the cannon was close to the
enemies' intrenchments the ammunition gave out, and this fact and the
heat of the burning thicket compelled retreat. During the night the
Indians endeavored to escape, one by one, but most of them were killed
by the watchful guards. The next day nothing but the dead and three
living women were found. There were some accusations, later, that
Vallejo summarily executed some captives; but he denied it, and claimed
that the only justification for any such charge arose from the fact that
one man and one woman had been killed, the latter wrongfully by a
soldier, whom he advised be punished.

Up to the time of secularization, the Mission continued to be one of
the most prosperous. Jesus Vallejo was the administrator for
secularization, and in 1837 he and Padre Gonzalez Rubio made an
inventory which gave a total of over $155,000, when all debts were paid.
Even now for awhile it seemed to prosper, and not until 1840 did the
decline set in.

In accordance with Micheltorena's decree of March 29, 1843, San Jose was
restored to the temporal control of the padres, who entered with
good-will and zest into the labor of saving what they could out of the
wreck. Under Pico's decree of 1845 the Mission was inventoried, but the
document cannot now be found, nor a copy of it. The population was
reported as 400 in 1842, and it is supposed that possibly 250 still
lived at the Mission in 1845. On May 5, 1846, Pico sold all the property
to Andres Pico and J.B. Alvarado for $12,000, but the sale never went
into effect.

Mission San Jose de Guadalupe and the pueblo of the same name are not,
as so many people, even residents of California, think, one and the
same. The pueblo of San Jose is now the modern city of that name, the
home of the State Normal School, and the starting-point for Mount
Hamilton. But Mission San Jose is a small settlement, nearly twenty
miles east and north, in the foothills overlooking the southeast end of
San Francisco Bay. The Mission church has entirely disappeared, an
earthquake in 1868 having completed the ruin begun by the spoliation at
the time of secularization. A modern parish church has since been built
upon the site. Nothing of the original Mission now remains except a
portion of the monastery. The corridor is without arches, and is plain
and unpretentious, the roof being composed of willows tied to the
roughly hewn log rafters with rawhide. Behind this is a beautiful old
alameda of olives, at the upper end of which a modern orphanage,
conducted by the Dominican Sisters, has been erected. This avenue of
olives is crossed by another one at right angles, and both were planted
by the padres in the early days, as is evidenced by the age of the
trees. Doubtless many a procession of Indian neophytes has walked up and
down here, even as I saw a procession of the orphans and their
white-garbed guardians a short time ago. The surrounding garden is kept
up in as good style under the care of the sisters as it was in early
days by the padres.

The orphanage was erected in 1884 by Archbishop Alemany as a seminary
for young men who wished to study for the priesthood, but it was never
very successful in this work. For awhile it remained empty, then was
offered to the Dominican Sisters as a boarding-school. But as this
undertaking did not pay, in 1891 Archbishop Riordan offered such terms
as led the Mother General of the Dominican Sisters to purchase it as an
orphanage, and as such it is now most successfully conducted. There are
at the present time about eighty children cared for by these sweet and
gentle sisters of our Lord.

Two of the old Mission bells are hung in the new church. On one of these
is the inscription: "S.S. Jose. Ano de 1826." And on the upper bell,
"S.S. Joseph 1815, Ave Maria Purisima."

The old Mission baptismal font is also still in use. It is of hammered
copper, about three feet in diameter, surmounted by an iron cross about
eight inches high. The font stands upon a wooden base, painted, and is
about four feet high.



CHAPTER XXIV

SAN JUAN BAUTISTA

The second of the "filling up the links of the chain" Missions was that
of San Juan Bautista. Three days after the commandant of San Francisco
had received his orders to furnish a guard for the founders of Mission
San Jose, the commandant of Monterey received a like order for a guard
for the founders of San Juan Bautista. This consisted of five men and
Corporal Ballesteros. By June 17 this industrious officer had erected a
church, missionary-house, granary, and guard-house, and a week later
Lasuen, with the aid of two priests, duly founded the new Mission. The
site was a good one, and by 1800 crops to the extent of 2700 bushels
were raised. At the same time 516 neophytes were reported--not bad for
two and a half years' work.

In 1798 the gentiles from the mountains twenty-five miles east of San
Juan, the Ansayames, surrounded the Mission by night, but were prevailed
upon to retire. Later some of the neophytes ran away and joined these
hostiles, and then a force was sent to capture the runaways and
administer punishment. In the ensuing fight a chief was killed and
another wounded, and two gentiles brought in to be forcibly educated.
Other rancherias were visited, fifty fugitives arrested, and a few
floggings and many warnings given.

[Illustration: RUINED WALLS AND NEW BELL TOWER, MISSION SAN JUAN
BAUTISTA]

[Illustration: FACHADA OF MISSION SAN JUAN BAUTISTA]

[Illustration: MISSION SAN JUAN BAUTISTA, FROM THE PLAZA]

[Illustration: THE ARCHED CORRIDOR, MISSION SAN JUAN BAUTISTA]

This did not prevent the Ansayames, however, from killing two Mutsunes
at San Benito Creek, burning a house and some wheat-fields, and
seriously threatening the Mission. Moraga was sent against them and
captured eighteen hostiles and the chiefs of the hostile rancherias.

Almost as bad as warlike Indians were the earthquakes of that year,
several in number, which cracked all the adobe walls of the buildings
and compelled everybody--friars and Indians--to sleep out of doors
for safety.

In 1803 the governor ordered the padres of San Juan to remove their
stock from La Brea rancho, which had been granted to Mariano Castro.
They refused on the grounds that the rancho properly belonged to the
Mission and should not have been granted to Castro, and on appeal the
viceroy confirmed their contention.

In June of this year the corner-stone of a new church was laid. Padre
Viader conducted the ceremonies, aided by the resident priests. Don Jose
de la Guerra was the sponsor, and Captain Font and Surgeon
Morelos assisted.

In June, 1809, the image of San Juan was placed on the high altar in the
sacristy, which served for purposes of worship until the completion of
the church.

By the end of the decade the population had grown to 702, though the
number of deaths was large, and it continued slowly to increase until in
1823 it reached its greatest population with 1248 souls.

The new church was completed and dedicated on June 23, 1812. In 1818 a
new altar was completed, and a painter named Chavez demanded six reals a
day for decorating. As the Mission could not afford this, a Yankee,
known as Felipe Santiago--properly Thomas Doak--undertook the work,
aided by the neophytes. In 1815 one of the ministers was Esteban Tapis,
who afterwards became the presidente.

In 1836 San Juan was the scene of the preparations for hostility begun
by Jose Castro and Alvarado against Governor Gutierrez. Meetings were
held at which excited speeches were made advocating revolutionary
methods, and the fife and drum were soon heard by the peaceful
inhabitants of the old Mission. Many of the whites joined in with
Alvarado and Castro, and the affair ultimated in the forced exile of the
governor; Castro took his place until Alvarado was elected by the
_diputacion_.

The regular statistics of San Juan cease in 1832, when there were 916
Indians registered. In 1835, according to the decree of secularization,
63 Indians were "emancipated." Possibly these were the heads of
families. Among these were to be distributed land valued at $5120,
live-stock, including 41 horses, $1782, implements, effects,
etc., $1467.

The summary of statistics from the founding of the Mission in 1797 to
1834 shows 4100 baptisms, 1028 marriages, 3027 deaths. The largest
number of cattle owned was 11,000 in 1820, 1598 horses in 1806, 13,000
sheep in 1816.

In 1845, when Pico's decree was issued, San Juan was considered a
pueblo, and orders given for the sale of all property except a curate's
house, the church, and a court-house. The inventory gave a value of
$8000. The population was now about 150, half of whom were whites and
the other half Indians.

It will be remembered that it was at San Juan that Castro organized his
forces to repel what he considered the invasion of Fremont in 1846. From
Gavilan heights, near by, the explorer looked down and saw the warlike
preparations directed against him, and from there wrote his declaration:
"I am making myself as strong as possible, in the intention that if we
are unjustly attacked we will fight to extremity and refuse quarter,
trusting to our country to avenge our death."

In 1846 Pico sold all that remained of San Juan Bautista--the
orchard--to O. Deleisseques for a debt, and though he did not obtain
possession at the time, the United States courts finally confirmed his
claim. This was the last act in the history of the once
prosperous Mission.

The entrance at San Juan Bautista seems more like that of a prison than
a church. The Rev Valentin Closa, of the Company of Jesus, who for many
years has had charge here, found that some visitors were so
irresponsible that thefts were of almost daily occurrence. So he had a
wooden barrier placed across the church from wall to wall, and floor to
ceiling, through which a gate affords entrance, and this gate is kept
padlocked with as constant watchfulness as is that of a prison. Passing
this barrier, the two objects that immediately catch one's eye are the
semicircular arch dividing the church from the altar and the old wooden
pulpit on the left.

Of the modern bell-tower it can only be said that it is a pity necessity
seemed to compel the erection of such an abortion. The old padres
seldom, if ever, failed in their architectural taste. However one may
criticise their lesser work, such as the decorations, he is compelled to
admire their _large_ work; they were right, powerful, and dignified in
their straightforward simplicity. And it is pathetic that in later days,
when workmen and money were scarce, the modern priests did not see some
way of overcoming obstacles that would have been more harmonious with
the old plans than is evidenced by this tower and many other similar
incongruities, such as the steel bell-tower at San Miguel.

[Illustration: DOORWAY, MISSION SAN JUAN BAUTISTA.]

[Illustration: STAIRWAY LEADING TO PULPIT, MISSION SAN JUAN BAUTISTA.]

[Illustration: MISSION SAN MIGUEL ARCANGEL, FROM THE SOUTH.]

[Illustration: MISSION SAN MIGUEL ARCANGEL AND CORRIDORS.]

At San Juan Bautista the old reredos remains, though the altar is new.
The six figures of the saints are the original ones placed there when it
was first erected. In the center, at the top, is Our Lady of
Guadalupe; to the left, San Antonio de Padua; to the right, San Isadore
de Madrid (the patron saint of all farmers); below, in the center, is
the saint of the Mission, San Juan Bautista, on his left, St. Francis,
and on his right, San Buenaventura.

The baptistery is on the left, at the entrance. Over its old, solid,
heavy doors rises a half-circular arch. Inside are two bowls of heavy
sandstone.

In the belfry are two bells, one of which is modern, cast in San
Francisco. The other is the largest Mission bell, I believe, in
California. It bears the inscription: "Ave Maria Purisima S. Fernando
RVELAS me Fecit 1809."

There is a small collection of objects of interest connected with the
old Mission preserved in one room of the monastery. Among other things
are two of the chorals; pieces of rawhide used for tying the beams,
etc., in the original construction; the head of a bass-viol that used to
be played by one of the Indians; a small mortar; and quite a number of
books. Perhaps the strangest thing in the whole collection is an old
barrel-organ made by Benjamin Dobson, The Minories, London. It has
several barrels and on one of them is the following list of its tunes:
Go to the Devil; Spanish Waltz; College Hornpipe; Lady Campbell's Reel.
One can imagine with what feelings one of the sainted padres, after a
peculiarly trying day with his aboriginal children, would put in this
barrel, and while his lips said holy things, his hand instinctively
ground out with vigor the first piece on the list.



CHAPTER XXV

SAN MIGUEL, ARCANGEL

Lasuen's third Mission, of 1797, was San Miguel, located near a large
rancheria named _Sagshpileel_, and on the site called _Vahia_. One
reason for the selection of the location is given in the fact that there
was plenty of water at Santa Isabel and San Marcos for the irrigation of
three hundred fanegas of seed. To this day the springs of Santa Isabel
are a joy and delight to all who know them, and the remains of the old
irrigating canals and dams, dug and built by the padres, are still to
be seen.

On the day of the founding, Lasuen's heart was made glad by the
presentation of fifteen children for baptism. At the end of 1800 there
were 362 neophytes, 372 horses and cattle, and 1582 smaller animals. The
crop of 1800 was 1900 bushels.

Padre Antonio de la Concepcion Horra, who was shortly after deported as
insane, and who gave Presidente Lasuen considerable trouble by
preferring serious charges against the Missions, was one of the first
ministers.

In February of 1801 the two padres were attacked with violent pains in
the stomach and they feared the neophytes had poisoned them, but they
soon recovered. Padre Pujol, who came from Monterey to aid them, did not
fare so well for he was taken sick in a similar manner and died. Three
Indians were arrested, but it was never decided whether poison had been
used or not. The Indians escaped when being taken north to the presidio,
and eventually the padres pleaded for their release, asking however that
they be flogged in the presence of their families for having boasted
that they had poisoned the padres.

In August, 1806, a disastrous fire occurred, destroying all the
manufacturing part of the establishment as well as a large quantity of
wool, hides, cloth, and 6000 bushels of wheat. The roof of the church
was also partially burned. At the end of the decade San Miguel had a
population of 973, and in the number of its sheep it was excelled only
by San Juan Capistrano.

In 1818 a new church was reported as ready for roofing, and this was
possibly built to replace the one partially destroyed by fire in 1806.
In 1814 the Mission registered its largest population in 1076 neophytes,
and in live-stock it showed satisfactory increase at the end of the
decade, though in agriculture it had not been so successful.

Ten years later it had to report a great diminution in its flocks and
herds and its neophytes. The soil and pasture were also found to be
poor, though vines flourished and timber was plentiful. Robinson, who
visited San Miguel at this time, reports it as a poor establishment and
tells a large story about the heat suffocating the fleas. Padre Martin
died in 1824.

In 1834 there were but 599 neophytes on the register. In 1836 Ignacio
Coronel took charge in order to carry out the order of secularization,
and when the inventory was made it showed the existence of property,
excluding everything pertaining to the church, of $82,000. In 1839 this
amount was reduced to $75,000. This large valuation was owing to the
fact that there were several ranches and buildings and two large
vineyards belonging to the Mission. These latter were Santa Isabel and
Aguage, with 5500 vines, valued at $22,162.

The general statistics from the founding in 1797 to 1834 give 2588
baptisms, 2038 deaths; largest population was 1076 in 1814. The largest
number of cattle was 10,558 in 1822, horses 1560 in 1822, mules 140 in
1817, sheep 14,000 in 1820.

In 1836 Padre Moreno reported that when Coronel came all the available
property was distributed among the Indians, except the grain, and of
that they carried off more than half. In 1838 the poor padre complained
bitterly of his poverty and the disappearance of the Mission property.
There is no doubt but that here as elsewhere the Mission was plundered
on every hand, and the officers appointed to guard its interests were
among the plunderers.

In 1844 Presidente Duran reported that San Miguel had neither lands nor
cattle, and that its neophytes were demoralized and scattered for want
of a minister. Pico's 1845 decree warned the Indians that they must
return within a month and occupy their lands, or they would be disposed
of; and in 1846 Pico reported the Mission sold, though no consideration
is named, to P. Rios and Wm. Reed. The purchasers took possession, but
the courts later declared their title invalid. In 1848 Reed and his
whole family were atrociously murdered. The murderers were pursued; one
was fatally wounded, one jumped into the sea and was drowned, and the
other three were caught and executed.

The register of baptisms at San Miguel begins July 25, 1797, and up to
1861 contains 2917 names. Between the years 1844 and 1851 there is a
vacancy, and only one name occurs in the latter year. The title-page is
signed by Fr. Fermin Franco de Lasuen, and the priests in charge are
named as Fr. Buenaventura Sitjar and Fr. Antonio de la Conception.

At the end of this book is a list of 43 children of the "gentes de
razon" included in the general list, but here specialized for reference.

The registry of deaths contains 2249 names up to 1841. The first entry
is signed by Fr. Juan Martin and the next two by Fr. Sitjar.

The old marriage register of the Mission of San Miguel is now at San
Luis Obispo. It has a title-page signed by Fr. Lasuen.

In 1888 some of the old bells of the Mission were sent to San Francisco
and there were recast into one large bell, weighing 2500 pounds. Until
1902 this stood on a rude wooden tower in front of the church, but in
that year an incongruous steel tower took its place. Packed away in a
box still remains one of the old bells, which has sounded its last call.
A large hole is in one side of it. The inscription, as near as I can
make out, reads "A. D. 1800, S.S. Gabriel."

In 1901 the outside of the church and monastery was restored with a coat
of new plaster and cement. Inside nearly everything is as it was left by
the robber hand of secularization.

On the walls are the ten oil paintings brought by the original founders.
They are very indistinct in the dim light of the church, and little can
be said of their artistic value without further examination.

There is also an old breviary with two heavy, hand-made clasps, dated
Antwerp, 1735, and containing the autograph of Fr. Man. de Castaneda.

There is a quadrangle at San Miguel 230 feet square, and on one side of
it a corridor corresponding to the one in front, for six pillars of
burnt brick still remain.

At the rear of the church was the original church, used before the
present one was built, and a number of remains of the old houses of the
neophytes still stand, though in a very dilapidated condition.

San Miguel was always noted for its proximity to the Hot Springs and
Sulphur Mud Baths of Paso Robles. Both Indians and Mission padres knew
of their healthful and curative properties, and in the early days scores
of thousands enjoyed their peculiar virtues. Little by little the
"superior race" is learning that in natural therapeutics the Indian is a
reasonably safe guide to follow; hence the present extensive use by the
whites of the Mud and Sulphur Baths at Paso Robles. Methinks the Indians
of a century ago, though doubtless astonished at the wonderful temple to
the white man's God built at San Miguel, would wonder much more were
they now to see the elaborate and splendid house recently erected at
Paso Robles for the purpose of giving to more white people the baths,
the virtue of which they so well knew.

[Illustration: SEEKING TO PREVENT THE PHOTOGRAPHER FROM MAKING A
PICTURE OF MISSION SAN MIGUEL ARCANGEL.]

[Illustration: OLD PULPIT AT MISSION SAN MIGUEL ARCANGEL.]

[Illustration: RESTORED MONASTERY AND MISSION CHURCH OF SAN FERNANDO
REY.]

[Illustration: CORRIDORS AT SAN FERNANDO REY.]



CHAPTER XXVI

SAN FERNANDO, REY DE ESPAGNA

On September 8, 1797, the seventeenth of the California Missions was
founded by Padre Lasuen, in the Encino Valley, where Francisco Reyes had
a rancho in the Los Angeles jurisdiction. The natives called it _Achois
Comihavit_. Reyes' house was appropriated as a temporary dwelling for
the missionary. The Mission was dedicated to Fernando III, King of
Spain. Lasuen came down from San Miguel to Santa Barbara, especially for
the foundation, and from thence with Sergeant Olivera and a military
escort. These, with Padre Francisco Dumetz, the priest chosen to have
charge, and his assistant, Francisco Favier Uria, composed, with the
large concourse of Indians, the witnesses of the solemn ceremonial.

On the fourth of October Olivera reported the guard-house and storehouse
finished, two houses begun, and preparations already being made for
the church.

From the baptismal register it is seen that ten children were baptized
the first day, and thirteen adults were received early in October. By
the end of 1797 there were fifty-five neophytes.

Three years after its founding 310 Indians were gathered in, and its
year's crop was 1000 bushels of grain. The Missions of San Juan
Capistrano, San Gabriel, San Buenaventura, and Santa Barbara had
contributed live-stock, and now its herds had grown to 526 horses,
mules, and cattle, and 600 sheep.

In December, 1806, an adobe church, with a tile roof, was consecrated,
which on the 21st of December, 1812, was severely injured by the
earthquake that did damage to almost all the Missions of the chain.
Thirty new beams were needed to support the injured walls. A new chapel
was built, which was completed in 1818.

In 1834 Lieutenant Antonio del Valle was the comisionado appointed to
secularize the Mission, and the next year he became majordomo and served
until 1837.

It was on his journey north, in 1842, to take hold of the governorship,
that Micheltorena learned at San Fernando of Commodore Jones's raising
of the American flag at Monterey. By his decree, also, in 1843, San
Fernando was ordered returned to the control of the padres, which was
done, though the next year Duran reported that there were but few cattle
left, and two vineyards.

Micheltorena was destined again to appear at San Fernando, for when the
Californians under Pio Pico and Castro rose to drive out the Mexicans,
the governor finally capitulated at the same place, as he had heard the
bad news of the Americans' capture of Monterey. February 21, 1845, after
a bloodless "battle" at Cahuenga, he "abdicated," and finally left the
country and returned to Mexico.

In 1845 Juan Manso and Andres Pico leased the Mission at a rental of
$1120, the affairs having been fairly well administered by Padre Orday
after its return to the control of the friars. A year later it was sold
by Pio Pico, under the order of the assembly, for $14,000, to Eulogio
Celis, whose title was afterwards confirmed by the courts. Orday
remained as pastor until May, 1847, and was San Fernando's last minister
under the Franciscans.

In 1847 San Fernando again heard the alarm of war. Fremont and his
battalion reached here in January, and remained until the signing of the
treaty of Cahuenga, which closed all serious hostilities against the
United States in its conquest of California.

Connected with the Mission of San Fernando is the first discovery of
California gold. Eight years before the great days of '49 Francisco
Lopez, the _mayordomo_ of the Mission, was in the canyon of San
Feliciano, which is about eight miles westerly from the present town of
Newhall, and according to Don Abel Stearns, "with a companion, while in
search of some stray horses, about midday stopped under some trees and
tied their horses to feed. While resting in the shade, Lopez with his
sheath knife dug up some wild onions, and in the dirt discovered a piece
of gold. Searching further, he found more. On his return to town he
showed these pieces to his friends, who at once declared there must be a
placer of gold there."

Then the rush began. As soon as the people in Los Angeles and Santa
Barbara heard of it, they flocked to the new "gold fields" in hundreds.
And the first California gold dust ever coined at the government mint at
Philadelphia came from these mines. It was taken around Cape Horn in a
sailing-vessel by Alfred Robinson, the translator of Boscana's _Indians
of California_, and consisted of 18.34 ounces, and made $344.75, or over
$19 to the ounce.

Davis says that in the first two years after the discovery not less than
from $80,000 to $100,000 was gathered. Don Antonio Coronel, with three
Indian laborers, in 1842, took out $600 worth of dust in two months.

Water being scarce, the methods of washing the gravel were both crude
and wasteful. And it is interesting to note that the first gold "pans"
were _bateas_, or bowl-shaped Indian baskets.

The church at San Fernando is in a completely ruined condition. It
stands southwest to northeast. The entrance is at the southwest end and
the altar at the northeast. There is also a side entrance at the east,
with a half-circular arch, sloping into a larger arch inside, with a
flat top and rounded upper corners. The thickness of the walls allows
the working out of various styles in these outer and inner arches that
is curious and interesting. They reveal the individuality of the
builder, and as they are all structural and pleasing, they afford a
wonderful example of variety in adapting the arch to its necessary
functions.

[Illustration: SHEEP AT MISSION SAN FERNANDO REY.]

[Illustration: RUINS OF OLD ADOBE WALL AND CHURCH, MISSION SAN FERNANDO
REY.]

[Illustration: MONASTERY AND OLD FOUNTAIN AT MISSION SAN FERNANDO REY.]

[Illustration: INTERIOR OF RUINED CHURCH, MISSION SAN FERNANDO REY.]

The graveyard is on the northwest side of the church, and close by is
the old olive orchard, where a number of fine trees are still growing.
There are also two large palms, pictures of which are generally taken
with the Mission in the background, and the mountains beyond. It is an
exquisite subject. The remains of adobe walls still surround
the orchard.

The doorway leading to the graveyard is of a half-circle inside, and
slopes outward, where the arch is square.

There is a buttress of burnt brick to the southeast of the church, which
appears as if it might have been an addition after the earthquake.

At the monastery the chief entrance is a simple but effective arched
doorway, now plastered and whitewashed. The double door frame projects
pilaster-like, with a four-membered cornice above, from which rises an
elliptical arch, with an elliptical cornice about a foot above.

From this monastery one looks out upon a court or plaza which is
literally dotted with ruins, though they are mainly of surrounding
walls. Immediately in the foreground is a fountain, the reservoir of
which is built of brick covered with cement. A double bowl rests on the
center standard.

Further away in the court are the remnants of what may have been another
fountain, the reservoir of which is made of brick, built into a singular
geometrical figure. This is composed of eight semicircles, with V's
connecting them, the apex of each V being on the outside. It appears
like an attempt at creating a conventionalized flower in brick.

Two hundred yards or so away from the monastery is a square structure,
the outside of boulders. Curiosity prompting, you climb up, and on
looking in you find that inside this framework of boulders are two
circular cisterns of brick, fully six feet in diameter across the top,
decreasing in size to the bottom, which is perhaps four feet
in diameter.

In March, 1905, considerable excitement was caused by the actions of the
parish priest of San Fernando, a Frenchman named Le Bellegny, of
venerable appearance and gentle manners. Not being acquainted with the
_status quo_ of the old Mission, he exhumed the bodies of the Franciscan
friars who had been buried in the church and reburied them. He removed
the baptismal font to his church, and unroofed some of the old buildings
and took the tiles and timbers away. As soon as he understood the matter
he ceased his operations, but, unfortunately, not before considerable
damage was done.



CHAPTER XXVII

SAN LUIS, REY DE FRANCIA

The last Mission of the century, the last of Lasuen's administration,
and the last south of Santa Barbara, was that of San Luis Rey. Lasuen
himself explored the region and determined the site. The governor agreed
to it, and on February 27, 1798, ordered a guard to be furnished from
San Diego who should obey Lasuen implicitly and help erect the necessary
buildings for the new Mission. The founding took place on June 13, in
the presence of Captain Grajera and his guard, a few San Juan neophytes,