The Famous Missions of California
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William Henry Hudson >> The Famous Missions of California
[2] The mission was transferred in 1874 from the location selected by
Junipero to a site some two miles distant, up the river.
IV.
While Junipero and his companions were thus engaged in planting the
faith among the Indians of San Diego, Portolà's expedition was meeting
with unexpected trials and disappointments. The harbour of Monterey had
been discovered and described by Viscaino at the beginning of the
seventeenth century, and it seemed no very difficult matter to reach it
by way of the coast. But either the charts misled them, or their own
calculations erred, or the appearance of the landscape was strangely
deceptive - at any rate, for whatever reason or combination of reasons,
the exploring party passed the harbour without recognizing it, though
actually lingering awhile on the sand hills overlooking the bay. Half
persuaded in their bewilderment that some great catastrophe must, since
Viscaino's observations, have obliterated the port altogether, they
pressed northward another forty leagues, and little dreaming of the
importance attaching to their wanderings, crossed the Coast range, and
looked down thence over the Santa Clara valley and the "immense arm" of
San Francisco Bay. By this time the rainy season had set in, and
convinced as they now were that they must, through some oversight or
ill-chance, have missed the object of their quest, they determined to
retrace their steps, and institute another and more thorough search. On
again reaching the neighborhood of Monterey, they spent a whole
fortnight in systematic exploration, but still, strangely enough,
without discovering "any indication or landmark" of the harbour. Baffled
and disheartened, therefore, the leaders resolved to abandon the
enterprise. They then erected two large wooden crosses as memorials of
their visit, and cutting on one of these the words - "Dig at the foot of
this and you will find a writing" - buried there a brief narrative of
their experiences. This is reproduced in the diary of Father Crespé[3];
and its closing words have a touch of simple pathos: "At last,
undeceived, and despairing of finding it [the harbour] after so many
efforts, sufferings and labours, and having left of all our provisions
but fourteen small sacks of flour, our expedition leaves this place
to-day for San Diego; I beg of Almighty God to guide it, and for thee,
voyager, that His divine providence may lead thee to the harbour of
salvation. Done in this Bay of Pinos, the 9th of December, 1769." On the
cross on the other side of Point Pinos was cut with a razor this legend:
- "The land expedition returned to San Diego for want of provisions,
this 9th day of December, 1769."
The little party - or more correctly speaking - what was left of it, did
not reach San Diego till the 25th of the following month, having in
their march down suffered terribly from hunger, exposure, wet, fatigue
and sickness. Depressed themselves, they found nothing to encourage them
in the mission and camp, where death had played havoc among those they
had left behind them six months before, and where the provisions were so
fast running low that only the timely reappearance of the San Antonio,
long overdue, would save the survivors from actual starvation. Perhaps
it is hardly surprising that, under these circumstances, Portolà's
courage should have failed him, and that he should have decided upon a
return to Mexico. He caused an inventory of all available provisions to
be taken, and calculating that, with strict economy, and setting aside
what would be required for the journey back to San Fernando, they might
last till somewhat beyond the middle of March, he gave out that unless
the San Antonio should arrive by the 20th of that month, he should on
that day abandon San Diego, and start south. But if the governor
imagined for a moment that he could persuade the padre presidente to
fall in with this arrangement, he did not know his man. Junipero firmly
believed, despite the failure of Portolà's expedition, that the harbour
of Monterey still existed, and might be found; he even interested
Vicente Vila in a plan of his own for reaching it by sea; and he
furthermore made up his mind that, come what might, nothing should ever
induce him to turn his back upon his work. Then a wonderful thing
happened. On the 19th of March - the very day before that fixed by the
governor for his departure, and when everything was in readiness for
to-morrow's march - the sail of a ship appeared far out at sea; and
though the vessel presently disappeared towards the northwest, it
returned four days later and proved to be none other than the San
Antonio, bearing the much needed succour. She had passed up towards
Monterey in the expectation of finding the larger body of settlers
there, and had only put back to San Diego when unexpectedly, (and as it
seemed, providentially), she had run short of water. It was inevitable
that Father Junipero should see in this series of happenings the very
hand of God - the more so as the day of relief chanced to be the
festival of St. Joseph, who, as we have noted, was the patron of the
mission enterprise.
The arrival of the San Antonio put an entirely new complexion upon
affairs; and, relieved of immediate anxiety, Portolà now resolved upon a
second expedition in quest of Monterey. Two divisions, one for sea, the
other for land, were accordingly made ready; the former, which included
Junipero, started in the San Antonio, on the 16th of April; the latter,
under the leadership of Portolà, a day later. Strong adverse winds
interfered with the vessel, which did not make Monterey for a month and
a half. The land-party, following the coast, reached the more southern
of the great wooden crosses on the 24th of May, and after some
difficulty succeeded at last in identifying the harbour. Seven days
later, steering by the fires lighted for her guidance along the shore,
the San Antonio came safely into port; and formal possession of the bay
and surrounding country was presently taken in the name of church and
King. This was on the 3rd of June, the Feast of Pentecost; and on that
day of peculiar significance in the apostolic history of the church, the
second of the Upper California missions came into being. Palou has left
us a full account of the ceremonies. Governor, soldiers and priests
gathered together on the beach, on the spot where, in 1603, the
Carmelite fathers who had accompanied Viscaino, had celebrated the mass.
An altar was improvised and bells rung; and then, in alb and stole, the
father-president invoked the aid of the Holy Ghost, solemnly chanted the
Venite Creator Spiritus; blessed and raised a great cross; "to put to
flight all the infernal enemies;" and sprinkled with holy water the
beach and adjoining fields. Mass was then sung; Father Junipero preached
a sermon; again the roar of cannon and muskets took the place of
instrumental music; and the function was concluded with the Te Deum.
Though now commonly called Carmelo, or Carmel, from the river across
which it looks, and which has thus lent it a memory of the first
Christian explorers on the spot, this mission is properly known by the
name of San Carlos Borromeo, Cardinal-Archbishop of Milan. A few huts
enclosed by a palisade, and forming the germ at once of the religious
and of the military settlement, were hastily erected. But the actual
building of the mission was not begun until the summer of 1771
[3] The Diary, furnishing a detailed itinerary of the expedition, is
given in full in Palou's noticias de la Nueva California.
V.
News of the establishment of the missions and military posts at San
Diego and Monterey was in due course carried to the City of Mexico,
where it so delighted the Marques de Croix, Viceroy of New Spain, and
Jose de Galvez, that they not only set the church bells ringing, but
forthwith began to make arrangements for the founding of more missions
in the upper province. Additional priests were provided by the College
of San Fernando; funds liberally subscribed; and the San Antonio made
ready to sail from San Blas with the friars and supplies. On the 21st of
May, 1771, the good ship dropped anchor at Monterey, where, in the
meantime, Junipero, though busy enough among the natives of the
neighborhood, was suffering grievous disappointment because, from lack
of priests and soldiers, he was unable to proceed at once with the
proposed establishment of San Buenaventura. The safe arrival of ten
assistants now brought him assurance of a rapid extension of work in
"the vineyard of the Lord." He was not the man to let time slip by him
unimproved. Plans were immediately laid for carrying the cross still
further into the wilderness, and six new missions - those of San
Buenaventura, San Gabriel, San Louis Obispo, San Antonio, Santa Clara
and San Francisco - were presently agreed upon. It was discovered later
on, however, that these plans outran the resources at the president's
disposal, and much to his regret, the design for settlements at Santa
Clara and San Francisco had to be temporarily given up.
There was, none the less, plenty to engage the energies of even so
tireless a worker as Junipero, for three of the new missions were
successfully established between July, 1771, and the autumn of the
following year. The first of these was the Mission of San Antonio de
Padua, in a beautiful spot among the Santa Lucia mountains, some
twenty-five leagues southeast of Monterey; the second, that of San
Gabriel Arcángel, near what is now known as the San Gabriel river; and
the third, the Mission of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, for which a
location was chosen near the coast, about twenty-five leagues southeast
of San Antonio. In his account of the founding of the first named of
these, Palou throws in a characteristic touch. After the bells had been
hung on trees and loudly tolled, he says, the excited padre-presidente
began to shout like one transported: - "Ho, gentiles! Come to the Holy
Church; Come! Come! and receive the faith of Jesus Christ!" His comrade,
Father Pieras, standing by astonished, interrupted his fervent eloquence
with the eminently practical remark that as there were no gentiles
within hearing, it was idle to ring the bells. But the enthusiast's
ardour was not to be damped by such considerations, and he continued to
ring and shout. I, for one, am grateful for such a detail as this. An
even more significant story, though of a quite different sort, is
recorded of the dedication of San Gabriel. It was, of course, inevitable
that here and there in connection with such a record as this of Serra
and his work, there should spring up legends of miraculous doings and
occurrences; though on the whole, it is, perhaps, remarkable that the
mythopoeic tendency was not more powerful. The incident now referred to
may be taken as an illustration. While the missionary party were engaged
in exploring for a suitable site, a large force of natives, under two
chiefs, suddenly broke in upon them. Serious conflict seemed imminent;
when one of the fathers drew forth a piece of canvas bearing the picture
of the Virgin. Instantly the savages threw their weapons to the ground,
and, following their leaders, crowded with offerings about the
marvellous image. Thus the danger was averted. Further troubles attended
the settlement at San Gabriel; but in after years it became one of the
most successful of all the missions, and gained particular fame from the
industries maintained by its converts, and their skill in carving wood,
horn and leather.
VI.
Though, as we thus see, Father Junipero had ample reason to be
encouraged over the progress of his enterprise, he still had various
difficulties to contend with. The question of supplies often assumed
formidable proportions, and the labors of the missionaries were not
always as fruitful as had been hoped. Fortunately, however, the Indians
were, as a rule, friendly, notwithstanding the fact that the behaviour
of the Spanish soldiers, especially towards their women, occasionally
aroused their distrust and resentment. At one establishment only did
serious disturbances actually threaten for a time the continuance of the
mission and its work. Junipero had lately returned from Mexico, with
undiminished zeal and all sorts of fresh designs revolving in his brain,
when a courier reached him at San Carlos bringing news of a terrible
disaster at San Diego. Important affairs detained him for a time at
Monterey, but when at length he was able to get to the scene of the
trouble, it was to find that first reports had not been exaggerated. On
the night of the 4th of November, 1775, eight hundred Indians had made a
ferocious assault upon the mission, fired the buildings, and brutally
done to death Father Jayme, one of the two priests in charge. "God be
thanked," Junipero had exclaimed, when the letter containing the
dreadful news had been read to him, "now the soil is watered, and the
conquest of the Dieguinos will soon be complete!" In the faith that the
blood of the martyrs is veritably the seed of the church, he, on
reaching San Diego, with his customary energy, set about the task of
re-establishing the mission; and the buildings which presently arose
from the ruins were a great improvement upon those which had been
destroyed.
Before these alarming events at the mother-mission broke in upon his
regular work, the president had resolved upon yet another settlement
(not included in the still uncompleted plan), for which he had selected
a point on the coast some twenty-six leagues north of San Diego, and
which was to be dedicated to San Juan Capistrano. A beginning had indeed
been made there, not by Junipero in person, but by fathers delegated by
him for the purpose; but when news of the murder of Father Jayme reached
them, they had hastily buried bells, chasubles and supplies, and hurried
south. As soon as ever he felt it wise to leave San Diego Junipero
himself now repaired to the abandoned site; and there, on the 1st of
November, 1776, the bells were dug up and hung, mass said, and the
mission established. It is curious to remember that while the
padre-presidente was thus immersed in apostolic labors on the far
Pacific coast, on the other side of the North American continent events
of a very different character were shaking the whole civilized world.
Though the establishment of San Juan Capistrano is naturally mentioned
in this place, partly because of the abortive start made there a year
before, and partly because its actual foundation constituted the next
noteworthy incident in Junipero's career, this mission is, in strict
chronological order, not the sixth, but the seventh on our list. For
some three weeks before its dedication, and without the knowledge of the
president himself, though in full accordance with his designs, the cross
had been planted at a point many leagues northward beyond San Carlos,
and destined presently to be the most important on the coast. It will be
remembered that when Portolà's party made their first futile search for
the harbour of Monterey, they had by accident found their way as far as
the Bay of San Francisco. The significance of their discovery was not
appreciated at the time, either by themselves or by those at
headquarters to whom it was reported; but later explorations so clearly
established the value of the spot for settlement and fortification, that
it was determined to build a presidio there. Some years previous to
this, as we have seen, a mission on the northern bay had been part of
Junipero's ambitious scheme; and though at the time he was forced by
circumstances to hold his hand, the idea was constantly uppermost in his
thoughts. At length, when, in the summer of 1776, an expedition was
despatched from Monterey for the founding of the proposed presidio, two
missionaries were included in the party - one of these being none other
than that Father Palou, whose records have been our chief guides in the
course of this story. The buildings of the presidio - store house,
commandant's dwelling, and huts for the soldiers and their families -
were completed by the middle of September; and on the 17th of that month
- the day of St. Francis, patron of the station and harbour - imposing
ceremonies of foundation were performed. A wooden church was then built;
and on the 9th of October, in the presence of many witnesses, Father
Palou said mass, the image of St. Francis was borne about in procession,
and the mission solemnly dedicated to his name[4].
It was at San Luis Obispo on his way back from San Diego to Monterey,
that Father Junipero learned of the foundation of the mission at San
Francisco, and though he may doubtless have felt some little regret at
not having himself been present on such an occasion, his heart
overflowed with joy. For there was a special reason why the long delay
in carrying out this portion of his plan had weighed heavily upon him.
Years before, when the visitador general had told him that the first
three missions in Alta California were to be named after San Diego, San
Carlos and San Buenaventura (for such, we recollect, had been the
original programme), he had exclaimed: - "Then is our father, St.
Francis, to have no mission?" And Galvez had made reply: - "If St.
Francis desires a mission, let him show us his port, and he shall have
one there." To Junipero it had seemed that Portolà had providentially
been led beyond Monterey to the Bay of San Francisco, and the founder of
his order had thus given emphatic answer to the visitador's words. It
may well be imagined that he was ill at rest until the saint's wishes
had been carried into effect.
But this was not the only good work done in the north while Junipero was
busy elsewhere; for on the 12th of January, 1777, the Mission of Santa
Clara was established in the wonderfully fertile and beautiful valley
which is now known by that name. The customary rites were performed by
Father Tomas de la Peña, a rude chapel erected, and the work of
constructing the necessary buildings of the settlement immediately
begun[5]. It should be noted in passing that before the end of the year
the town of San Jose - or, to give it its full Spanish title, El Pueblo
de San Jose de Guadalupe - was founded near by. This has historic
interest as the first purely civil settlement in California. The fine
Alameda from the mission to the pueblo was afterwards made and laid out
under the fathers' supervision.
[4] This is now colloquially known as the Mission Dolores. Its proper
title is, however, Mission of San Francisco de Assis. It originally
stood on the Laguna de los Dolores (now filled up) ; and hence its
popular name.
[5] The site originally chosen lay too low, and from the outset danger
of inundation was foreseen. A flood occurred in 1779, and in 1784 the
mission was removed to higher ground. The present buildings date from
1825-26.
VII.
Though Junipero's subordinates had thus done without him in these
important developments at San Francisco and Santa Clara, he still
resolved to go north, both to visit the new foundations and to inspect
for himself the marvellous country of which he had heard much, but which
he had not yet seen. As usual, he was long detained by urgent affairs,
and it was not till autumn that he succeeded in breaking away. He made a
short stay at Santa Clara, and then pushed on to San Francisco, which he
reached in time to say mass on St. Francis' day. After a ten days' rest,
he crossed to the presidio and feasted his eyes on the glorious vision
of the Golden Gate - a sight which once seen is never to be forgotten.
"Thanks be to God!" he cried, in rapture (these, says Palou, were the
words most frequently on his lips); "now our Father St. Francis, with
the Holy Cross of the procession of missions, has reached the ultimate
end of this continent of California. To go further ships will be
required!" Yet his joy was tempered with the thought that the eight
missions already founded were very far apart, and that much labour would
be necessary to fill up the gaps.
It was thus with the feeling that, while something had been done, far
more was left to do, that the padre returned to his own special charge
at San Carlos. Various circumstances in combination had caused the
postponement, year after year, of that third mission, which, according
to original intentions, was to have followed immediately upon the
establishments at San Diego and Monterey. Three new settlements were now
projected on the Santa Barbara Channel, and the first of these was to be
the mission of San Buenaventura. It was not until 1782, however, that
the long-delayed purpose was at length accomplished. The site chosen was
at the southeastern extremity of the channel, and close to an Indian
village, or ranchería to which Portalà's expedition in 1769 had given
the name of Ascencion de Nuestra Señora, or, briefly, Assumpta. A little
later on, in pursuance of the same plan, the then governor, Filipe de
Neve, took formal possession of a spot some ten leagues distant, and
there began the construction of the presidio of Santa Barbara. It was
Junipero's earnest desire to proceed at once with the adjoining mission.
But the governor, for reasons of his own, threw obstacles in the way,
and in the end this fresh undertaking was left to other hands.
For we have now come to the close of Father Junipero's long and
strenuous career; and as we look back over the record of it, our wonder
is, not that he should have died when he did, but rather that he had not
killed himself many years before. His is surely one of those cases in
which supreme spiritual power and sheer force of will triumph over an
accumulation of bodily ills. Far from robust of constitution, he had
never given himself consideration or repose, forcing himself to
exertions which it would have appeared utterly impossible that his frame
could bear, and adding to the constant strain of his labours and travels
the hardships of self-inflicted tortures of a severe ascetic régime. He
had always been much troubled by the old ulcer on his leg, though this,
no matter how painful, he never regarded save when it actually
incapacitated him for work; and for many years he had suffered from a
serious affection of the heart, which had been greatly aggravated, even
if it was not in the first instance caused, by his habit of beating
himself violently on his chest with a huge stone, at the conclusion of
his sermons - to the natural horror of his hearers, who, it is said,
were often alarmed lest he should drop dead before their eyes. The fatal
issue of such practices could only be a question of time. At length,
mental anxiety and sorrow added their weight to his burden -
particularly disappointment at the slow progress of his enterprise, and
grief over the death of his fellow-countryman and close friend, Father
Crespì, who passed to his well-earned rest on New Year's Day, 1782.
After this loss, it is recorded, he was never the same man again, though
he held so tenaciously to his duties, that only a year before the call
came to him, being then over seventy, he limped from San Diego to
Monterey, visiting his missions, and weeping over the outlying Indian
rancherìas, because he was powerless to help the unconverted dwellers in
them. He died at San Carlos, tenderly nursed to the end by the faithful
Palou, on the 28th August, 1784; and his passing was so peaceful that
those watching thought him asleep. On hearing the mission bells toll for
his death, the whole population, knowing well what had occurred, burst
into tears; and when, clothed in the simple habit of his order, his body
was laid out in his cell, the native neophytes crowded in with flowers,
while the Spanish soldiers and sailors pressed round in the hope of
being blessed by momentary contact with his corpse. He was laid beneath
the mission altar beside his beloved friend Crespì; but when, in after
years, a new church was built, the remains of both were removed and
placed within it.
It is not altogether easy to measure such a man as Junipero Serra by our
ordinary modern standards of character and conduct. He was essentially a
religious enthusiast, and as a religious enthusiast he must be judged.
To us who read his story from a distance, who breathe an atmosphere
totally different from his, and whose lives are governed by quite other
passions and ideals, he may often appear one-sided, extravagant,
deficient in tact and forethought, and, in the excess of his zeal, too
ready to sacrifice everything to the purposes he never for an instant
allowed to drop out of his sight. We may even, with some of his critics,
protest that he was not a man of powerful intellect; that his views of
people and things were distressingly narrow; that, after his kind, he
was extremely superstitious; that he was despotic in his dealings with
his converts, and stiffnecked in his relations with the civil and
military authorities. For all this is doubtless true. But all this must
not prevent us from seeing him as he actually was - charitable,
large-hearted, energetic, indomitable; in all respects a remarkable, in
many ways, a really wise and great man. At whatever points he may fall
short of our criteria, this much must be said of him, that he was fired
throughout with the high spirit of his vocation, that he was punctual in
the performance of duty as he understood it, that he was obedient to the
most rigorous dictates of that Gospel which he had set himself to
preach. In absolute, single-hearted, unflinching, and tireless devotion
to the task of his life - the salvation of heathen souls - he spent
himself freely and cheerfully, a true follower of that noblest and most
engaging of the mediaeval saints, whose law he had laid upon himself,
and whom he looked up to as his guide and examplar. Let us place him
where he belongs - among the transcendent apostolic figures of his own
church; for thus alone shall we do justice to his personality, his
objects, his career. The memory of such a man will survive all changes
in creeds and ideals; and the great state, of which he was the first
pioneer, will do honour to herself in honouring him.