Missions of California
The California missions were made by Spain and were located in Alta California, now known as just California. The purpose of these missions were to bring Christianity to the natives. Many of the cities you see today in California are named after the missions. Spain sent priests and soldiers to build the missions. The leader of the priests was Junipero Serra. They often used violence to force the natives into helping to build their missions. Other times they would bribe the natives, promising to give them spices and money. The natives were forced to stay at the missions until their training was complete. As a result, many natives tried to escape. These natives were brought back to the mission, beaten, and punished. The soldiers would often beat the natives in public to show the natives what would be done if they didn't follow the rules. The end of the mission era in Alta California was after Mexico was finally free from Spain. Mexico decided that they would close down the missions. Today, the missions of California are used as wedding places, churches, and museums.
The 21 missions of California are listed in order by the date that they were made.
- (1769) Mission San Diego de Alcalá
- (1770) Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo
- (1771) Mission San Antonio de Padua
- (1771) Mission San Gabriel
- (1772) Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa
- (1776) Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores)
- (1776) Mission San Juan Capistrano
- (1777) Mission Santa Clara de Asís
- (1782) Mission San Buenaventura
- (1786) Mission Santa Barbara
- (1787) Mission La Purísima Concepción
- (1791) Mission Santa Cruz
- (1791) Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad
- (1797) Mission San José
- (1797) Mission San Juan Bautista
- (1797) Mission San Miguel Arcángel
- (1797) Mission San Fernando Rey de España
- (1798) Mission San Luis Rey de Francia
- (1804) Mission Santa Inés
- (1817) Mission San Rafael Arcángel
- (1823) Mission San Francisco Solan
Missions Of California Media
The locations of the 21 Franciscan missions in Alta California.
A view of Mission San Juan Capistrano. At left is the façade of the first adobe church with its added espadaña; behind the campanario, or "bell wall" is the "Sacred Garden." The Mission has earned a reputation as the "Loveliest of the Franciscan Ruins."
Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, circa 1910. This mission is architecturally distinctive because of the strong Moorish lines exhibited.
The Missionaries as They Came and Went. Franciscans of the California missions donned gray habits, in contrast to the brown that is typically worn today.
A drawing of Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo prepared by Captain George Vancouver depicts the grounds as they appeared in November 1792. From A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round the World.
A view of the Catalan forges at Mission San Juan Capistrano, the oldest existing facilities (circa 1790s) of their kind in the State of California. The sign at the lower right-hand corner proclaims the site as being "...part of Orange County's first industrial complex."
Natives utilize a primitive plow to prepare a field for planting near Mission San Diego de Alcalá.