Joselito Adame haciendo un pase "lopecina"

Mission Soledad

Soledad Mission was the thirteenth one built in California, founded October 9, 1791, by Father Fermin Lasuen. It gets the name Nuestra Senora de la Soledad which means the Solitude of Most Holy Mary, Our Lady.

Interesting Facts

Spanish Governor Arrillaga died at Mission Soledad in 1814. It was built so priests could break their journey between San Antonio de Padua and Carmel. It had more than 30 priests in its 44-year history.

The bell hanging outside the chapel door today is the original one sent from Mexico in 1794.

1791 - 1800

Soledad Mission was founded on October 9, 1791, by Father Fermin Lasuen, naming it Nuestra Senora de Soledad, dedicated to "the Solitude of Most Holy Mary, Our Lady." The name was taken from the remote location, and because of an expression the native Esselen Indians used that sounded like "soledad," the Spanish word for solitude.

It was an unlikely spot for a mission, in a hot, windswept, treeless valley. The Soledad Mission location was chosen because it provided a break on the 100-mile journey between San Antonio de Padua to the south and Carmel to the north.

Mission Soledad floundered during its first years. The weather was terrible - hot, dry and windy in summer and freezing cold on winter nights. No one wanted to stay very long. Not only was it hard for the Fathers, but very few Indians lived in the area.

To make matters worse, the first two priests at Mission Soledad, Father Marino Rubi, and Father Bartolome Gili were young men who had caused constant trouble during their priestly training. They did nothing to help Soledad Mission grow, and from the time they were assigned there, they complained (mostly about a shortage of altar wine) and asked to be transferred. Father Rubi left in 1793, and Father Gili left a year later.

Circa 1900

1800 - 1830's

Father Florencio Ibanez arrived at Soledad Mission in 1803 and was the first to give it consistent leadership. He stayed at Mission Soledad for fifteen years, installing an irrigation system, and raising crops and cattle. Despite an epidemic in 1802 that killed many Indians, by 1805 there were 727 people, 688 of them neophytes, at Soledad Mission. By 1810, the population dwindled to 598.

In 1814, California's first Spanish Governor, visited Soledad Mission to see his old friend Father Ibanez. While he was there, Governor Arrillaga died and was buried in the old church. Father Ibanez died four years later and was buried next to his friend.

Father Vicente Sarria, who was once Father-Presidente of the California Missions, came to take care of Soledad Mission after Father Ibanez died. An 1827 inventory included 5,400 sheep, 4,000 cattle and 800 horses.

Floods in 1824, 1828 and 1832 destroyed the church and chapel, and they were not rebuilt. Father Sarria stayed on as Soledad Mission became poorer and poorer, sharing his small amount of food with the Indians until he died of starvation. He was buried at Mission San Antonio.

Father Sarria was the last priest to serve Soledad Mission. During its history, the Fathers performed 2,000 baptisms and 700 marriages.

Secularization

When Soledad Mission was secularized in 1834, it had a 5,000-vine vineyard, three ranchos, 3,246 cattle, 2,400 sheep and 32 horses. Its assets were $556, but it owned $677 in debts. The Mission Soledad roof was sold to pay its debt to the Mexican government. By 1839, only 78 neophytes, 45 cattle, 586 sheep and 25 horses remained.

In 1845, Governor Pio Pico sold the site to Feliciano Soberanes for $800. Without a roof, the building's walls had crumbled from the weather by the time the United States government returned the property to the Catholic Church.

Reconstruction of Soledad Mission began in 1954. So far, only the chapel and a few rooms next to it have been rebuilt.

 

Pablo Aguado

Mission Santa Cruz

Mission Santa Cruz was the twelfth mission built in California, founded September 25, 1791, by Father Fermin Lasuen. The name Mission Santa Cruz means Holy Cross Mission.

Interesting Facts

Mission Santa Cruz was known as the "hard luck mission." Today, it has the only remaining example of Indian housing in California.

1774 - 1800

In 1774, Father Palou chose a mission site near a river flowing into the ocean. On August 28, 1791, Father Fermin Lasuen raised a cross where Santa Cruz Mission would be built.

On September 25 of that year, Fathers Salazar and Lopez held the founding celebration.

Older missions sent gifts to start the new one. Buildings were constructed, and the Indian population grew. Within three months, there were 87 neophytes.

Santa Cruz Mission did well in its first few years. After floods, the Fathers moved uphill to a permanent location, and more Indians came.
 

In 1796, Santa Cruz Mission produced 1,200 bushels of grain, 600 bushels of corn, and 6 bushels of beans. They planted vineyards and raised cattle and sheep. Their property extended from Ano Nuevo south to the Pajaro River. Native workers made cloth, leather, adobe bricks, roof tiles, and worked as blacksmiths.
 

Ohlone Indians came to Santa Cruz Mission to work and go to church, but many of them still lived in their nearby villages. By 1796, there were 500 neophytes.

Because problems came up when missions were too close to settlers, the Franciscan fathers said there should be at least three miles between a mission and a town. At Santa Cruz, Governor Borica ignored them. In 1797, he started a pueblo (town) just across the river and named it Villa de Branciforte.

Some people say Branciforte was California's first real estate development. Borica asked the Viceroy in Mexico to send colonists. He promised them clothing, farm tools, furniture, a neat white house, $116 annually for two years, and $66 annually for the next three years after that.
 

The community was laid out in a square, with a farming area divided into units for each settler.

Borica wanted Branciforte to be like Latin America, where the races mixed successfully, and houses were set aside for Indian chiefs. The plan worked in Mexico but was doomed to fail in California.
 

The settlers who came were criminals who didn't want to run farms. They stole things and tried to pay the Indians to leave the mission. Borica's assistant wrote a letter saying if the settlers were a few million miles away, it would be good for the area.
 

Neophytes started leaving Santa Cruz Mission. The population went from 500 in 1796 to 300 two years later. Father Lasuen complained, but the Governor just said if there were fewer Indians, then Santa Cruz Mission needed less land.
 

In 1799, a rainstorm damaged the church, and it had to be rebuilt.

1930

1800 - 1830's

From 1800 to 1820, the natives had no resistance to European diseases like measles, scarlet fever, and the flu. The priests tried to read medical books and help them when they got sick, but they had little success. Thousands of Indians died, and others ran away.

Indians ran way because of sickness but also because of strict rules and harsh punishment. They were beaten for working too slowly or bringing dirty blankets to church. When they ran away, they were punished for that, too.
 

Some priests were exceptionally cruel. In 1812, Father Andres Quintana had two natives beaten with a wire-tipped whip. Because of the cruelty, angry Indians kidnapped Father Quintana and killed him, a case that prompted California's first autopsy.
 

In 1818, a pirate named Hippolyte de Bouchard attacked the Monterey Presidio south of Santa Cruz. The Fathers and Indians went inland to the mission at Soledad. Father Olbes asked the settlers to pack up their belongings for them, but he should have known better. After the pirates had taken what they wanted, the settlers stole the rest. Father Olbes was so upset that he wanted to abandon the place, but Father Lasuen wouldn't let him.

The native population remained small, and the Branciforte settlers kept causing trouble. Records from 1831 say the mission owned thousands of cattle and sheep and produced hides and tallow, but it never returned to its former prosperity. By 1831, only about 300 neophytes were left.

Secularization

Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821, but it couldn't afford to keep the missions running. In 1834, they decided to close them and sell the land. Mission Santa Cruz was one of the first to be secularized. The Mexicans offered the land to the natives, but they either didn't want it or couldn't pay for it. The property was then divided and sold to Mexican citizens. By 1845, of the 400 people at Santa Cruz, only 100 were Indians.

In the next few years, the church buildings fell apart. An earthquake in 1840 toppled the bell tower and another earthquake in 1857 destroyed the church. People carried roof beams and tiles away for other uses, and no trace of the original church remained. The 35 adobe structures on the hill became part of the town.
 

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln returned the lands to the Catholic church, but there was little left of Mission Santa Cruz. What little that remained was put up for sale, but no one would buy it. In 1889 a white-painted, Gothic-style brick church was built on the mission's site.

In 1930, a wealthy family started to build a full-sized replica near the original site, but they lost money in the stock market crash and could only build something half the size of the original.

The only original building left was used for Indian housing, built-in 1824.

 

Joselito Adame

Mission La Purisima

La Purisima Mission was the eleventh mission built in California, founded December 8, 1787, by Father Fermin Lasuen. Its name La Purisima Concepcion de Maria Santisima means "The Immaculate Conception of Mary the Most Pure."

Interesting Facts

Mission La Purisima is the only mission built in a straight line. It is the most thoroughly restored mission in California.

The mission bells were made especially for the mission in Lima, Peru in 1817-1818. Other missions cared for the bells while the mission was in ruins, and they returned during the restoration.

1787 - 1800

Father Fermin Lasuen founded La Purisima Mission on December 8, 1787, naming it La Purisima Concepcion de Maria Santisima, The Immaculate Conception of Mary the Most Pure. The Spanish called the fertile valley west of the El Camino Real the plain of Rio Santa Rosa, and the native Chumash Indians called it Algsacpi.

Winter, 1787, was very rainy, and construction had to wait until Spring. In March 1788, Fathers Vincente Fuster and Joseph Arroita arrived at La Purisima Mission. They built temporary buildings and started translating the Catholic mass and instructional materials into the native language. A corporal and five soldiers protected the settlement.

Other missions sent farm animals, food, seeds and cuttings for orchards and vineyards to La Purisima Mission. Supplies came from Mexico by ship. The natives started coming, and in a report dated December 31, 1798, La Purisima reported it did not have enough space for its 920 inhabitants. A new church building was started.

1800 - 1830's

In 1800, Father Horra, who was formerly at San Miguel, accused the La Purisima Mission Fathers of mistreating the natives. The Spanish governor investigated, and the Fathers at La Purisima reported about their life. They said natives received three meals a day, and also gathered their wild foods. Neophyte men got a woolen blanket, a cotton suit, and two woolen breechcloths, while women received gowns, skirts, and woolen blankets.

The natives continued to live in their traditional tule (reed) houses. They worked no more than five hours a day. Neophytes were punished if they left without permission, or stole something. Punishment included beatings, shackles, stocks and being locked up. The Spanish governor decided Father Horra's charges were unfounded.

In 1802, the new church was completed, and in 1804, when Father Mariano Payeras arrived, there were 1,522 neophytes. La Purisima Mission prospered under Father Payeras, producing soap, candles, wool, and leather. The Fathers also earned money by sending the neophytes to work at neighboring ranchos.

In the early 1800s, smallpox and measles struck and 500 natives died between 1804 and 1807.

On December 21, 1812, an earthquake damaged the buildings. More quakes followed, and most of the buildings fell. When heavy rains began, the unprotected adobe mud bricks melted back into the mud. They chose a new site, four miles away in a small canyon, across the river and closer to the El Camino Real. The Fathers officially moved there on April 23, 1813.

Construction began immediately using materials salvaged from the ruined structures. Instead of the typical square layout, the new complex was built in a line along the base of the hill.

In 1815, Father Payeras became Presidente of the California Missions, an office he held for four years. He stayed at La Purisima instead of moving to Carmel. In 1819, he was appointed to the highest rank among California Franciscans.

After the Mexican Revolution in 1810, supplies stopped coming from Mexico, and so did money. Spanish governors would not let the Fathers buy things from foreign merchants, and there were shortages. The soldiers also grew dependent on the mission for their support and often abused the natives.

Father Payeras died on April 28, 1823, and was buried under the pulpit. In 1824, the growing conflict between the soldiers and the Indians turned into an armed revolt, starting when soldiers at Santa Inez flogged a La Purisima Mission neophyte. When the news reached La Purisima, the neophytes took control. Father Ordaz, the soldiers, and their families fled to Santa Inez, leaving Father Rodriguez behind.

The natives built a fort and barricaded themselves inside, where they held out for more than a month. It took more than 100 soldiers from Monterey to regain control. Six Spaniards and seventeen Indians died in the conflict. As punishment, seven Indians were executed, and twelve others sentenced to hard labor at the Monterey military fort.

Secularization

La Purisima Mission never recovered after the uprising, and in 1834, an administrator took over. The Indians disappeared, and the Fathers moved to Santa Barbara. The buildings were left to ruin, and in 1845, John Temple bought everything at a public auction for $1,100.

The buildings lay in ruins until 1903, when Union Oil Company bought the property. Recognizing the historical importance of the site, they donated it to the state. In 1935, the Civilian Conservation Corps started restoring La Purisima Mission. They used the same methods as the missionaries and made new adobe bricks from the remains of the old walls. They also recreated the water system and replanted gardens and orchards.

The restoration, the most complete of all the California missions, was finished in 1951. Today, there are ten fully-restored buildings with 37 furnished rooms in a state historic park.

Prieto de la Cal bull