The Old Franciscan Missions Of CaliforniaJames, George Wharton
Religion
The Old Franciscan Missions Of California
James, George Wharton
Franciscans -- California; Spanish mission buildings -- California
Various obstacles to the establishment of Santa Barbara had been placed
in the way of the priests. Governor Fages wished to curtail their
authority, and sought to make innovations which the padres regarded as
detrimental in the highest degree to the Indians, as well as annoying
and humiliating to themselves. This was the reason of the long delay in
founding Santa Barbara. It was the same with the following Mission. It
had long been decided upon. Its site was selected. The natives called it
_Algsacupi_. It was to be dedicated "to the most pure and sacred mystery
of the Immaculate Conception of the most Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of
God, Queen of Heaven, Queen of Angels, and Our Lady," a name usually,
however, shortened in Spanish parlance to "La Purísima Concepción." On
December 8, 1787, Lasuen blessed the site, raised the cross, said mass
and preached a sermon; but it was not until March, 1788, that work on
the buildings was begun. An adobe structure, roofed with tiles, was
completed in 1802, and, ten years later, destroyed by earthquake.
The next Mission founded by Lasuen was that of Santa Cruz. On crossing
the coast range from Santa Clara, he thus wrote: "I found in the site
the most excellent fitness which had been reported to me. I found,
beside, a stream of water, very near, copious, and important. On August
28, the day of Saint Augustine, I said mass, and raised a cross on the
spot where the establishment is to be. Many gentiles came, old and
young, of both sexes, and showed that they would gladly enlist under the
Sacred Standard. Thanks be to God!"
On Sunday, September 25, Sugert, an Indian chief of the neighborhood,
assured by the priests and soldiers that no harm should come to him or
his people by the noise of exploding gunpowder, came to the formal
founding. Mass was said, a _Te Deum_ chanted, and Don Hermenegildo Sol,
Commandant of San Francisco, took possession of the place, thus
completing the foundation. To-day nothing but a memory remains of the
Mission of the Holy Cross, it having fallen into ruins and totally
disappeared.
Lasuen's fourth Mission was founded in this same year, 1791. He had
chosen a site, called by the Indians _Chuttusgelis_, and always known to
the Spaniards as Soledad, since their first occupation of the country.
Here, on October 9, Lasuen, accompanied by Padres Sitjar and Garcia, in
the presence of Lieutenant José Argüello, the guard, and a few natives,
raised the cross, blessed the site, said mass, and formally established
the Mission of "Nuestra Senyora de la Soledad."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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