It was a pitiful group of missionaries and soldiers who gathered on the shore of San Diego Bay on July 1, 1769. Of the 219 Spaniards who had left Lower California two months before, only half were still alive. Of …
The Carmel Mission… When it was agreed that the second mission should be established on Vizcaino’s Monterey Bay, Governor Portolá went by land, but Father Serra went by sea. After both parties met at the evergreen-scented harbor, Portolá realized he …
Due to the location of the rugged Santa Lucia Mountains, which tumble down to the sea in central California, the overland route between San Diego and the second mission at Carmel turned inland the latter half of the journey. Thus …
The fourth of the California missions, San Gabriel Arcángel, had three sites. The place proposed originally was well inland from the ocean on the river now called Santa Ana. After arriving there, the founders decided to look for a better …
San Luis Obispo was founded on September 1, 1772. As Governor Portolá and his men trudged northward in 1769 in their search for Monterey Bay, they were surprised at the great number of bears seen at the mouth of a …
The mission called Dolores was founded October 8, 1776. The padres chose a site for Mission San Francisco de Asís beside a little inlet called Laguna Dolores. The nearby pueblo was named Yerba Buena. As time went by the town …
The swallows of Capistrano, famous both in song and story, really do build their mud nests in the ruins of the old mission church, returning each year on or about March 19th, St. Joseph’s Day. A church of magnificent proportions, …