By 1796, El Camino Real had become a well-traveled highway, which linked the northern extremity at San Francisco with the southern-most mission at San Diego. The road, however, stretched great lengths through areas occupied by hostile Indians whose presence made …
The Franciscan missionaries had long hoped to establish a “chain” of missions in which each link of the chain would be a day’s ride apart on horseback. By 1796 there were thirteen missions along the California coast from San Diego …
Mission San José (sometimes called Mission San José de Guadalupe because of the nearby pueblo named San José de Guadalupe) was founded on June 11th, 1797 by Father Fermin Lasuén and named for Saint Joseph. The mission is fourteenth in the California …