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by the missionaries to explore the interior of the territory, to ascertain whether the country or its inhabitants were worth cultivating. From 1800 to 1822 the Fathers appear to have experienced the most halycon days of the system, living in patriarchal state, with almost regal revenues and powers. Beyond the mere routine of religious formality, their priestly office had degenerated into managers of farms, flocks and herds, and traders in produce.

About the year 1800, vessels from Boston, New York, and England, while sailing in search of adventures, along the shores of the "South Seas," or on the "North West Coast," as this then unknown portion of the world was called, occasionally found their way through the Golden Gate, to trade with the missionaries for hides, tallow, and wine, and other produce of the missions, the white and red wines of which soon obtained high repute. The Mission of San Gabriel annually made from four hundred to six hundred barrels of wine, and several of the other missions nearly as much.

The overthrow of the Spanish dominion in Mexico, in 1822, was the death blow of the mission system, although it had begun to decay several years previously. No new missions were founded after 1823. The precautions the Fathers had taken to prevent free emigrants settling in the territory redounded to their injury, because it deprived them of all means of self defence, under the new order of things the change of government introduced, as, at the time of framing the Constitution for the Mexican Republic, population was, very properly, considered as the basis of representation, when, having only a few white inhabitants-the Indians not being taken into considerationUpper California was denied representation as a State, and was declared a Territory, entitled to a representative in the Congress, who had no vote. The first delegate was a sergeant of one of the military companies, who held that office for two years, because no other eligible resident was to be found.

Very soon after the independence of Mexico, the great riches possessed by the California missions had become a subject of much solicitude to the Mexican Congress, and in 1826 a law was passed to deprive the Fathers of their lands, and of the labor of the Indians-stopping their salaries, and appropriating the "Pious Fund" to the service of the Republic.

The accumulation of wealth by the Fathers had grown to be enormous. According to Rev. Walter Colton, Chaplain of the U. S. ship Congress, the first Protestant clergyman that resided in California, in 1825, the Mission of San Francisco owned 76,000 head of cattle, 950

tame horses, 2,000 breeding mares, 84 stud of choice breed, 820 mules, 79,000 sheep, 2,000 hogs, and 456 yoke of working oxen.

The Santa Clara Mission had 74,280 cattle, 407 yoke of working oxen, 82,540 sheep, 1,890 horses broken to saddle, 4,235 breeding mares, 725 mules, and 1,000 hogs. This mission, in the year 1823, branded 22,400 calves, as the increase of that year.

The Mission of San José had 62,000 cattle, 840 broken horses, 1,500 mares, 420 mules, 310 yoke of working oxen, and 62,000 sheep.

The Mission of San Juan Bautista, as early as 1820, owned 43,870 cattle, 1,360 tame horses, 4,870 mares and colts, and 69,500 sheep.

The San Carlos Mission, in 1825, had 87,600 cattle, 1,800 horses and mares, 365 yoke of working oxen, and 7,500 sheep.

The Soledad Mission in 1826 owned 36,000 head of cattle; a larger number of horses and mares than any other mission; 70,000 sheep, and 300 yoke of oxen.

The Mission of San Antonio, in 1822, had 52,800 head of cattle, 1,800 tame horses, 3,000 mares, 500 yoke of oxen, 600 mules, 48,000 sheep, and 1,000 hogs.

The San Miguel Mission, in 1821, had 91,000 cattle, 1,100 tame horses, 3,000 mares, 2,000 mules, 170 yoke of oxen, and 47,000 sheep.

The Mission of San Luis Obispo had 87,000 cattle, 2,000 tame horses, 3,500 mares, 3,700 mules, and 72,000 sheep. One of the Fathers of this mission took $100,000 with him when he left for Spain, in 1828.

All the other missions were equally rich in live stock; while the specie in the coffers of the Fathers, and value of the gold and silver ornaments of the churches, exceeded half a million of dollars.

Here again the errors of the mission system became apparent. The wretched natives, educated to obey the Fathers in all things, without being taught to depend upon themselves in any way, when deprived of their directors, became more dangerous to the few settlers then in the territory than the wild Indians of the interior. On the representations of these settlers, who became every year more numerous and influential, the Congress was induced, a year or two afterwards, to repeal that portion of the law relating to the natives, and they were permitted to return to the missions. But they were never again as contented, or as much under control as before. The products of the labor of such of them as returned to work on the mission ranches, together with the hides and tallow obtained from their flocks and herds, enabled the Fathers to maintain themselves in tolerable affluence till the year 1833, when the Congress enacted a law to abolish the missions entirely, to

remove the missionaries, and to divide their lands and cattle among the natives and settlers. Santa Anna coming into power through the aid of the church party, before the law could be carried into effect, it was repealed.

It was a very narrow escape for the Fathers, however. Commissioners had been appointed by the government to engage emigrants in Mexico, who were to be paid half a dollar per day till their arrival in California, with a free passage, and provisions on the way.

Nearly three hundred men, women, and children arrived at San Francisco in 1834, to form a colony on the strength of this confiscation law; but Santa Anna had sent messengers overland with instructions to Figueroa, the Governor of the Territory, who, when the emigrants arrived, informed them of the changed condition of affairs, and the missions escaped spoliation for that time. But their end was near, for amid all the turmoils and political convulsions that distracted Mexico during the ensuing ten years, every party that managed to get hold of the reins of government continued to fleece the Fathers out of something, till, little by little, they were deprived of all their privileges.

The missions became neglected, the Indians could no longer be induced to plant crops, and there was nobody else who would, so the fields were overgrown with weeds, and the Fathers became careless, killing thousands of their cattle to obtain the price of their hides and tallow. Matters grew from bad to worse until 1840, when the Congress took charge of the missions, and most of them were permitted to go to ruin. In 1845, several of those remaining were sold at auction to whoever would buy them, and the miserable Indians, whose labors had built them up, were abandoned to their fate. Thus ended the mission system of California, a system which had clearly "outlived its usefulness,' but had prepared the way for a better civilization, in which the unfortunate natives of the soil were not destined to participate.

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The last of the old missionaries, Father Altemira, the Padre of San Rafael and Sonoma at the time of the abolishment of the missions, was living at Teneriffe, one of the Canary Islands, in 1860.

The following is a list of the missions, the date of their formation. and where located:

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These missions were all built on one general plan, but some were constructed of better materials, and more artistically finished than others, according to the locality and skill of the missionaries in charge, who generally acted as architects, masons, and superintendents. They usually formed three sides of a square in outline. In the middle was the church, on which the greatest amount of labor was always expended, in order to make it as large and as handsome as possible. Its interior was as highly decorated as the means of the presiding Father would admit. Its walls were always adorned with gorgeously colored pictures of subjects calculated to attract the attention of the simple minded natives, while about the altar were placed massive gilt candlesticks, images, gold and silver vessels, and everything that had a tendency to attract special attention to them. The old Mission Church, at Santa Clara, which still exists, in excellent repair, is an interesting specimen of the skill of the missionaries, and of the labor of the natives. At this mission the houses of the natives formed five rows of streets, and were more comfortable than at any other.

The old Mission of San Juan, which stands fronting the town of San Juan South, is another good illustration of these relics of the past. Its adobe walls, with their long corridors of massive arches, is strongly in contrast with the modern brick convent adjoining, in which one hundred young ladies are taught the same religion the founders of the missions sought to propagate among the natives.

The Santa Barbara Mission, which also continues in tolerably good repair, is one of the most pretentious of these ancient structures. At each corner of the front of this building there is a tower thirty-five feet high, surmounted by double belfries, above each of which is the symbolical cross. In front of this massive façade there still remains the

ruins of a large fountain, and the signs of the walks and parterres the Fathers delighted to cultivate.

The houses occupied by the priests were always close to the church, and behind them were arranged the workshops and storehouses. Most of the main buildings were constructed of adobe, or unburnt clay, moulded into masses as large as a man could conveniently lift, and were roofed with tiles partially burned, to better stand the weather. The quarters occupied by the natives were generally at some distance from the church, and consisted sometimes of rough adobe walls, covered with leaves, and at others of mere huts, such as the Indians usually constructed for themselves in the wilderness.

Near the Indian quarters, which were called the rancheria, was the castillo, in which resided the garrison, generally three or four Mexican cavalry soldiers-an accompaniment of every mission. This citadel was made as strong as possible, to withstand attacks from the Indians, in case of outbreaks among them, which were of frequent occurrence during the early days of the settlement. The soldiers who resided at the missions were a worthless set of ruffians, most of them having been transported to California as a punishment for crimes committed in Mexico.

In addition to the military stationed at the missions there were distinct military establishments called Presidios, maintained by the Spanish government to aid in preserving peace among the natives, as well as to repel any attempt at invasion by foreign powers. There were four of these Presidios-located at San Diego, Monterey, San Francisco, and Santa Barbara, the chief harbors in the territory. Each was fortified with high walls made of adobe, on which were mounted a few guns of small calibre. The garrisons were rarely inside these fortifications. Being under but little restraint, they roamed over the country, or settled upon some pleasant spot, took one of the converted Indian women for a wife, and obtained a grant of land as a dower. The first grant of land in the territory, by the Spanish government, was made on the 27th of November, 1775, to Manuel Butron, a Spanish soldier, who married Marguerita, one of the converts of the Mission of San Carlos.

Many of the old Spanish soldiers and their descendants are living in California, at this time, on ranchos granted to them for services at these Presidios. One of these relics of the past was living at Santa Barbara in 1865, and was quite a curiosity in his way. He wore knee breeches and buckles, and silver buttons on his jacket, as in the days of old, and was fond of telling about the events that occurred while

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