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CALIFORNIA MISSION

When we speak of the "old days" in Califorina, our thoughts naturally
travel along El Camino Real in a leisurely way. It must be so, because along
the Kings Highway there are twenty-one stations, or missions, roughly a
day's journey apart according to the mode of travel of more than a century
and a half ago. These twenty-one renowned, historic treasures of California
were the work of spiritually minded men, the Sons of St. Franics. Their am-
bition and dream was to bring the blessings of Christianity to a new and
beautiful land; to enable the Indlans to prosper materially and spiritually.
The leader of the group was a man whose name has become a household
word in California, Father Junipero Serra.
The first foundation of his spiritual empire was laid at San Diego July 16,
1769 and is known as the Mission San Diego Alcala. There followed the
famous overland journey of exploration to the Bay of Monterey, and on the
shores of that beautiful portion of the Pacific the Mission of San Carlos was
established on June 3, 1770. From these two beginnings nineteen other units
were established, and by 1823, with the foundation of the Mission of San
francisco de Solano, the dream of the Franciscans was completed and Cali-
fornia had its chain of twenty-one Missions.
The Mission of San Fernando Rey, almost at the end of historic Fremont
Pass, is not the least importance and beauty. It was seventeenth in order
of founding. On Sept. 8, 1797 Fathers Lausen and Dunetz began in the Valley,
which is now known as the Valley of San Fernando, the work which had
prospered so well in many other valleys of California. It prospered here too.
What was best in the Indian way of life was preserved and enriched with
the blessings of Christianity. There was peace and prosperity in the fields,
harmony in the workshops, and joy in the hearts of the Franciscans and their
lndian children. Labor and skill, learning and piety developed together. To
quote Edwin Markham, "The mission regime seems to have touched upon
some of the best educational and sociological thought of our time. The ideas
of daily contact of superior with inferior, the ideas of community property and
cooperation in labor and mental drill-all these were exemplified in the
Mission life."
Such gentle ways, however, did not last. In the stormy years in politics
after 1810, the Missions fared badly. Their prosperity, which was intended to
better the conditions of the Indians, was too great a temptation for greedy
men to whom the upheavals of the times gave temporary power. In a few
years the Missions ceased to function. Neglect and erosion reduced many of
them to little more than mounds of adobe. But the noble work begun by
Junipero Serra and his companions had its resurrection day. The Missions
were returned to the jurisdiction of the Church by decision of the Federal Dis-
trict Court in San Francisco and confirmed by decree of President Abraham
Lincoln under date of May 31, 1862.