Page 6 - robinson_storyofvalencia_1967

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1797
t
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I
l-Iission San Fernando is founde-2_, with a
hr i s d i c t i on t h a t \•: o tt 1 d e :-: t c n d n o t o n 1 y
over the San Fernando Valley but to thi
;;-;-cil·-~ n-<l n o ~ t h w e s t o v e r th e I n d i an
villages and the land areas of Rancho
San Francisco

Early in August ~f 1795 an exploring party set o~t.from

San Buenaventura Mission to find a new miision site on the road to

San Gabriel. Seekirig good land, abundant water, and Indians, the

missionary fathers selected the present site of Missipn San Fernando

·in the upper half of the ~an Fernando Valley or, as it was the~

·called, Encino (Oak) Valley.

Founding ceremonies took place on September 8, 1797, with
/ /
Father Fermin Francisco Lastien in. charge. The name "San Fernando

Rey" was given .the Mission after Ferdinand III of Spain.

Tq hel~ the pew establishraent, other Southern California
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mission !ient cat.tlc, h·orses, mules and sheep. Crops were put in, A

temporary church and other buildings were erected. As converts and

cattle increased, the Mission's sway ext~nded beyond San Fernando

Valley and to the, north and northwest. Indians baptised came,
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ultimately, from nearly 200 Indian rancherias or villages, including

those in the Santa Cl~ra Valley such as Sespe, Piru, Camulos, and

_Chaguayabi t.

Churth historian Zephyrin Engelhardt, writing the Mission':

story and drawing upon earliest official reports, ~ecords that in

I.a