California Missions

 Before 1850, California area was settled late in
 the 18th century by Spaniards under the leadership of 
 the soldier Gaspar de Portola and the Franciscan monk
 Junipero Serra. The first mission in California, San
 Diego de Alcala, was founded by Serra in 1769. His other
 missions included San Antonio de Padua and San Gabriel
 Arcangel (1771), San Luis Obispo de Tolosa (1772), 
 San Francisco de Asis and San Juan Capistrano (1776), 
 Santa Clara (1777), and San Buenaventura (1782).

 Spain decided to colonize California to keep the
 region out of Russian and British hands. Portola and
 Serra arrived at the present site of San Diego on July
 1, 1769. In April 1770 they trekked northward and located 
 Monterey Bay, where they founded the mission San Carlos 
 Borromeo (it was moved to the Carmel area in 1771). 
 In all, 21 missions were eventually established by the
 Franciscans. Serra died in Carmel on Aug. 28, 1784. 
 A campaign to have him declared a saint was begun
 in 1934, and he was beatified in 1988. Another campaign,
 to prevent canonization, was based upon his role in the
 enslavement of Native Americans.

Father Junipero Serra

 Serra was born in Petra, 
 Majorca, on Nov. 24, 1713. He 
 attended the cathedral school in
 Palma and entered the Franciscan 
 order in 1730. He became a priest
 in 1737 and received a doctorate
 in theology in 1743. He taught at
 Lullian University in Palma until
 1749, when he decided to become a
 missionary. Serra arrived in Mexico
 City on Jan. 1, 1750, and worked among the Indians until 1767. 
 That year all Jesuit missionaries were expelled from the Spanish
 colonies. The Franciscans took over their work, and Serra was 
 sent to Lower California

 

San Francisco
  
San Diego


Santa Barbara
 
San Fernando


San Gabrial
  
Santa Inez

Partial Listing of Missions in California: