2004-12-14
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
I'm Faith Lapidus.
VOICE TWO:
 |
| Mission San Juan Baptista, in northern California. (Photo - usgs.gov) |
And I'm Steve Ember with
EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today, we tell about the first
attempts to settle what is now the western state of California.
These attempts began with Spanish settlers who built twenty-one
Catholic churches called missions. Our report is about those
churches -- the missions of California.
(SOUND OF CHURCH BELLS)
VOICE ONE:
Our story begins in seventeen sixty-eight in Madrid, Spain. The
king of Spain, Charles the Third, had recently received reports that
worried him. The reports said Russian explorers were in the northern
part of the territory called California. Spain had claimed most of
that area more than two hundred years earlier. But Spain had no
settlements in California. King Charles knew if the Russians began
to settle the area, Spain might lose control of California forever.
VOICE TWO:
King Charles decided the best way to keep the Spanish claim to
California was to build settlements there. California had good
harbors for Spanish ships, good weather and good farmland.
King Charles decided to order the creation of a series of small
farming communities along the Pacific Ocean coast of California. The
settlements would provide trade and grow into larger cities. Spanish
citizens might want to settle there. Then the Spanish claim to
California would be safe.
VOICE ONE:
But there was no one on the coast of California to begin the
work. King Charles and his advisors decided that the farming
settlements would begin with churches called missions. Missions were
places where Roman Catholic religious leaders converted people to
the Christian religion. They taught the religion to people who
wanted to become members of the church.
King Charles decided Roman Catholic priests would build the
missions and settlements with the help of Native American Indians.
The priests would teach the native people the Christian religion,
the Spanish language and how to farm.
A religious group within the Catholic Church called the
Franciscans would build the settlements. The Franciscans chose a
young priest named Junipero Serra to begin the work.
VOICE TWO:
Many history experts say the Spanish government and the Catholic
Church could not have chosen a better person for the task than
Junipero Serra.
Junipero Serra was born in seventeen thirteen on the island of
Mallorca, Spain. After he became a Franciscan priest, he taught at a
university in Mallorca.
Father Serra had always wanted to be a missionary. In seventeen
forty-nine he sailed to Mexico to begin his life as a missionary. He
spent several years studying the languages and customs of native
people in Mexico.
In seventeen sixty-eight he was given the job of building the
first of the California missions near the present day city of San
Diego.
(SOUND OF CHURCH BELLS)
VOICE ONE:
Mission San Diego de Alcala began on July sixteenth, seventeen
sixty-nine. But before the mission was completed, Father Serra
decided to move it. He did not like the way Spanish soldiers
mistreated the Native Americans. He wanted to keep them separate. He
moved the mission to an area that is still called Mission Valley.
The design of Mission San Diego de Alcala was similar to each of
the missions that were built later. There was a large church
building. A long wall formed a large square to the side and behind
the church. Large rooms inside and along the wall served as
bedrooms, cooking areas, workshops, and classrooms. Usually, the
center of the large square was left open. A garden with flowers was
planted there.
VOICE TWO:
Junipero Serra's plan for the missions along the California coast
was simple. Each would be about the same distance from each other.
Members of the Franciscan religious group did not ride horses or
travel in wagons. They walked. The missions were built about one
day's long walk from each other. This made it easier to travel,
trade goods and share information.
The missions begin with San Diego de Alcala in the south. They
end with San Francisco Solano about one thousand fifty kilometers to
the north. In time, the road from mission San Diego de Alcala to
mission San Francisco Solano was given a name.
The Spanish name is still used today. It is "El Camino Real." It
means the "The Royal Highway" or "The King's Highway." Most of that
old road is now part of the California highway system. Millions of
people use the road every day as they drive from San Diego to San
Francisco.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Many people have criticized the mission system of settlement
because it changed the way of life for the Native Americans in
California. Critics say many Native Americans were forced to work at
the missions. They say many were forced to become members of the
Christian religion. And many were treated badly by Spanish soldiers
and died because of mistreatment or disease.
However, other experts say that Junipero Serra demanded that the
priests and soldiers treat the Native Americans with respect. Many
of the Native Americans accepted the Christian religion, learned to
farm and helped the missions become valuable settlements.
Many other Native Americans did not. Some did not want to change
the way they lived so they moved away from the missions. Many Native
Americans believed they would be forced into a new way of life. In
seventeen seventy-six, a group of Indians attacked the San Diego
mission and burned it. Eight months later, the mission was rebuilt
where it still stands today.
VOICE TWO:
King Charles's plan was a success. Settlements grew from the
missions along the California coast. Some of those along El Camino
Real became major cities -- San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara,
San Jose, and San Francisco, to name only a few. Junipero Serra was
responsible for building nine of the missions. One of these was
Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo in the present city of
Carmel. It became his headquarters and the headquarters for all of
the California missions. In seventeen eighty-four, Junipero Serra
died of tuberculosis at mission San Carlos. He was buried in the
floor of the Mission San Carlos Church.
(SOUND OF CHURCH BELLS)
VOICE ONE:
The missions of California faced difficult times during the
eighteen hundreds. In eighteen twenty-two, California became part of
Mexico, which had just won its independence from Spain. But the
Mexican government could not pay the cost of keeping the missions.
In eighteen thirty-four, the Mexican government sold much of the
mission land and some of the buildings. Several missions remained
part of the communities they helped to build. But many became little
more than ruins. Some of the land and the missions were returned to
the Catholic Church.
In the eighteen forties, Mexico had trouble controlling the
American settlers in California. In eighteen forty-six, the settlers
declared California a republic. Less than two years later, the
United States gained control of California during the Mexican War.
During this period, the Catholic Church tried to keep control of
the missions. They were only partly successful. However, in eighteen
sixty-three President Abraham Lincoln signed a law that said all
twenty-one missions in California would be returned to the Catholic
Church. They have remained so ever since.
VOICE TWO:
Today, the people of California consider the missions a treasure.
Eighteen of the twenty-one are still active Catholic churches.
All of the missions are museums that teach the early history of
California. Many visitors come to the missions to see the beautiful
buildings. Several of the missions have become famous. One example
is the Mission San Juan Capistrano. It was planned and built by
Junipero Serra.
Each year, on the same day, at almost the same hour, thousands of
birds called swallows return to the mission. They return from their
winter homes thousands of kilometers to the south. The swallows
arrive on March nineteenth. They build nests and raise their young
in the old mission. They leave on October twenty-third. One story
says the birds have been late only once because of a storm at sea.
Everyone agrees that Junipero Serra would have loved the beautiful
swallows of Capistrano.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by
Jill Moss. I'm Faith Lapidus.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for Explorations in
VOA Special English.