The Old Franciscan Missions of California | Page 7

referred to,
totally and completely banishing the Jesuits from all parts of his

dominions, under penalty of imprisonment and death.
I doubt whether many people of to-day, even though they be of the
Catholic Church, can realize what obedience to that order meant to
these devoted priests. Naturally they must obey it--monstrous though it
was--but the one thought that tore their hearts with anguish was: Who
would care for their Indian charges?
For these ignorant and benighted savages they had left their homes and
given up all that life ordinarily means and offers. Were they to be
allowed to drift back into their dark heathendom?
No! In spite of his cruelty to the Jesuits, the king had provided that the
Indians should not be neglected. He had appointed one in whom he had
especial confidence, Don José Galvez, as his Visitador General, and
had conferred upon him almost plenary authority. To his hands was
committed the carrying out of the order of banishment, the providing of
members of some other Catholic Order to care for the Indians of the
Missions, and later, to undertake the work of extending the chain of
Missions northward into Alta California, as far north as the Bay of
Monterey, and even beyond.
To aid him in his work Galvez appealed to the Superior of the
Franciscan Convent in the City of Mexico, and Padre Junipero Serra,
by common consent of the officers and his fellows, was denominated as
the man of all men for the important office of Padre Presidente of the
Jesuit Missions that were to be placed henceforth under the care of the
Franciscans.
This plan, however, was changed within a few months. It was decided
to call upon the priests of the Dominican Order to take charge of the
Jesuit Missions, while the Franciscans put all their strength and energy
into the founding of the new Missions in Alta California.
Thus it came to pass that the Franciscans took charge of the founding
of the California Missions, and that Junipero Serra became the first real
pioneer of what is now so proudly denominated "The Golden State."

The orders that Galvez had received were clear and positive:
"Occupy and fortify San Diego and Monterey for God and the King of
Spain." He was a devout son of the Church, full of enthusiasm, having
good sense, great executive ability, considerable foresight, untiring
energy, and decided contempt for all routine formalities. He began his
work with a truly Western vigor. Being invested with almost absolute
power, there were none above him to interpose vexatious formalities to
hinder the immediate execution of his plans.
[Illustration: JUNIPERO SERRA Founder and First Padre Presidente
of the Franciscan Missions of California From the Schumacker crayon]
[Illustration: MAP OF THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA, SHOWING
THE FRANCISCAN MISSION ESTABLISHMENTS. Map originally
made for Palou's Life of Padre Junipero Serra, published in Mexico in
1787.]
In order that the spiritual part of the work might be as carefully planned
as the political, Galvez summoned Serra. What a fine combination!
Desire and power hand in hand! What nights were spent by the two in
planning! What arguments, what discussions, what final agreements the
old adobe rooms occupied by them must have heard! But it is by just
such men that great enterprises are successfully begun and executed.
For fervor and enthusiasm, power and sense, when combined, produce
results. Plans were formulated with a completeness and rapidity that
equalled the best days of the Conquistadores. Four expeditions were to
go: two by land and two by sea. So would the risk of failure be lessened,
and practical knowledge of both routes be gained. Galvez had two
available vessels: the "San Carlos" and the "San Antonio."
For money the visitor-general called upon the Pious Fund, which, on
the expulsion of the Jesuits, he had placed in the hands of a
governmental administrator. He had also determined that the Missions
of the peninsula should do their share to help in the founding of the
new Missions, and Serra approved and helped in the work.
When Galvez arrived, he found Gaspar de Portolá acting as civil and

military governor, and Fernando Javier Rivera y Moncada, the former
governor, commanding the garrison at Loreto. Both were captains,
Rivera having been long in the country. He determined to avail himself
of the services of these two men, each of them to command one of the
land expeditions. Consequently with great rapidity, for those days,
operations were set in motion. Rivera in August or September, 1768,
was sent on a commission to visit in succession all the Missions, and
gather from each one all the provisions, live-stock, and implements that
could be spared. He was also to prevail upon all the available families
he could find to go along as colonists. In the