The Old Franciscan Missions Of California Part 15

In 1845 Juan Manso and Andres Pico leased the Mission at a rental of $1120, the affairs having been fairly well administered by Padre Orday after its return to the control of the friars. A year later it was sold by Pio Pico, under the order of the a.s.sembly, for $14,000, to Eulogio Celis, whose t.i.tle was afterwards confirmed by the courts. Orday remained as pastor until May, 1847, and was San Fernando's last minister under the Franciscans.

In 1847 San Fernando again heard the alarm of war. Fremont and his battalion reached here in January, and remained until the signing of the treaty of Cahuenga, which closed all serious hostilities against the United States in its conquest of California.

Connected with the Mission of San Fernando is the first discovery of California gold. Eight years before the great days of '49 Francisco Lopez, the _mayordomo_ of the Mission, was in the canyon of San Feliciano, which is about eight miles westerly from the present town of Newhall, and according to Don Abel Stearns, "with a companion, while in search of some stray horses, about midday stopped under some trees and tied their horses to feed. While resting in the shade, Lopez with his sheath knife dug up some wild onions, and in the dirt discovered a piece of gold. Searching further, he found more. On his return to town he showed these pieces to his friends, who at once declared there must be a placer of gold there."

Then the rush began. As soon as the people in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara heard of it, they flocked to the new "gold fields" in hundreds.

And the first California gold dust ever coined at the government mint at Philadelphia came from these mines. It was taken around Cape Horn in a sailing-vessel by Alfred Robinson, the translator of Boscana's _Indians of California_, and consisted of 18.34 ounces, and made $344.75, or over $19 to the ounce.

Davis says that in the first two years after the discovery not less than from $80,000 to $100,000 was gathered. Don Antonio Coronel, with three Indian laborers, in 1842, took out $600 worth of dust in two months.

Water being scarce, the methods of was.h.i.+ng the gravel were both crude and wasteful. And it is interesting to note that the first gold "pans"

were _bateas_, or bowl-shaped Indian baskets.

The church at San Fernando is in a completely ruined condition. It stands southwest to northeast. The entrance is at the southwest end and the altar at the northeast. There is also a side entrance at the east, with a half-circular arch, sloping into a larger arch inside, with a flat top and rounded upper corners. The thickness of the walls allows the working out of various styles in these outer and inner arches that is curious and interesting. They reveal the individuality of the builder, and as they are all structural and pleasing, they afford a wonderful example of variety in adapting the arch to its necessary functions.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SHEEP AT MISSION SAN FERNANDO REY.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: RUINS OF OLD ADOBE WALL AND CHURCH, MISSION SAN FERNANDO REY.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: MONASTERY AND OLD FOUNTAIN AT MISSION SAN FERNANDO REY.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: INTERIOR OF RUINED CHURCH, MISSION SAN FERNANDO REY.]

The graveyard is on the northwest side of the church, and close by is the old olive orchard, where a number of fine trees are still growing.

There are also two large palms, pictures of which are generally taken with the Mission in the background, and the mountains beyond. It is an exquisite subject. The remains of adobe walls still surround the orchard.

The doorway leading to the graveyard is of a half-circle inside, and slopes outward, where the arch is square.

There is a b.u.t.tress of burnt brick to the southeast of the church, which appears as if it might have been an addition after the earthquake.

At the monastery the chief entrance is a simple but effective arched doorway, now plastered and whitewashed. The double door frame projects pilaster-like, with a four-membered cornice above, from which rises an elliptical arch, with an elliptical cornice about a foot above.

From this monastery one looks out upon a court or plaza which is literally dotted with ruins, though they are mainly of surrounding walls. Immediately in the foreground is a fountain, the reservoir of which is built of brick covered with cement. A double bowl rests on the center standard.

Further away in the court are the remnants of what may have been another fountain, the reservoir of which is made of brick, built into a singular geometrical figure. This is composed of eight semicircles, with V's connecting them, the apex of each V being on the outside. It appears like an attempt at creating a conventionalized flower in brick.

Two hundred yards or so away from the monastery is a square structure, the outside of boulders. Curiosity prompting, you climb up, and on looking in you find that inside this framework of boulders are two circular cisterns of brick, fully six feet in diameter across the top, decreasing in size to the bottom, which is perhaps four feet in diameter.

In March, 1905, considerable excitement was caused by the actions of the parish priest of San Fernando, a Frenchman named Le Bellegny, of venerable appearance and gentle manners. Not being acquainted with the _status quo_ of the old Mission, he exhumed the bodies of the Franciscan friars who had been buried in the church and reburied them. He removed the baptismal font to his church, and unroofed some of the old buildings and took the tiles and timbers away. As soon as he understood the matter he ceased his operations, but, unfortunately, not before considerable damage was done.

CHAPTER XXVII

SAN LUIS, REY DE FRANCIA

The last Mission of the century, the last of Lasuen's administration, and the last south of Santa Barbara, was that of San Luis Rey. Lasuen himself explored the region and determined the site. The governor agreed to it, and on February 27, 1798, ordered a guard to be furnished from San Diego who should obey Lasuen implicitly and help erect the necessary buildings for the new Mission. The founding took place on June 13, in the presence of Captain Grajera and his guard, a few San Juan neophytes, and many gentiles, Presidente Lasuen performing the ceremonies, aided by Padres Peyri and Santiago. Fifty-four children were baptized at the same time, and from the very start the Mission was prosperous. No other missionary has left such a record as Padre Peyri. He was zealous, sensible, and energetic. He knew what he wanted and how to secure it.

The Indians worked willingly for him, and by the 1st of July six thousand adobes were made for the church. By the end of 1800 there were 237 neophytes, 617 larger stock, and 1600 sheep.

The new church was completed in 1801-1802, but Peyri was too energetic to stop at this. Buildings of all kinds were erected, and neophytes gathered in so that by 1810 its population was 1519, with the smallest death rate of any Mission. In 1811 Peyri pet.i.tioned the governor to allow him to build a new and better church of adobes and bricks; but as consent was not forthcoming, he went out to Pala, and in 1816 established a branch establishment, built a church, and the picturesque campanile now known all over the world, and soon had a thousand converts tilling the soil and attending the services of the church.

In 1826 San Luis Rey reached its maximum in population with 2869 neophytes. From now on began its decline, though in material prosperity it was far ahead of any other Mission. In 1828 it had 28,900 sheep, and the cattle were also rapidly increasing. The average crop of grain was 12,660 bushels.

San Luis Rey was one of the Missions where a large number of cattle were slaughtered on account of the secularization decree. It is said that some 20,000 head were killed at the San Jacinto Rancho alone. The Indians were much stirred up over the granting of the ranches, which they claimed were their own lands. Indeed they formed a plot to capture the governor on one of his southern trips in order to protest to him against the granting of the Temecula Rancho.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HOUSE OF MEXICAN, MADE FROM RUINED WALL AND HILLS OF MISSION SAN FERNANDO REY.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE RUINED ALTAR, MORTUARY CHAPEL, SAN LUIS REY.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ILLUMINATED CHOIR MISSALS, ETC., AT MISSION SAN LUIS REY.]

The final secularization took place in November, 1834, with Captain Portilla as comisionado and Pio Pico as majordomo and administrator until 1840. There was trouble in apportioning the lands among the Indians, for Portilla called for fifteen or twenty men to aid him in quelling disturbances; and at Pala the majordomo was knocked down and left for dead by an Indian. The inventory showed property (including the church, valued at $30,000) worth $203,707, with debts of $93,000. The six ranches were included as worth $40,437, the three most valuable being Pala, Santa Margarita, and San Jacinto.

Micheltorena's decree of 1843 restored San Luis Rey to priestly control, but by that time its spoliation was nearly complete. Padre Zalvidea was in his dotage, and the four hundred Indians had scarcely anything left to them. Two years later the majordomo, appointed by Zalvidea to act for him, turned over the property to his successor, and the inventory shows the frightful wreckage. Of all the vast herds and flocks, only 279 horses, 20 mules, 61 a.s.ses, 196 cattle, 27 yoke oxen, 700 sheep, and a few valueless implements remained. All the ranches had pa.s.sed into private owners.h.i.+p.

May 18, 1846, all that remained of the former king of Missions was sold by Pio Pico to Cot and Jose Pico for $2437. Fremont dispossessed their agent and they failed to gain repossession, the courts deciding that Pico had no right to sell. In 1847 the celebrated Mormon battalion, which Parkman so vividly describes in his _Oregon Trail_, were stationed at San Luis Rey for two months, and later on, a re-enlisted company was sent to take charge of it for a short time. On their departure Captain Hunter, as sub-Indian agent, took charge and found a large number of Indians, amenable to discipline and good workers.

The general statistics from the founding in 1798 to 1834 show 5591 baptisms, 1425 marriages, 2859 deaths. In 1832 there were 27,500 cattle, 2226 horses in 1828, 345 mules in the same year, 28,913 sheep in 1828, and 1300 goats in 1832.

In 1892 Father J.J. O'Keefe, who had done excellent work at Santa Barbara, was sent to San Luis Rey to repair the church and make it suitable for a missionary college of the Franciscan Order. May 12, 1893, the rededication ceremonies of the restored building took place, the bishop of the diocese, the vicar-general of the Franciscan Order and other dignitaries being present and aiding in the solemnities. Three old Indian women were also there who heard the ma.s.s said at the original dedication of the church in 1802. Since that time Father O'Keefe has raised and expended thousands of dollars in repairing, always keeping in mind the original plans. He also rebuilt the monastery.

San Luis Rey is now a college for the training of missionaries for the field, and its work is in charge of Father Peter Wallischeck, who was for so many years identified with the College of the Franciscans at Santa Barbara.

Immediately on entering the church one observes doorways to the right and left--the one on the right bricked up. It is the door that used to lead to the stairway of the bell-tower. In 1913 the doorway was opened.

The whole tower was found to be filled with adobe earth, why, no one really knows, though it is supposed it may have been to preserve the structure from falling in case of an earthquake.

A semicircular arch spans the whole church from side to side, about thirty feet, on which the original decorations still remain. These are in rude imitation of marble, as at Santa Barbara, in black and red, with bluish green lines. The wall colorings below are in imitation of black marble.

The choir gallery is over the main entrance, and there a great revolving music-stand is still in use, with several of the large and interesting illuminated ma.n.u.script singing-books of the early days. In Mission days it was generally the custom to have two chanters, who took care of the singing and the books. These, with all the other singers, stood around the revolving music-stand, on which the large ma.n.u.script chorals were placed.

The old Byzantine pulpit still occupies its original position at San Luis Rey, but the sounding-board is gone--no one knows whither. This is of a type commonly found in Continental churches, the corbel with its conical sides harmonizing with the ten panels and base-mouldings of the box proper. It is fastened to the pilaster which supports the arch above.

The original paint--a little of it--still remains. It appears to have been white on the panels, lined in red and blue.

The pulpit was entered from the side altar, through a doorway pierced through the wall. The steps leading up to it are of red burnt brick.

Evidently it was a home product, and was possibly made by one of Padre Peyri's Indian carpenters, who was rapidly nearing graduation into the ranks of the skilled cabinet-makers.

The Mortuary Chapel is perhaps as fine a piece of work as any in the whole Mission chain. It is beautiful even now in its sad dilapidation.

It was crowned with a domed roof of heavy cement. The entrance was by the door in the church to the right of the main entrance. The room is octagonal, with the altar in a recess, over which is a dome of brick, with a small lantern. At each point of the octagon there is an engaged column, built of circular-fronted brick which run to a point at the rear and are thus built into the wall. A three-membered cornice crowns each column, which supports arches that reach from one column to another.

There are two windows, one to the southeast, the other northwest. The altar is at the northeast. There are two doorways, with stairways which lead to a small outlook over the altar and the whole interior. These were for the watchers of the dead, so that at a glance they might see that nothing was disturbed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BELFRY WINDOW, MISSION SAN FERNANDO REY.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: GRAVEYARD, RUINS OF MORTUARY CHAPEL AND TOWER, MISSION SAN LUIS REY.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SIDE OF MISSION SAN LUIS REY.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CAMPANILE AT PALA.]