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Spanish missions in California

The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of twenty-one religious outposts and associated support facilities established by Spaniards of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823, in order to spread the Catholic faith among the local Native American populations. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to colonize the Pacific Coast region, and gave Spain a valuable toehold in the frontier land. The settlers introduced European livestock, fruits, vegetables, and industry into the region. European contact was a momentous event, which profoundly affected California's native peoples.^[1] In the end, the mission system failed in its objective to convert, educate, and "civilize" the indigenous population in order to transform the California natives into Spanish colonial citizens. Today, the missions are among the state's oldest structures and the most-visited historic monuments.^[2]

Precontact

The current prevailing theory postulates that Paleo-Indians entered the Americas in successive waves from Asia via a land bridge called "Beringia" that connected eastern Siberia with present-day Alaska (when sea levels were significantly lower, due to widespread glaciation) between about 15,000 to 35,000 years ago.^[3] The remains of Arlington Springs Man on Santa Rosa Island are among the traces of a very early habitation in California, dated to the last ice age (Wisconsin glaciation) about 13,000 years ago.^[4]^[5] The first humans are therefore thought to have made their homes among the southern valleys of California's coastal mountain ranges some 10,000 to 12,000 years ago; the earliest of these people are known only from archaeological evidence.^[6]^[7] Over the course of thousands of years, California's diverse group of first settlers (later known as "Indians") evolved into hundreds of separate tribal groups, with an equally diverse range of languages, religions, dress, and other customs.^[8]

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notes
↑ Paddison, p. xiv: "These missionaries, along with the soldiers, merchants, and settlers who emigrated to California before 1848, brought terrible changes to its Indian population." ↑ California Missions Foundation ↑ Leffingwell, p. 9 ↑ Jones and Klar 2007, p. 53: "Understanding how and when humans first settled California is intimately linked to the initial colonization of the Americas." ↑ Oakley, p. 1172 ↑ Paddison, p. 333: The first undisputable archaeological evidence of human presence in California dates back to circa 8,000 BCE. ↑ Jones and Klar 2005, pp. 369-400: Recent research suggests that the Chumash may have been visited by Polynesians between 400 and 800 CE, nearly 1,000 years before Columbus reached North America. Although the concept was generally rejected for decades and remains controversial, studies published in peer-reviewed journals have given the idea greater plausibility. ↑ Margolin, pp. 2-6

[1] Paddison, p. xiv: "These missionaries, along with the soldiers, merchants, and settlers who emigrated to California before 1848, brought terrible changes to its Indian population."

[2] California Missions Foundation

[3] Leffingwell, p. 9

[4] Jones and Klar 2007, p. 53: "Understanding how and when humans first settled California is intimately linked to the initial colonization of the Americas."

[5] Oakley, p. 1172

[6] Paddison, p. 333: The first undisputable archaeological evidence of human presence in California dates back to circa 8,000 BCE.

[7] Jones and Klar 2005, pp. 369-400: Recent research suggests that the Chumash may have been visited by Polynesians between 400 and 800 CE, nearly 1,000 years before Columbus reached North America. Although the concept was generally rejected for decades and remains controversial, studies published in peer-reviewed journals have given the idea greater plausibility.

[8] Margolin, pp. 2-6

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CZ:Featured article/Current

Spanish missions in California

Precontact

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