[Sidenote: =Spanish missionaries baptize Indians=]
=149. How the Franciscans Ruled the Southwest.= Centuries before
Fremont or Kit Carson or any other American had seen the wonders of
our western country, Spaniards made their homes there. Before the
_Mayflower_ landed at Plymouth, Spanish missionaries had built many
churches in the Southwest and had baptized thousands of Indians into
the Christian faith.
[Sidenote: =Franciscan friars friends of the oppressed=]
The story of the Spaniards in New Mexico, Arizona, and California is
not of victories won by the sword, but by the cross. The men who ruled
this country were not soldiers, but pious Franciscan friars.
Many years ago there lived in Italy a godly man, St. Francis, who
looked upon all poor and oppressed people as his children and devoted
his life to their care. His followers, who are called Franciscan
friars, have gone into all parts of the world to be missionaries to the
poor and the heathen.
[Sidenote: =Serra builds a mission at San Diego=]
Greatest of the Franciscans who worked in the Southwest was Junipero
Serra. One warm day in 1769 he came riding into San Diego on mule-back,
a tall, thin figure, wrapped in a long gown. There were no missionaries
at this time in California. He had come from Mexico with a small party
to convert the Indians. At San Diego he saw "valleys studded with
trees, wild vines covered with grapes, and native roses as fair and
sweet as those of Castile."
Here was just the place to build a mission. First he set up a great
wooden cross and said mass. There was no organ music, so the soldiers
fired their arms instead. The simple Indians stood by in wonder and
awe. Junipero Serra was a man of energy and action, and in a short time
he had his first mission built. From San Diego he went northward and
planted mission after mission as far north as San Francisco. When he
died the Franciscan missions controlled practically all of southern
California.
[Sidenote: =Mission buildings surrounded by gardens=]
Wherever the friars built a mission they made sure the soil was good
and that there was plenty of water near by. For in much of that country
little rain falls and many crops grow only when watered by irrigation.
Having found a suitable place, they would then build a church. This was
always the largest building of the mission. Some of the churches were
very beautiful. Around the church clustered the houses of the friars
and the huts of the Indians. Each mission was surrounded by beautiful
gardens and orchards. A little farther away were the fields in which
the grain was grown. All of these were watered by irrigation ditches
that drew their water from some mountain stream. Beyond the cultivated
land lay the ranches on which cattle and sheep grazed in great numbers.
[Sidenote: =Indians taught useful occupations=]
All the Indians in the neighborhood were made to live at the mission,
and here they were taught the Christian religion. They were also taught
many useful occupations. The men were shown how to farm, to make
saddles, work at the forge and the carpenter bench, and other useful
trades. The women were instructed in spinning and weaving.
In the morning the angelus called every one to mass. After breakfast
the day's work began and each Indian was sent to his task. Some
cultivated the fields, some took care of the stock, some worked in the
shops. Each one had to do his share of the work, and was punished if he
disobeyed. He had to work, pray, and live as the friars told him.
[Sidenote: =Missions fall to ruin=]
When Mexico freed itself of Spanish rule, California became a part of
Mexico. The new government put an end to the missions. The friars were
forced to leave, and the Indians drifted back into their old wild life.
To-day nothing remains of the work of the friars except the old mission
buildings. Most of them are in ruins, but they still tell of the quiet
by-gone days when the gentle Franciscans ruled in California.