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Chapter 2: Spanish Missions 1769 - 1820
H
is Grace orders as a hold trust upon
your conscience … to administer this
concession and royal grant to the
water in this arroyo referred to for the com-
mon benefit
… who dwell today or in the
future in the province of the Mission of San
Diego de Alcalá. This concession and the
fruits also shall be held as to these children
and their children and successors for all ti
me
forever
…”
Spanish Viceroy in Mexico City under the rule of
King Charles III to Father Serra, December 17, 1773
1
When Juan Rodriguez
Cabrillo explored San
Diego Bay in 1542 to
search for fresh water,
he clai
med the land for
Spain. The Spaniards,
however, were not ready
to establish a settlement
in an area so remote from
Mexico and New Mexico,
so they left.
Sixty years later,
in 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno returned and
noted a good port with an estuary that extend-
ed inland, friendly Indians (whom he viewed as
a potential
work force and as potential converts
to Catholicism) and “sweet and good water” in
the sands near the river. With those notations,
the Spaniards left again, this ti
me for 165 years.
By 1769, Spain was ready for San Diego.
Father Junípero Serra and Gaspar de Portolá
arrived by overland trail from Baja California,
and Captain Vicente Vila and Juan Perez sailed
into what is now San Diego Harbor. Their
purpose was to set up a series of
Catholic
missions — each a day’s horseback ride apart
and a day’s ride from one water source to the
next
— in preparation for the Spanish settle-
ment of a new colony.
The missions were to
convert the native tribes to
Catholicism and
prepare them for life in
Spanish society.
When that task was
completed, the mission-
aries would move on to
another place of need,
turning the mission into
an Indian pueblo and a
parish church. First,
though, they had to find suitable sites for settle-
ment
— sites with water.
De Portolá led an expedition inland to identify
such sites. I
magine his despair when he
Father Serra and a companion
The San Diego Historical
Society
1542 Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo clai
med San
Diego Bay and surroundings for Spain.
1602 Sebastián Vizcaíno explored the region
and found it good for settlement.
1769 Father Junípero Serra founded the
Mission at Presidio Hill in San Diego.
1773
Mission San Diego de Alcalá moved to
Mission Valley.
1784 Ranchos were established.
1791 Presidio soldiers began farming at the
foot of Presidio Hill (later known as the
pueblo of San Diego and Old Town).
1798
Mission San Luis Rey founded in what is
now Oceanside.
1813 Construction completed on the Old
Mission Dam (Padre Dam).
MILESTONES IN THE SPANISH MISSION PERIOD