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Mission San Gabriel
Founded by Fathers Angel Somera and Pedro Cambn on September 8th 1771,
Mission San Gabriel Arcngel was the fourth mission to be established in
Alta California. Named for the Archangel Gabriel, the mission was founded
approximately nine miles east of present-day Los Angeles, and came to be
known as "The Queen of the Missions" due to it's prosperity. Placed in
the midst of two busy trails that ran between California and Mexico, as
well as one that connected to the East Coast of California, the mission
was continually being visited by traders, as well as constantly being
overrun by the military, whose behavior caused great friction between the
missionaries and the Indians.
The story of the mission's founding is an interesting one: As the
founding party approached the Santa Ana River, they were surrounded by a
large group of yelling Indians. Fearing an attack, one of the friars
unfurled a large banner with a painting of the Virgin on it possibly in
hopes of placating the Indians. At this the Indians threw down their
weapons, and the two Indian chieftains placed their bead necklaces at the
feet of the painting. This prompted natives from all the nearby rancheras
to gather seeds and place them before the painting as well, all the while
gazing at it in wonder. This now 300 year-old painting was venerated by
the Spaniards, and is still on display in the mission sanctuary.
Although initially generous and confident of the mission, the
Indians soon knew that the newcomers could not be trusted. Shortly after
the natives helped the Spaniards to construct most of the initial
structures, a Spanish soldier attacked the wife of a chief in a nearby
Tongva village. Seeking revenge, the chief and some of the villagers
attacked the soldier. As a result, the chief was shot, and his head was
cut off and placed on a pole by the soldiers as a warning to the other
natives. A few day after the fight the natives came to beg for the head
of their chief, so that a mourning ceremony could take place. Although
after this event the Indians avoided the soldiers as well as the mission,
the soldiers continually attacked the nearby Tongva villages.
Soon after the mission's founding, Fathers Cambn and Somera became
ill and were replaced by Fathers Paterna and Cruzado. Although the new
fathers tried to regain the confidence of the scared natives through
gifts, they failed for the most part, and European diseases such as
smallpox decimated the Tongva villages soon afterwards. As a result, the
mission's priests then went to the villages and baptized the native
babies, who were then forced to join the mission if they survived their
illnesses. The parents of these children then had to join the mission in
order to keep their families together.
In 1776, Father Snchez replaced Father Paterna, and Snchez and
Cruzado started nearly thirty years of work that brought Mission San
Gabriel much prosperity. With a fertile valley, a well as plentiful
water, timber, and pasturage, abundant crops of corn and beans were grown,
and great herds of cattle were built up. Although San Gabriel was known
for it's fine wines, weaving, leather-working, soap-making, and
tallow-rendering also went on at the mission. A new church was finished
in 1805, and in the same year both Cruzado and Snchez died, and Father Jos
Zalvidea led the mission for the next 20 years. The earthquake of 1812
toppled the church tower and greatly damaged the monastery, and the padres
had to live in the granary until the church was completely restored in
1828 with a new belltower. Under Zalvidea's leadership, tremendous
developments were made in crop yield, and the church at the Pueblo of Los
Angeles, as well as a hospital for the Indians was constructed.
After secularization hit in 1833, the mission's wealth was turned
over to the secular administrator, and when secularization ended in 1843,
nothing was left of San Gabriel but ruined buildings and starving
Indians. A man by the name of Pio Pico, who somehow possessed all of the
mission properties shortly after secularization, gave the mission
buildings and surroundings to two Americans in payment of a debt shortly
before his death. This deal was later declared illegal, and the church
was cared for successively by Franciscan padres until 1852. In 1859,
President Buchanan restored the property to the Catholic church, and the
mission was administrated as a parish church until 1908, when it became
the property of the Claretian Father, who even now still preserve it. The
mission is presently located about nine miles east of downtown Los
Angeles.
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