4th Grade Mission Project - San Luis Rey De Francia

San Luis Rey De Francia

A California Mission

Table of Contents

1. Introduction         
2. San Luis Rey De Francia
3. Luiseno Indians
4. Crops
5. Special about Mission
6. Conclusion
7. Bibliography

Introduction

A mission is a religious settlement, and a center where missionaries (religious teachers) work to spread their beliefs to other people and to teach a new way of life. Missions often involve sending individuals and groups, called "missionaries," across boundaries, for the purpose of proselytism (conversion to Christianity, or from one Christian tradition to another). Spain, along with leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, established missions and presidios (forts) throughout the Spanish Empire to strengthen its claim to the land. Spain built the missions in California. They wanted to protect their claim to the land. They also wanted to make native Indians learn Spanish and become Spanish citizens. They established twenty one missions. The first mission was founded in 1769 and the last one was founded in 1821. The Indians forgot their old ways of life and instead went to the missions and learned Spanish.

The goal of the Spanish mission system in North America was to make Indians accept Spanish ways and become loyal subjects of the Spanish king. The priest’s purpose in building missions is to spread Christianity. Priests functioning as missionaries tried to convert the local Indian populations to Catholicism and to teach them to dress and behave as Spaniards.San Luis Rey De Francia

                     

The name of my mission is Mission San Luis Rey De Francia and it is the largest of the 21 missions. It means in English the King of Missions. The Mission San Luis Rey De Francia is a former Spanish Mission in an unincorporated part of San Diego County, surrounded by the presentday city of Oceanside, California.

The reason that spot was chosen is because it had fertile soil, a lot of land , Indian villages are nearby, and the mission will help if Indians are planning to raid Spanish travelers and they get to rest there. The mission was founded on June 13, 1798 by Padre Fermin Lasuen, and was the eighteenth of the Spanish missions established in California. This is the last mission that the padre founded. Named for Saint Louis, the mission lent its name to the Luiseno tribe of Mission Indians. The interesting thing about Fray Lasuen is he is credited with introducing the adobe wall and tile roof architecture commonly associated with the California missions. Luiseno Indians

The Luiseno Indians lived at Mission San Luis Rey De Francia and it filled 2.5 hectares (six acres). They liked to live at Mission San Luis Rey De Francia because of Fray Peyri energetic and nice leadership. He was also an excellent architect. With him, the Indians learned to build Mission San Luis Rey De Francia the biggest and longest of the twenty one missions. Men learned to raise cattle for beef and leather, sheep for meat and wool, and hogs for lard, which were used to make soap. Other skills the Luiseno men were taught included adobe brick making, carpentry, tile making, and leatherwork. Women learned to cook, sew, weave, make soap and care for the sick. The children helped where they could, but spent a lot of time learning from the friars about Christianity and the Spanish language.

                 

Once baptized, the neophytes lost their freedom and had to do what the friars had to do. Neophytes could not leave the mission grounds (including asistencias) unless they had special permission. If they try to flee, they were caught and bought back by the soldiers. In 1799, the Indians got to pick alcaldes. The alcaldes were neophytes who guarded the mission and watched Indians work.

Crops

The crops the Luiseno Indians grew at Mission San Luis Rey De Francia included orange trees, grapevines, wheat, hemp, barley, corn, and beans. Each mission also had large fields of crops - wheat, barley, corn, beans and peas mostly. They ate this food, cooking it according to the recipes the priests bought along with them. These were mostly Spanish and Mexican dishes. There were lots of crops and animals at San Luis Rey De Francia. There were 27,000 cattle, 26,000 sheep, 2,000 pigs, goats, ducks, chickens, and geese. The neophytes used wooden plows to till the land and plant their food. The daily schedule started around 6:00 am. When everyone awoke, bells were rang to announce it was time to pray. After that, everyone would eat breakfast together. When they were done eating, missionaries, soldiers, and neophytes either set to work or went to classes. Later, everyone would eat lunch until 2 pm and then go to work. They would eat dinner and then the neophytes had free time to dance, play, and talk together.Special about Mission
The mission had 30 square miles of land with large wheat fields, vegetable gardens, vineyards that produced fine wine, and groves of olive and orange trees. The Church was 180 feet long, 28 feet wide, 30 feet high and was built of adobe bricks faced with burnt bricks and tile roof. The mission buildings covered six acres around a 500-foot square patio. There were more than 200 arches along the walkways that led to the dormitories, an infirmary, kitchen, storage rooms, and workshops for carpenters, weavers, spinners, and soap and candle makers.

A single domed tower served as a bell tower and as a lookout from which a guard could signal workers in the fields or announce the approach of visitors. The sunken garden and lavanderia (laundry), located in a hollow to the south of the mission may be reached by descending 46 fire tiled steps. An intricate aqueduct system brought water from a nearby river through a series of 12 underground pipelines made of burnt brick. A charcoal filtering system purified water for drinking. Water from springs flowed out of the mouths of two stone figures into a large lavandería (laundry), where the mission women scrubbed their clothes. The water then went into the fields for irrigation.

Conclusion

The missions were built by the Spanish starting in 1769 in order to "colonize" the territory of Alta California, which they had discovered over two centuries earlier. Spain had hoped that establishing the California missions would help protect their interests from North America to Great Britain and Russia. The Franciscan friars at the missions educated the natives in European agriculture and other practical skills, converted them to Christianity and educated them as Spanish citizens to create a physical presence in the region. Missionaries believed they were helping the Indians by making them into farmers. They also needed the food for themselves and the Spanish soldiers.


Some Indians resisted their new way of life. They broke tools and equipment or ran away. Some planned revolts. But in the end, California Indians lost their old way of life. They also lost the skills they needed to live outside the mission, and the land once used for hunting had been turned into farms. Without knowing it, the Spanish also brought diseases to California. By 1846, two-thirds of the Indians in California had died. Any mission experience is rich ground for ideas, learning and growth. The thing I like about Mission San Luis Rey De Francia is that it is very big and more than two thousand Luiseno Indians live there.

Bibliography


Reflections author Dr Priscilla H. Porter / (California, A Changing State)City, New York City, Publisher(Harcourt School Publishers)Mission author Quasha Jennifer / Mission San Luis Rey De Francia. Recent Copyright, 2007.


Websites, Wikipedia, Missions.com, Mission San Luis Rey De Francia.org, California Mission history.org, Missions California.com.