MEMORIES:
PHOTOS:
For just over fifty years (between 1769 and 1823), Franciscan missionaries, intent on bringing Native American converts (and more importantly, tax payers) into the fold of Catholicism, built missions up and down the length of California. Of course, for the Spanish King, there also existed the ambition to secure California and the Pacific Northwest before Russian expeditions could lay claim to them. These missions are among the oldest structures in the West and were instrumental in bringing oranges, apples, grapes, peaches, pears, and figs to California from the Old World.
Formerly known as "El Camino Real" ("The Royal Highway"), U.S. Route 101 is the highway one now travels to see the twenty-one missions still standing. The Holy See declared that four of those missions are minor basilicas, seven are designated as National Historical Monuments, and fourteen are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Virtually all of the missions have been captured in the watercolors, oils, and etchings of Henry Ford Chapman. Perhaps most importantly, they exist as important historical, architectural, and archaeological landmarks that stand as testaments to the state's Spanish heritage.
Part of the significant history of the sites is found in their preservation. Such luminaries as Charles Fletcher Lummis and William Randolph Hearst engaged the Landmarks Club of Los Angeles in preserving the missions. Whether it's to see the replicated structures of Santa Cruz and Soledad or the time-weathering murals and mosaics of San Miguel Arcangel, thousands of tourists from all over the world honor the efforts of both pilgrims and philanthropists every year by visiting the missions.
