Missions of Central California

Governor Portolá wandered through La Cañada de los Osos during his first land expedition and discovered a population of grizzly bears feasting in the tule marshes at their favorite feeding grounds. A hunting party spent three months living on bear meat, delivering 25 mule pack trains to the starving colonies. The site was chosen by Father Serra on September 1, 1772, to establish his fifth mission, San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, named for Saint Louis of Toulouse. (Author’s collection.)

A magic lantern image from 1906 shows several makeshift additions to the church and mission buildings made around 1859. By 1868, the buildings had been covered with wood siding and shingles, and a wall was erected in the open portico of the monastery. An out-of-character, wood-framed, New England–style steeple was set atop the roof. (Author’s collection.)

Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa’s church nave and altar are pictured around 1936. Once restored, the mission was used as a parish church. Tradesmen from Spain had been the master architects of the missions. Under the direction of the Franciscans, most were constructed as adobe buildings at the outset of earliest settlements. During Father Serra’s lifetime, buildings of mud, brushwood, and straw using timber framing and thatch roofing were common on El Camino Real. The friars experienced both friendly and unfriendly native inhabinants, and fires were set to several of the mission buildings’ dry thatch roofs during the early days. Fired clay tiles were introduced to replace all of the missions’ flammable roofing to avoid this type of attack.

The entrance to Mission San Luis de Tolosa is pictured around 1938, after the removal of redwood siding to help preserve it. The authentic restoration of the columns and monastery had been completed by this time. The sixth mission had been founded on September 1, 1772, by Fr. Junípero Serra and was first tended by Fr. José Cavaller with two Baja Indians and several soldiers. Father Cavaller died in 1789, and Fr. Miguel Gómez was appointed to take his place. By 1844, all neophytes were freed under secular laws.

This interior view of the Mission San Luis Obispo is from after 1936. Rebuilt according to early sketches, the original plain altar remained intact with five wooden statues, including one of Saint Louis, bishop of Toulouse, patron of the mission. Several earthquakes necessitated that the building be fully reinforced in 1934. The mission shared the distinction with Mission San Buenaventura of having a second nave extending the church at a right angle.

The adobe walls of Mission San Luis Obispo are six feet thick at their base, originally set on adobe mortar and fieldstones. Walls of adobe brick were plastered inside and out, then whitewashed. An early roadway below the colonnade’s square openings is four feet lower at the original level.

The early baptismal font from Mission San Luis Obispo, made of hammered copper, was used by Father Serra to begin spiritual lives after neophyte conversions. Among the most cherished relics are original records of baptisms by Father Serra and written by his hand. Other records and artifacts include candlesticks, paintings, tools, original rough chapel benches, books, and vestments that were stored at the mission over the centuries. (Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection.)

The extension of the chapel and several adjoining buildings surround the original monastery garden and grapevines. Fr. Luis Antonio Martínez spent 34 years at Mission San Luis Obispo, and during a brief period after 1832, protection came to the mission from Franciscan fathers of Mexican descent from the College of Guadelupe de Zacatecas, who filled the void of ministering to a dying culture. Ultimately, all mission adobe structures began to crumble throughout the system, often suffering from earthquake damage.

This view from 1936 was taken on Chorro Street after many restorations were made to bring the building back to an authentic design. Earthquakes had occurred in 1832 and 1868, destroying many of the mission’s features. These were later remodeled to preserve the mission according to the original design.

This monument honors Gen. John C. Frémont, who surrounded the mission settlement in 1846, ending the occupation of Mexican insurrectionists. Many Californios living there were vaqueros, who swarmed into Alta California, aided by secularization laws, to take advantage of the rich cattle lands. Secularization of daily life, directed at taking away the power held by the missions, ultimately caused most to fall into complete demise. After 1859, all church and mission buildings were returned to the church by the US government. (Author’s collection.)

Pensive moments were spent on scriptures as well as extensive recording from the early founding days and the study of native translations to reach new converts. Seated in this photograph is Father José around 1899. After the mission’s last baptism was added in writing by the last Franciscan father, Fr. Ramon Abella, in 1841, the mission fell into disrepair. (Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection.)

The church is at the rear of the interior quadrangle; the sacristy door entering the church nave is visible to the left of the tree. Fr. José Martinez, a jovial friar, was well known for his character in the Helen Hunt Jackson novel Ramona, with demonstrations of ducks, geese, turkeys, and chickens set up by mission neophytes in the courtyard to entertain the visiting Gen. Felipe Moreno and his new bride; the friar’s poultry was driven past the couple in a procession lasting over an hour, to everyone’s delight.

The largest bell in the wooden steeple weighed nearly 400 pounds and was inscribed “Manuel Vargas me fecit-Lima-Mision D. Sn Luis Obispo—De la Nueba California—Ano D. 1818.” (Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection.)

Grapevines and olive and pomegranate trees descended from those planted by the first friars still grow within the gardens of the mission. (Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection.)

Recently rediscovered, this glass plate negative of 1928 depicts Mission San Luis Obispo’s garden within the mission quadrangle and patio, grape arbors, and a complex of buildings adjacent to the church building. (Author’s collection.)

At the mission property around 1928, a stone padre’s kitchen near the garden portrays a simple architectural style from the past. The building is preserved today as a youth center and is located in the mission quadrangle. (Author’s collection.)

A photograph from 1899 shows the main door of Mission San Luis Obispo and carved papal crests, delicate leaf-like tracings thought to be as old as the first mission. In 1870, Fr. John Harnett, the pastor, carefully removed a wood covering over the doors to expose the original design. The age and decay of the decorative lime plaster exterior over its brick and fieldstone walls is evident. (Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection.)

By 1868, the structures had been rebuilt with wood siding, and an uncharacteristic New England–style steeple had been added. Fr. John Hartnett recognized the importance of using original plans for an accurate restoration of the mission at the beginning of the 20th century, an ongoing process that has lasted over many years.

The massive stone walls of Mission San Luis Obispo’s Santa Margarita de Cortona Asistencia, a sub-mission, remained standing but were covered over in modern times, with a hay barn enclosing them. The three-foot-thick stone walls measured approximately 40 feet by 140 feet and were near adjoining grain fields that were prosperous through 1840, after all missions were in decline, abandoned, or sold. (Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection.)

A vintage view from the beginning of the 20th century shows Santa Margarita de Cortona Asistencia’s massive stone walls. As a sub-mission, it was a stop between San Luis Obispo de Tolosa and points north, with a chapel and monastery located on a high plateau at the top of the Cuesta grade. After 1840, this asistencia became private property, and public access to its buildings has remained limited. (Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection.)

Santa Margarita de Cortona Asistencia had several nearby adobe buildings built by an unknown master stonemason with walls and arches of brick and stone. The setting comprised nearly 17,000 agricultural acres along the rich bottomland of the Salinas River used for extensive cattle grazing in later days. (Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection.)

The walls of the Santa Margarita de Cortona Asistencia were incorporated in modern times into a large hay barn, fully enclosing them. This served to preserve what remained of the old building. Today it is a private tour attraction. (Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection.)

After 1840, Rancho Santa Margarita lands were deeded to ranchers through large title grants of the Mexican government for secularized residential and business use. This original sketch made by Alfred Robinson in 1834, from Life of California, shows the exterior of the chapel shortly after being taken from the church.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) plan from 1937 carries notes for architects recording the mission’s structural condition and measurements. In the remarks, the floors, ceilings, stencils, and roofing have been noted as repaired, changed, or covered up. The survey eventually led the way to an authentic reversal of its deficiencies in the following years.