Missions, Haciendas, Ranches, and Presidios

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Missions, Haciendas, Ranches, and Presidios
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Missions

• The Purpose of the Missions
• In the mid 1700's Spain had claimed the land of
  Alta California and Baja California and wanted to
  do something or build something to strengthen
  their claim on the land. The goal of the Spanish
  mission system was to make Indians except the
  Spanish ways and to become loyal subjects of the
  Spanish king. The priests at the missions tried
  to convert the Indian populations in the area of
  the missions to Catholicism so that they would be
  religious and dress and behave as the Spaniards
  did. Their thought was that after about 10 years
  at the missions the Indians would be able to make
  or invent a way to govern themselves as the
  padres did and run the missions on their own.
  This however never happened and a very different
  pattern of events took place.                   
     
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Missions Today

• Missions Today
• Today missions have beautiful scenery, fountains,
  and flower gardens. They attract many tourists
  and sightseers. But that would have never
  happened if in 1895 people like Charles Lummis
  didn't start an organization to fix and repair
  missions. To make sure that the new models were
  accurate they used pictures that artists painted
  of the missions in earlier years. Although they
  tried their best they were not able to recreate
  it accurately because back then they didn't have
  any measuring sticks. Now that they are done the
  tourists can tell that the walls are a bit
  smaller.
• Most missions today have tours you can take to
  learn about the mission and it's history. Many of
  the tours include how it was made, what it was
  made of, what kind of Indians lived in the area,
  things they used back then, their living
  quarters, and about the church.Today, if we
  didn't have missions a big part of the history we
  know would be gone. If the missions never
  happened California might still be part of
  Mexico.
• Today some missions still have active churches
  run by priests and fathers. They are used by
  people in the towns near by, like Solvang by
  Santa Ines. Some missions still have things in
  the interior that are original and didn't get
  ruined. Those missions are lucky to still have
  preserved parts for sightseers to look at and
  take notes of.

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Presidio

• Presidios
• The presidios are a very important part of the
  mission. The Spanish built presidios to protect
  the coast from foreign troops. Spain established
  presidios so the soldiers had a place to stay
  near the missions in case they needed help or was
  under attack. The soldiers also helped with the
  Indians if they tried to run away.The troops or
  soldiers lived in presidios (forts) near the
  mission. Presidios could hold 4-7 soldiers as
  there living quarters. They were set aside from
  missions about 1 to a half mile away. If it
  weren't for presidios soldiers may not have been
  able to watch over and protect the missions and
  the Indians may not have cooperated

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Web Sites

• http//www.h-net.org/latam/powerpoints/SpanishPre
  sidios.pdf
• http//library.thinkquest.org/3615/