How California Started: The Missions and Father Serra

In the 1700s, California belonged to the Spanish who set about establishing a system of missions from San Diego to Sonoma. There were originally only missions in the Baja region of California that were run by the Jesuits, but in 1767, a priest from Spain by the name of Junipero Serra was asked to take over the missions. He'd been living in Mexico and accepted his new job happily. The Spanish wanted the missions as a way to not only convert the Native Americans, but to lay a foundation that would establish Spanish rule in the New World.

Father Serra was in his fifties when he began his task of establishing new missions and died at the age of 70 in 1784. He had help from the governor of Baja, Gaspar de Portola, who was ordered to get rid of the Jesuits. He led an expedition over the land that included Father Serra. They arrived in San Diego and met two ship loads of soldiers that were all supposed to head up to Monterey to find the harbor, but they missed it and ended up at the San Francisco Bay. Thinking it was the ocean, they turned around and headed back to San Diego. Later, they traveled again and Father Serra established the missions that were all connected by the El Camino Real, or King's Highway. In all, there ended up being 21 missions along the coast of California, but the Spanish plan of establishing a foot hold didn't last too long. When the Mexicans fought for independence and won, the Spanish vacated the lands, leaving the Mexicans and Native Americans in California.