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SAN BUENAVENTURA MISSION.
Term Paper ID:23219
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Essay Subject:
Historical & religious significance of CA. mission built in 1782 in context of regional & state development.... More...
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8 Pages / 1800 Words
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Paper Abstract:
Historical & religious significance of CA. mission built in 1782 in context of regional & state development.
Paper Introduction:
Missions played a critical role in the early history of California. They served as vehicles for introducing Christianity to the Indians in the region. This research focuses on one of the missions. San Buenaventura Mission is cited as the Mother Church of Christianity in Ventura County.
The region where the mission is found was described by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542 as "a beautiful valley in which there is much maize and food, with high sierras and rugged land surrounding the valley" (Weber xi). The Mission and its environs were given county status in 1872 as an autonomous district of 1,878 square miles (Weber xi). The Mission is one of the numerous missions making up an important religious system in the California region during the eighteenth century and beyond as the area came under Spanish conquest, Spanish rule, and eventually
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Only 22 neophytes were residents at the end of the second year,but converts came in much faster in a later period. The mission is the ninth of the 21 missions in theCalifornia system. Serra blessed the site of the new mission, his ninth, near anIndian rancheria of 5 inhabitants. Mission San Buenaventura has been an important element in Californiahistory along with the other 21 missions. To add to its unique distinction, the whole grandiose undertaking from beginning to end spanned merely the period of one normal lifetime (Berger 3). The period of Spanish rule covered 53 years beginning with settlementand extending to Mexican independence in 1822: The short Spanish era of fifty-three years bequeathed to modern Californians an abundant heritage out of all proportion to its brevity. The Franciscan missionaries accompanied theconquerors and approached the helpless pagans, the Indians, with one thingin mind--converting them to Christianity: Despite the discouraging prospects, they proposed to make good Catholics of this pathetic material, which only the kindliness of the climate had already preserved from extinction. Fr. Littlewas heard about the region for the next 127 years as the Indians continuedtheir way of life until Christianity arrived to change their ways. Thatwas in the spring of 1769 when, by order of the Spanish government, DonJoseph de Galvez, inspector-general of Lower California, sent an expeditionto search for Monterey Bay and established a military garrison there.Along with this was established a mission for the conversion toChristianity of the natives along the coast (Engelhardt 3-7). Figueroa Plaza is found outside the mission, andfountains are in evidence in this pedestrian mall that extends a block fromthe mission past the site of the city's former Chinatown. The mission today is in the heart of the city, down thestreet from the Ventura County Historical Museum. It was not the most important ofthese missions and did not maintain its position uninterrupted, but it didserve the region in which it was built for decades, helped bring settlersto the region, helped in the development of the area, and standing today asa monument to the era of Spanish rule and to the subsequent development ofCalifornia as a region and as a state. That was in 1542 when Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo arrived inthe valley. In this way, all of California would eventuallybe settled: By the end of the seventeenth century only a strip along the west coast remained unsettled in the land approach to Alta California. Serra stayed three weeks after the dedication, and construction onthe mission went forward in 1769. The Mission is oneof the numerous missions making up an important religious system in theCalifornia region during the eighteenth century and beyond as the area cameunder Spanish conquest, Spanish rule, and eventually liberation from Spain: The entire history of human affairs relates no adventure of greater ambition and deals with no task more utterly hopeless than the noble effort of the Franciscan padres of California to raise a pagan Indian race to the white man's standard of living. This would also be the lastmission Serra would found. Francis, and when the boy rose tohis feet he exclaimed, "O buona ventura!," or "Oh, what good fortune!"After that the child was known as Buonaventura, and he later entered theOrder of Saint Francis where he rose to the dignity of Minister General andbecame revered as the second founder of the Order. Among theartifacts found in this museum are the vestments of the Spanish padres, theEuropean books they brought with them, baskets made by the Chumash Indians,an early confessional, and a set of rare wooden bells once used at themission (Grimm and Grimm 36). Junipero Serra. Andres de laAsumpcion, Fr. This was the pattern followed throughout California as the Jesuitsentered different regions. The pilasters of the canopied romanesque altar were finished in imitation marble and heavily gilded. Itlanguished during the first years after secularization as Carlos Carrillobecame governor and chose Los Angeles for his capital. He was accompanied by three Carmelite Fathers, Fr. A cross was raised, High Mass wassung, and a sermon was preached by Serra. Grimm. has demonstrated the fitness of its soil by the progress it made, which to all appearances exceeds the expectations that, considering the short time since its founding, could have been entertained. Carrillo used themission as a defense against those who would oust him, and in time Carrilloand his men were forced out because they had allowed themselves to be cutoff from their water supply (Weber 2 7-2 8). The mission was named for John Fidanza, born in1221 at Bagnarea, in Etruria, Italy. Had its potential wealth and agreeable climate been better appreciated and more accessible to other European colonizers, foreign competition would naturally have hastened the region's settlement without such protracted delay (Berger 19). TheFranciscans also left behind the missions, the fruits of their labor, asmemorials to the rich Spanish period. The elaborate altar pieces included two silver crucifixes, silver oilstocks and a sculptured image of the Immaculate Conception (Berger 181-182). Theregion around what is now the city of San Buenaventura was discovered only5 years after Columbus had discovered the Island of San Salvador on theAtlantic Coast. Galvez was then planning theconquest of Upper California and invariably spoke of San Buenaventura ashis mission, even assisting Fr. Missions played a critical role in the early history of California.They served as vehicles for introducing Christianity to the Indians in theregion. New York: Harper & Row, 1985.Engelhardt, Zephyrin. . The region where the mission is found was described by Juan RodriguezCabrillo in 1542 as "a beautiful valley in which there is much maize andfood, with high sierras and rugged land surrounding the valley" (Weber xi). Works CitedBerger, John A. and T. The Indians neighboringthe mission gave their permission for the settlement through interpreters,and they were very excited about the changes taking place. A beautifully carved pulpit and canopy projected from the right wall. Governor Pedro Fages reported on activities at the Mission in 1787: Mission San Buenaventura. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1948.De Nevi, Don and Noel Francis Moholy. Generally the devotion of the missionaries to the natives was genuine; if they enslaved the body of the Indian, they did it only for his soul's sake (Berger 17). He was dying as a child when he wasrestored to health by the prayers of St. A tile-roofed granary, tannery, storehouse, workshops,and dwellings were also built around the two courtyards planted withgardens. The remains of Father Santa Maria, who had died in 18 6, weretransferred from the old church to a niche in the wall of the newsanctuary: The thick walls were built of native stone and masonry, the roof of tile, and the ceiling beams of timbers brought down from the Ojai. New York: Crown, 1984.Weber, Freancis J. The 21 missions are known as "FatherSerra's Rosary" in honor of the man who started them and who built thefirst nine missions: That Franciscan's unquenchable zeal for converting the heathen was responsible for the inauguration of mission settlement at a time when no other stabilizing influence was effective in the province (Berger 5). Following the military and the religious elements would come thecivilian settlers, though some civilian groups had a more difficult timethan others: Such citizens as the traders, farmers, and stockmen had difficult times because they had to compete with the mission establishments. Serra in packing the church goods for thethree missionary settlements to be established in Upper California. Two padres wouldnormally remain at each mission, paid by the Crown and the Pious Fund, andthey would become absolute monarchs of their little kingdom, spiritually,politically, and economically: In theory, the mission, its lands and herds were owned by the Indians under the supervision of the friars. In like manner, its livestock is thriving, the herds as well as the horses. Its constant and copious supply of water produced more than ordinary harvests of grain and fruits. The mission marked its 19 th birthday in 1972, and at the time alocal newspaper recounted the history of the mission and told much aboutthe building itself. Conversion was voluntary,but the Indian, once in a mission, had no legal escape. Inspector-General Don Joseph de Galvez wrote to Father Junipero Serraon September 15, 1768 that the intermediate mission between San Diego andSan Carlos would be called San Buenaventura. The story of that heroic effort is almost unique in the annals of man and constitutes one of the most interesting episodes in American history (Berger 4). On Santa ClaraStreet down the block is a renovated Victorian home. The friars would build a missionwith the help of troops and friendly natives, and the Indians would then begathered into a near-by mission village, or rancheria, by gifts of food,clothing, tobacco, and trinkets such as beads. The mission still started slow in somerespects. Nothing is left of the original structure except the church, and in1887 a well-meaning padre succumbed to the railroad boom and tore down allof the smaller buildings and modernized the church (Grimm and Grimm 25).The current name of the city near the mission is Ventura, shortened fromBuenaventura. The latter had the advantages of controlling the best lands due to prior arrival, and of having an abundance of Indian labor (Berger 18). New York: Libra Press, 1978.----------------------- 1 The usual method for the building and operation of a mission wasfollowed in the case of San Buenaventura. This research focuses on one of the missions. The city hall for Ventura isa classic beaux arts structure erected in 1912 as the Ventura County CourtHouse (Grimm and Grimm 36). Serra had someapprehension about the difficulty of transporting water from the nearbyriver to the future grain fields and fruit trees for the mission (Nevi andMoholy 189-19 ). Nor is it less noteworthy that the Indians so easily and so unexpectedly adapt and subject themselves to every Christian instruction (Weber 17). Antonio de la Ascension, and Fr. The stone church took 15 years to complete, and it was dedicatedin 18 9. The Franciscan Missions of California. For California today is still Spanish (Berger 3).The Franciscan missions of California are part of that heritage. Tomás de Aquino. San Buenaventura: The Mission by the Sea. The fathers were able to take full advantage of the unusuallyindustrious local Indian population, which benefited the mission inbringing water to the fields and in contributing to the abundant crops.The buildings were damaged by a series of earthquakes from December 1812 toFebruary 1813, and much of the building had to be reconstructed. The Franciscans left behind a large number of records that serve nowto provide a good historical picture of early California and of the wayCalifornia developed during and after the period of Spanish rule. The Mission by the Sea. Away for the Weekend. There is a good deal of California history evident in the regionaround the mission. The Mission and its environs were given county status in 1872 as anautonomous district of 1,878 square miles (Weber xi). At different times in the history of the mission, itwas the pawn of various political factions and was closed for a time. Santa Barbara: Mission Santa Barbara, 193 .Grimm, M. San BuenaventuraMission is cited as the Mother Church of Christianity in Ventura County. The first church wasdestroyed by fire after ten years of use, so the padres set about buildinga new structure of stone, one large enough to assure ample accommodationsfor future growth. The 21 missions in the California system were important to thehistory of the state. A building beside thechurch is now the mission gift shop, and behind this is a small museum withvarious artifacts from the early days of California history. More of the historyof Ventura is found on Palm Street where the Old Town Livery is found, ablacksmith shop and stable dating from 187 . Themission was abandoned for a time when there was an attack by the FrenchmanBouchard around 1818, and problems continued throughout the troubledrevolutionary period (Berger 183). In 16 2 another Spanish navigator came on the same scene, SebastianVizcáino. .
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