Californias first settlement began on a trail called El Camino Real, or The Royal Road, that was traveled by missionary pathfinders, soldiers, and conquistadors on a dramatic journey into a mysterious land. Monterey was discovered in 1603, leading to the quest. Explorers Don Gaspar de Portolá and Juan Bautista de Anza, along with ambitious Franciscan missionaries, founded 21 monumental Spanish missions and several asistencias and chapels for native neophytes, travelers, and visitors to Alta California. Following the initial landing in 1769 at San Diegos seaport, Fr. Junípero Serra founded Mission San Diego de Alcalá, Californias first landmark, at the original presidio site. The mission stands today exactly where it was moved, rebuilt, and completed in 1813. The native populations of California witnessed years of change from a sleepy province to the status of US statehood. The Spanish missions forged the powerful underpinnings of the Golden States earliest settlements 80 years prior to the worlds largest migration to California, the 1849 Gold Rush.
Buddy. Chief Juan Owlingish, a Cupeño Indian, is pictured at Mission San Antonio de Pala. His entire tribe was displaced from their homeland by federal order in 1901. (Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection.) 85 The church interior had been lengthened in 1818, measuring 144 feet by 27 feet, and it was restored by 1920, after the original chapel had deteriorated. A granite altar rebuilt by a mission Indian replaced the original. (Southwest Museum of the American Indian Collection.)
old age, and both were considered centenarians by 1915. Felicita’s legend endures as the Indian princess baptized by the early missionaries in San Diego. A survivor of the Battle of San Pasqual during the MexicanAmerican War, her name remains at the central Escondido park to memorialize native history in the area. (Escondido Public Library, Pioneer Room.) 101 Felicita, a baptized Diegueño Indian, witnessed the Battle of San Pasqual of 1846. She was a child of the chief, Pontho, who became a
Library, Pioneer Room.) 102 San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park, outside of Escondido, was the scene of fierce fighting between American soldiers led by Gen. Stephen Kearny and the famous scout Kit Carson against the Californios in the Mexican-American War. The battle ended questionably, with each side suffering severe losses, while General Kearny held Mule Hill. The battle was thought to have helped bring California further under control of the United States. Carson walked shoeless in
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quadrangle of buildings. Beneath the 50-foot bell tower, the sonorous peal of the old mission bells traveled like a beacon throughout the 19th century to bring native faithful within the church. A small chapel was consecrated by 1815, and San Antonio de Pala was deemed a full mission maintained and decorated by faithful Indians. It was crafted from wood timbers and adobe brick and continues today to maintain a tradition of attendance started centuries ago. Asistencia Santa Ysabel Church Towards
