Missions were started for two reasons; to Christianize the indians, to prevent Russia from settling in California. There was always a bell at the missions. Each day started with the ringing of the mission bell. There were lots of other missions in Arizona and New Mexico. The mission was self-sufficient. It had its own orchards and horses and wheat for making tortillas which was their main food.
The missions themselves were made from adobe bricks. The bricks were made of adobe dirt, water, and horse manure which has finely crushed straw that held the bricks together and helped to keep them from cracking. The indians dried the bricks for about 10 days then layed them. They had to make special bricks for angled corners.
Tortillas were an important part ofa missions food.To make tortillas the women had to take dried corn and the kernels and boil them in water. Then they took the kernels and ground them to a flour with a native mortar and pestle that the Indians used to grind nuts and berries. They would then take the flour and a little water and mix it to make a soft dough. Then they would get a tortilla iron, which was a large round plate with handles and legs, put it over a fire,and cookthe tortillas.
In the early nineteenth century Santa Barbara Mission had 1,700 Indians who lived in a village of 250 adobe houses. The padres trained 150 Indians to back-up the Presidio guards to keep them safe from French pirates. The Califorina Missions stretched from San Deigo to Sanoma.
Highway 101 runs close to the historic Mission Trail.The twenty-one missions were established in the 8th centry by the Spanish padres. The padres were led by Fathers Junipero Serra and Fermin Lausen, each who had founded 9 missons. The Spanish pushed slowly nothward along the coast from San Diego to Sonom.The route they followed became known as El Camino Real which means the Kings Highway.
