THE SPANISH MISSIONS IN CALIFORNIA. By GEORGE FREDERICK KUNZ, Ph.D., Sc.D. The writer, on a recent trip to the Pacific coast, examined a number of the old Missions founded in what is now the State of California by the Spaniards between the years 1769 and 1824. Some of them were in splendid condition, carefully presided over, and under the control of the Roman Catholic Church. Others were not so. It would be an excellent thing if some systematic co-operation existed between the State, the Church, and the caretakers of those not under the control of the Church, whereby they could be connected by a system of good roads. These monuments that figured so prominently in the history of the Golden State could be visited by many times the present number of visitors, and their history and the beauty of their architecture could be studied with much benefit. The following list gives the geographical order of the Missions from south to north. I. San Diego de Alcalá, about 62 miles north of San Diego. II. San Luís Rey de Francia, 40 miles north of San Diego. V. San Fernando Rey de España, at Fernando, 20 miles VI. San Buenaventura, at San Buenaventura, 76 miles northeast of Los Angeles. VII. Santa Barbara, on hill 3/4 of a mile north of the town. of that name. IX. La Purísima Concepción. X. San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, at San Luís Obispo. XII. San Antonio de Padua, 26 miles from King's City. XIII. Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, at Soledad, about 50 miles from Monterey. XIV. San Carlos Borromeo de Monterey, about 12 miles from Monterey. XV. San Juan Bautista. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. Santa Cruz, at Santa Cruz. Santa Clara, at Santa Clara. San José, about 12 miles north of San José, near Sunol. San Francisco de Asís, corner Dolores Street and Sixteenth Street, San Francisco. XX. San Rafael Arcángel, at San Rafael, about 15 miles north of San Francisco. XXI. San Francisco Solano, near Sonoma. San Antonio de Pala, branch mission of San Luís Rey, six or seven leagues distant from the latter. The twenty-one missions, in the chronological order of their foundation, are as follows: VI. VII. San Francisco de Asís (Dolores).... Oct. 9, 1776 Nov. 1, 1776 It is often asserted that but few buildings having historic associations exist in the United States and this is of course true to a certain extent, because our history as a Nation and the preceding |