The Missions of California

by Brian Bates

as printed in the May/June 1997 issue of California Kids!

The first time I rode on the King's Highway, I had no idea whose footprints were on the trails beneath the pavement. I was a kid from Ohio on my first trip to California, and as we drove from L.A. to San Francisco, all along the roadside we saw these bells, with signs on them that said "El Camino Real," and we had no clue what they meant. But they were insistent. They never explained themselves. They just kept saying "El Camino Real." By the time we reached the Bay Area, my older brother had come to a conclusion. "That's a great ad campaign," he said. "I don't know what they're selling, but I want one."

What they were offering was free, but it would be a bargain at any price: It's the slice of California history closest to the edge, the part about the beginning of the modern world on the west coast.

"El Camino Real "means "The King's Highway," and now it's basically Route 101. It began in 1769, when Padre Junípero Serra founded a mission he named San Diego de Alcalá. The road was the path the Spanish laid down as they marched from that first outpost up the coast to Monterey and beyond. They built 21 missions along that route over the next half century, and we can listen to the past when we hear the names of the saints along 101: San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco.

Parents in California come into contact with the missions in a big way about the time their kids hit the 4th grade. You can see them up and down Route 101, cars pulling into the missions, full of kids with pencils and paper, taking notes and photographs to do their mission projects—to write a report, or build a model, or upload their information to the web. And some of the parents remember when they did their own projects, years before. You're bound to run into some people who "did the missions" when they were kids. "Yeah," they'll say. "One summer we did the whole thing. We started in San Diego and drove up 101 and stopped at every one of them." And you can see it in their eyes—it's a treat to be back, and even better to give their kids the same chance to see that history. Those places aren't just names down the road anymore.

If you're looking for a short vacation with your kids, why not "do the missions" some time? It makes a great trip. But let's be realistic. All 21 on one trip might be a bit much for even the most avid historian. Here are a couple of trips from Sacramento you can do in three days or a week. The missions are the focus of the tours, but there's also plenty of time to take in all the other sights around.

For a three-day trip, I would go to the Monterey Bay area as the main destination, with missions San Juan Bautista, San Antonio de Padua, and San Carlos Borromeo (the Carmel mission) as the highlights of the chain. For the longer tour, you could add the missions between Monterey and Santa Barbara. There are six others there—Santa Barbara, Santa Inés in Solvang, La Purísima near Lompoc, San Luis Obispo, San Miguel near Paso Robles, and Soledad. All of them are worth a visit, although La Purísima and Santa Barbara might top the list because of their locations and unique styles.

Keep in mind that you'll be visiting some sites that are active churches. A call ahead can let you plan your trip so you can tour the mission when there are no activities scheduled, or allow you to attend a service if you prefer. Also, many of the missions are in demand for weddings, so check the schedule even if you're not going on a Sunday morning. Along the same lines, remember that casual clothes that are fine in a state park may not be appropriate in a church. Some of the missions have restrictions on photography, usually regarding the use of strobes; check when you enter. Admission may cost a couple of dollars, and that varies from one place to another. Most of the missions are in towns where restaurants and grocery stores are easy to find, although several are more remote. Plan ahead—a picnic could be the best way to enjoy the surroundings. One last thought: the weather on the coast can be cool even in the middle of summer, so you might need a jacket; and inland it can be hot, so remember the sun screen, sunglasses, and hats for shade. Now, let's get going.

Off to Monterey
The Monterey-Carmel area is one of our family's favorite destinations. There's the aquarium, of course, a spot that spawned such a watery interest in our kids that they've insisted we go to others around the country—to the Newport aquarium in Oregon, and the Tampa Bay exhibit in Florida. But there's more than just the live fish. There's Cannery Row in Steinbeck territory, and throughout the area there are the pathways of the past—Colton Hall, where California's constitution was written in 1849; the Custom House, where foreign ships checked into Spanish California; the Presidio that goes back centuries. And just over the hill in Carmel is one of the best places on the peninsula: Mision San Carlos Borromeo delCarmelo, the keystone of the missions that arch up the coast. And there are two other great missions nearby—Mission San Juan Bautista, the largest church in the chain, built right on top of the fault line, and now in the middle of a state historical park; and Mission San Antonio de Padua, up away from 101, among the oaks in the hills, and looking like it's still a part of that world gone by.

You can visit the missions in any order that's convenient, but I would aim for San Antonio first, in order to have plenty of time for a drive to Big Sur afterwards. You can find plenty of places to stay in Monterey, Carmel, or the towns nearby that night, with a visit to San Carlos on the second day. And that would leave San Juan Bautista for a stop on the way home.

Mission San Antonio de Padua
On the first day, on your way down, at King City on 101 south of Salinas, you'll turn on to route G14 to Jolon. It may seem like you're leaving the King's Highway, but in fact it's 101 that goes its own way. The original path of the padres went through a valley to the west, and that's where Mission San Antonio de Padua sits today.

Thanks to the jog in the road, the mission stands apart from the rest of the modern world, and a little closer to what it used to be. In fact, San Antonio is one of the most complete restoration projects of all the missions. The road curves through the golden hills, up to Jolon, then on to the Hunter-Liggett Military Reserve. There is no problem getting in to see the mission, which is now on military property, but it's not a bad idea to call ahead to see if any special training might be going on.

This looks like horse country—and in the time of the mission, it really was. San Antonio operated a ranch with a thousand horses on it in 1830. In the walk along the courtyard on one of the walls, the branding irons are hung that were used on the thousands of head of cattle that once grazed hereabouts. Through the rooms behind the arches, a hall leads down to a giant winepress, cool and dim in the cellar light flowing from the courtyard. A huge painted hand shows the way the padres taught the mission Indians the keys to playing music. There is enough in the museum to fill up several rooms.

The front of the mission church is unique—a red brick facade stuck out ahead of the chapel, with a vault leading into the church itself. On the inside it's dim and quiet and narrow, and the angled ceiling stretches away for 200 feet, the longest nave in the mission chain.

And back outside, there are the hills in the afternoon, breezes in the glens, the tall grass tawny in the summer, and you're standing in the shadows of a world that is gone.

But once you shake the reverie, there's another couple of worlds to see. If you take the Nacimiento Road from Jolon to the coast, you'll be going up to an elevation of 4000 feet, then down to just south of Big Sur, all in 30 miles. The drive is about an hour to the Pacific Coast Highway, then another 30 minutes to Carmel. Leave early enough to enjoy the vistas before the sun gets too low, but save some time to linger on the road south of Carmel to see the sun set on one of the most scenic coasts in the world.

Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo
The Carmel mission has a lot in common with San Antonio—Carmel was the second mission to be built, and San Antonio was the third; they were two of the most successful from the padres' point of view; and they show off some of the best restoration work in the chain.

But if San Antonio evokes the oaks and the hills and horses, San Carlos is the rock underneath them all. This was the headquarters of the missions under Father Serra, until his death in 1784, and it remained the head under Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, the next father-president. The two padres founded 18 of the missions and helped the Spanish get through periods of desolation and despair while the European presence in California increased. The native populations were devastated in the process. But in Serra's mind saving their souls as Christians was worth the sacrifice—both his and theirs. Today we may evaluate the events in a different way than the Spanish did, and certainly in a way different from the original native point of view. But there is no denying that the floors of the missions became the foundations of a new way of life in California.

There are so many corners of San Carlos to look into—the fountains in the sun, the cemetery in the shade by the side of the chapel, with thousands of Indians buried in the small plot of land; the graceful arch of the church, and the barren planks of Father Serra's empty room. Serra is buried here, and so is Lasuén, and other key people from the early days. It is worth a few minutes, first in the sunlit courtyard with its brilliant bougainvillea, then in the dappled corner of the graveyard, to think about the paths from this beginning.

And Monterey can light some of those paths in its own historic center, worth all the time you can spare, to see landmarks of another change in California's history, the time when the Americans arrived from the east and changed the language once again. Monterey was the center of most of what happened in early California.

Mission San Juan Bautista
San Juan Bautista, the mission on the way back to Sacramento, adds a very human touch to the mission history. It was founded in 1797, more than a quarter of a century after the other two. Most of the missions in the chain have regained their status as active churches, but San Juan Bautista is one of the strongest in its connections to its parish. The area around the mission is a state historical park, with restored hotels and stables and a courthouse, most from the 1840s-1870s.

And one of the more interesting aspects of the mission's location is what's under it—the San Andreas Fault. There's a seismograph right outside the church, keeping tabs on the shifting rock, and a scarp just a few feet away—a sharp drop where the earth split. The mission was shaken by most of the earthquakes of northern and central California, including the 1906 shock in San Francisco. The original architecture called for the largest chapel in California, with arches separating three large aisles—large enough to hold 1000 people at a time. But the many quakes forced a change in the plans, and most of the arches were walled up to strengthen the building.

Like San Antonio and San Carlos, Mission San Juan Bautista contains an excellent museum and fine restoration work, made even more attractive by extensive cleanings done in the past few years.

Missions South of San Antonio
Visits to San Antonio, San Carlos, and San Juan Bautista can fill up a busy three days, but if you have a little more time, you'll be able to take in a few more missions, and at a more leisurely pace. On a week-long vacation you might continue farther south, staying in San Luis Obispo, Lompoc, Solvang, Santa Barbara, or some of the other towns along 101—it's only a two hour drive from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara, so the choice is a matter of personal preference. On this trip you might stop at Mission Nuestra Señora de Soledad—Our Lady of Solitude—just a couple of miles off 101 near the town of Soledad, to see the eroded adobe walls around the mission garden, or at picturesque San Miguel Arcangel near Paso Robles, in a rustic courtyard visible from the highway. Mission San Luis Obispo has the only "L"-shaped chapel in the chain, and it sits at the center of a beautiful park in the center of town. And Mission Santa Inés, in Solvang, raises its distinctive bell tower above California's rolling hills.

Any one of these is worth a visit, as are Mission La Purísima, near Lompoc, and Mission Santa Barbara where 101 returns to the sea. For the longer trip, you might consider an itinerary that shuffles the order of the stops, putting the longest drives first and the least tiring days at the end of the vacation. For this journey, stop at San Juan Bautista the first day, taking a break after a few hours' drive from Sacramento, then continue down 101 to San Luis Obispo or Lompoc, or Pismo Beach if you want to sleep near the ocean. If you would like to stop at Soledad or San Miguel, this is the day to do so. On the second day, Mission San Luis Obispo is an obvious beginning if you stayed in the vicinity, but plan on a few hours at La Purísima. The third day (and preferably the fourth day as well) belongs to Santa Barbara and its wealth of sights—not just the mission, but the Presidio, dating back to the Spanish arrival, and the marine museums and activities. The fifth day would take you north again, passing through San Antonio on the way to Monterey, with the sixth day at the Carmel Mission and the other sights of the peninsula. The seventh day brings you home.

Mission La Purísima
Mission La Purísima Concepcíon de María Santísima is perhaps the best place in the state to see how a mission actually worked. It is no longer an operational church, but instead is run as a State Historic Park. It is the most fully restored of all the missions, complete with the other buildings that made up the complex—the blacksmith shop, and the soldiers' quarters, and the grist mill and more—and even the animals that were a part of daily life. In fact, La Purísima is the largest historic restoration in the western United States.

Touring the buildings, which are stretched out rather that enclosed in the usual courtyard setting, can give you a more complete picture of life in the early 19th century than most of the mission sites can. And it also has the size and freedom to let the kids work out the energy built up in the back seat of the car. There are miles of hiking trails around the area, including an easy climb to the top of a nearby hill that offers a view of the entire complex.

Mission Santa Barbara
From Lompoc, you can stop at Mission Santa Inés on the way to Santa Barbara, or travel quickly via routes 1 and 101. But it would be worth the extra few minutes to drop into Santa Barbara from the top, as it were, coming into town the same way John C. Fremont led his soldiers in 1846, through San Marcos pass. Route 154 travels the path Fremont blazed through the mountains, past Lake Cahuenga and early sites of the Chumash Indians.

It's easy to see why Mission Santa Barbara is called the "Queen of the Missions." It is as stately a structure as there is on the King's Highway, with spacious grounds and a backdrop of mountains. It has been in operation since its beginnings. Like San Antonio, it developed an extensive water system, and like San Carlos, it shows off exotic Moorish stylings in its architecture and surroundings. But Mission Santa Barbara really belongs to its own category as the centerpiece of a city with a history as full as any on the west coast.

In the city of Santa Barbara itself, the mission is not the only link to the Spanish past. The Presidio dates back as far, and restorations on the fort and the adobes that dotted the early city have been in progress throughout the '90s. The pier and dock areas have their own sense of the past. Stearns Wharf dates from 1872, and it's a rarity—an open-ocean pier. Watching the waves roll in can call up the difficulties in landing a ship at Santa Barbara in the 1830s, described in the bookTwo Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana. And you owe yourself one more treat before you leave: climb to the top of the County Courthouse, and take a look around. It's like a city in Spain below you, except the red tile roofs are surrounded by mountains along the Pacific. When Europe met America 200 years ago, the world of California was born.

The Journey to the Past
Whether you have three days or a week, and whether you take in all nine missions of central California or just a few, it will be a trip back not just to one past but to many. And it's not just the idea of "doing the missions"—it's a link to history that can fill out the pictures in the classrooms of the kids. The bells along the highway and in the towers by the church let us listen to the past; the walkways under the arches, and the long cool shadows on the adobe walls in the evening call up a world two hundred years away. A trip down El Camino Real is more than a vacation drive, it's a journey on the edge of California's past. The King's Highway is built on the footsteps to the missions.