3.4: Franciscan Father-President: Fray Junipero Serra and Alta California

Its 1769, and Spain is renewing their efforts to colonize what they called “Alta California” on the Pacific Coast.  Leading the push was Fray Junipero Serra, a Franciscan whose efforts to spread the Catholic faith would earn him the title “Apostle of California.”  His actions would also lead to a re-examination of the role of Europeans in colonizing and Christianizing the Indigenous peoples of the lands in which they arrived, so his legacy isn’t without controversy.  Today's episode of History: Beyond the Textbook, the first of three episodes on "The West,"  focuses on Fray Junipero Serra, the Pious Father-President of Alta California.

Key People
Fray Junipero Serra
Fray Francisco Palou
Kumeyaays
Cochimi

Key Events/Ideas
Colonization of California
Franciscan mission system

The third season of History: Beyond the Textbook focuses on the stories of individuals who shaped "America's Crucial Years" of 1783-1790, and runs from October 8-December 24. Catch up on Season One, "America's Colonial Era," and Season Two, "America's Revolution," wherever you listen to your podcasts!

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Transcript

It’s 1769; the Townshend Acts were passed by parliament the previous year, and the unfortunate Boston Massacre is looming on the horizon.  Tensions along the Atlantic Coast are rising as the British government attempts to deal with their independent-minded subjects in their North American colonies.  Except none of this really matters for this episode: yes, it’s 1769, but in the context of this episode, its when Spain renewed their efforts to colonize what they called “Alta California” on the Pacific Coast.  Leading the push was Fray Junipero Serra, a Franciscan whose efforts to spread the Catholic faith would earn him the title “Apostle of California.”  His actions would also lead to a re-examination of the role of Europeans in colonizing and Christianizing the Indigenous peoples of the lands in which they arrived, so his legacy isn’t without controversy.  His enshrinement in Statuary Hall in Congress illustrates his impact on California, and by extension, the nation, yet statues bearing his likeness in various California cities have been vandalized or removed in recent years due to his treatment of California’s Indigenous population.  It’s all part of America’s complex history, and forms the backbone of the first of three episodes on the West: Fray Junipero Serra, the Pious Father-President of Alta California.

Part I: Spanish California

In Season 1, we looked at Spanish efforts to colonize North America’s southeast coast, as well as a rebellion in the American Southwest against Spanish rule.  We didn’t really focus on Spanish actions in North America during the American Revolution but picked up last week with their intention to try and claim the Mississippi River in negotiations with the United States.  What happened in between?  To a degree, Spain had begun to falter in their efforts to exploit their alleged control of the western portion of North America.  Sure, they had a somewhat sizable settlement at Santa Fe, but beyond this, little to show in the name of an empire that supposedly stretched as far south as modern-day Argentina and included lucrative Caribbean possessions, along with the Philippines.  What we now call the state of California was part of Spain’s North American empire, but Indigenous Californians didn’t display the markers of so-called “civilization” that the Spanish were used to, whether it was massive societies like the Mexica, or smaller adobes like those of Po’Pay’s Tewa.  The climate was, and is, undeniably gorgeous and conducive to settlement…it was just difficult to get there.  Remember that Mexico City was the center of administration in New Spain, and winds made the oceanic journey to California difficult; going overland was no picnic, either.  However, the British were attempting to stake their claims on northern lands near the Canadian border, and even the Russians were beginning to get in on the game down the Pacific Coast, venturing as far south as California.  These reports of potential incursion into land Spain considered theirs demanded action, so in the same year that England’s Parliament passed the Stamp Act, Jose de Galvez was appointed to reform the stale administration in what was called the “northern lands.”  The reforms he proposed would pave the way for the subject of this episode, Fray Junipero Serra, to engage in the actions for which he is most well-known.

Part II: Becoming Franciscan

So who was this man who has become so steeped in controversy in recent years, and had been physically present in New Spain for about 15 years prior to the appointment of Galvez?  Well, it’s time to address the backstory of Fray Junipero Serra.

Serra was born on the Spanish island of Majorca in 1713, and by all accounts, he was raised in a strict household, with his father Antonio serving as the disciplinarian.  Serra would later write that the discipline he received at the hands of his father could be characterized as “acts of pure love,” which explained the self-inflicted punishments he would fete out in his adult years.  Accounts indicate that he was interested in the Franciscan sect from an early age, and would visit the nearby friary, which was one block from his family residence.  He attended daily Mass and would use the school located on the Church grounds for his primary education, enrolling in a formal Franciscan school at age 16 and becoming a Franciscan “novice” the following year.  As part of the ceremony he completed at the end of his probationary year, Serra was required to take vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty, as well as pledge to defend the Immaculate Conception, a cornerstone of Franciscan theology.  He would eventually become ordained and subsequently obtain a position as a theology professor, one he would hold for three years, meeting future missionary companions in the process.  He would stay on Majorca for several more years honing his skills as a scholar and a theologian, and was well-respected for both.  However, he felt called to New Spain, to the souls who had not received the word of God, or had chosen a different path.  He was in his mid-30’s, and Majorca was actually considered something of a training ground for men of the cloth looking to serve as missionaries overseas, so he was in the right place at the right time when he made his way to the port of Cadiz in the late 1740’s, landing in the Mexican port of Veracruz in 1749.

Fray Junipero Serra landed as the strangely named War of Jenkins’ Ear was coming to an end, a war which we briefly mentioned back in episode 1.11.  England and France certainly were enemies, but this war pitted Catholic Spain against Protestant England, so even though the fighting was complete, tensions were still high in North America.  The first eight years of his time in North America were spent in Mexico in an advisory role supervising existing missions and, to his delight, the baptism of the area’s Indigenous inhabitants.  Bear in mind that this was the mid-1700’s, and Spain had been in the region for well over 200 years.  However, he was dismayed to find that the “converts” weren’t exactly taking their newfound faith seriously.  He and his fellow missionary and former student, Fray Francisco Palou, began the arduous task of ensuring that these souls were “all in,” so to speak, with their Catholic faith.  Even though his original goal had been the conversion of the Natives, he dove into his altered task with a zeal that unfortunately left physical and emotional scarring in its wake.  Serra wrote with pride about how all inhabitants were “civilized” by the time of his departure, meaning that they followed a Franciscan interpretation of Christianity.  However, this way of life could be brutally enforced, with flogging occurring on a somewhat regular basis.  After eight years, he ventured to Texas, and more specifically, the mission at San Saba, but a 1758 attack on the mission led to his relocation to Mexico for the next decade.  His next assignment would be the one with which he would be forever linked.

Act III: Alta California

So, we already know that this “next assignment” will be in Alta California, or what today is simply called “California.”  Arriving in 1769, Fray Junipero Serra promptly got to work to implement his vision of an ideal society.

We’ve already made it clear that Serra was a “Franciscan,” which is one of several Catholic orders that had a presence in North America.  Specifically, the Franciscans arrived quickly in the wake of the conquest of the Mexica and they established the mission system that grew a bit stale by the 1760’s.  In essence, the Spanish Crown sought to “tame” these areas and enslave the populace while the Franciscans sought to handle spiritual matters.  In the American Southwest, where Po’Pay and his people resisted, the Franciscans set up churches that were staffed by one or two priests and included a handful of soldiers for additional security.  Their methods were strict and rigid, and we addressed some of these direct issues back in episode 1.9, so we’ll simply acknowledge that the goal of the Franciscans was the conversion of the Indigenous population to a completely Spanish way of life.  Food, dress, language, and especially worship, with the outright destruction of Indigenous artifacts and idols accompanied the process.  The Great Southwest Revolt altered this practice to the point where the traditional mission system was considered archaic and outdated by the time of Jose de Galvez’s arrival in Alta California in the 1760’s.  The plan was to rejuvenate this system to secure the northern frontier of Spain’s Pacific Coast claims, which, as we saw in Act I, was threatened by England and potentially Russia.  Additionally, the Crown felt threatened by the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, because they enjoyed considerable success with their mission system in North America to the point where they were perceived to be too powerful.  Therefore, they were all expelled from Spain’s vast maritime empire in 1767 and administration of Alta California was handed over to the Franciscans.

We know that Fray Junipero Serra was an intense man who undertook his Franciscan vows and Catholic faith with the utmost intensity and sincerity.  Serra was now given the task of acting as a type of “Father-President” of Alta California, which also appears to have been his title.  This would indicate that Serra was to tackle both religious and political roles in this land, which he formally entered in April 1769.  Serra’s companion, Fray Francisco Paulo, attempted to convince Serra not to undertake the journey due to severe infections to his foot and leg, but his steadfast commitment to his mission would not waiver.  Serra was prone to self-flagellation, or whipping himself, sometimes publicly, to demonstrate his devotion and submission to God.  Shirts with wire points were also part of his daily attire, further demonstrating this devotion.  He officially arrived in San Diego on July 1, 1769, having traveled 900 miles and established several missions along the way.  The two supply ships that preceded his arrival, the San Antonio and San Carlos, were met with cruel fates: their two-months long journey resulted in a largely incapacitated crew, and the bodies of the deceased were buried on a portion of the beach the Spaniards called “Punta de los Muertos…” Dead Man’s Point.  This was the world into which Serra was willingly entering.

The Spaniards were greeted in San Diego by the Kumeyaays, whose histories explain that an earthquake and a solar eclipse coincided with the Spanish arrival.  In corroborating these occurrences, Serra would write that they signaled a “great event was about to take place.”  Humans have occupied the region for over 12,000 years and the Kumeyaays had previously encountered the Spanish in the past: in the 1540’s, a Spanish ship made landfall where they were greeted by the Kumeyaays; the Spanish were told that the “great civilization” they sought was to the North, so they left.  This exchange was all but forgotten over 220 years later: this time, the Spaniards were here to stay, and Serra wasted little time in implementing the plan he conceived with Galvez.  Missions were to be established in San Diego and Monterey, with more in between depending on the density of the Indigenous population.  This would be no easy feat as the distance represents a 7.5 hour drive in the present day, and traversing the almost 450-mile distance would be extremely difficult.  After an overland journey that included a traveling party of converted Cochimi and livestock, Serra erected a massive wooden cross and established the mission at San Diego.  The occasion was also marked by an attack one month later, an attack in which Fray Serra’s personal servant, a Cochimi boy, was killed.  Struggles aside, Spain was now present on the California coast, with Serra leading the way…but what would the future hold for the fledgling missions?

Act IV: The Complexities of “Success”

So, the Spanish arrived...which was a grueling affair in and of itself.  With Serra in his role as “Father-President,” he set forth continuing his missionary work that he began years earlier…only now, he amplified his efforts. 

Serra, in conjunction with royal advisor Jose de Galvez and Governor Portala, began to establish the aforementioned missions and requested men to staff them.  He made adequate progress within three years, which included establishing his headquarters at Carmel, today’s Carmel-by-the-Sea.  It was at this mission, and if the words of Fray Francisco Paulo are to be believed, most others, that he would offer gifts to local Indigenous peoples.  This, along with allegedly learning their Native languages, would entice them to engage in the worship that Fray Serra mandated.  The written word of Paulo emphasizes the zeal with which Serra accomplished these tasks: little is made of the indigenous reactions to their situation.  A notable exception would be an attack that occurred at the San Gabriel mission, but it happened “when the Natives seemed to be most content,” indicating that the Spanish perceived their Indigenous counterparts to be transitioning to Christianity with ease, and apparently, with glee.  The accounts neglect the direct Indigenous perspectives that are crucial to understanding their thoughts on the devout and stern Fray Serra.  Sure, Palou states that although the leader of the previous attack was killed, his son was brought to the mission by his widow for baptism.  Was she coerced into doing so?  Did she feel as though she had no choice?  Or, as the Spanish records indicate, did she really, “gladly give to the Father for this purpose?”  So much of what has been passed down about Fray Serra through written records is decidedly one-sided, so we must always look to these sources with a critical eye.

However, the historical record definitely indicates the scope of what Serra accomplished.  By the time of his death in 1784, one year following the Peace of Paris, the foundations of San Jose and Los Angeles were established, along with nine additional missions and several presidos, which were more military in nature.  Serra spent the majority of these years within Alta California, with a brief pause in the early 1770’s when he ventured to Mexico to make several requests that would make his work more effective and efficient.  Fray Serra was such a respected man, and a veritable force of nature, that most of his requests were granted.  These included additional soldiers for the defense of Spanish settlements and better pay for them as well as the missionaries, including himself.  He also believed that land routes between Sonora, in Mexico, and California should be expanded to better resupply these missions.  This was accomplished with the assistance of an Indigenous Californian named Sebastian Terabal, and with that, semi-regular colonization could begin in earnest.  This route would close in 1781 due to conflict between the Spanish and these Natives, but the seven-year window provided enough of a Hispanic populace to fuel future growth in California.  The missions and presidos in which they would settle survived, and even began to thrive, because of the meticulous efforts of Fray Junipero Serra.  His attention to detail was unmatched, and his tireless work ensured that these settlements would persist long after he was gone.

So, Serra died in 1784.  What happens next?  Or maybe a better question would be…what is his primary legacy?  Like so many of these questions, it depends on who you ask because the situation is extremely complex.  For a good portion of American history, the efforts of Fray Junipero Serra have been commonly considered to be positive; it’s one of those situations where the “traditional” narrative is that he brought “civilization” to an untamed land and, therefore, he can be counted among the heroes of early America.  His exalted status was generally reserved for those of English origin, so it certainly stands out that a Spaniard was viewed in the light.  The most controversial aspect of his legacy, the thing that really divides those who are aware of his legacy, would be his treatment of Indigenous Californians.  On the one hand, when he set out for Mexico in 1772 and delivered his list of demands to the Viceroy, he explicitly sought to protect these individuals from abuses at the hands of Spanish soldiers.  He insisted that those who converted to Christianity ought to be guaranteed certain rights and should enjoy the protection of the Church.  However, herein lay the problem: he advocated for those who were converts to the Catholic faith, but showed little regard for those who kept their traditional ways…in fact, he showed almost a complete disregard for the ways themselves.  Remember, his position was that of “Father-President,” and he even stated about these peoples, “They are our children, we look upon them as a father.”  He also said that “spiritual fathers should punish their sons…with blows.”  Keep in mind that this is the same man who would self-flagellate on a nightly basis and wear clothing laced with points that would dig into his skin, so he demanded at least the same level of spiritual commitment from those around him.  Serra and the Franciscans were aghast at the behavior of Spanish soldiers towards the Indigenous populace, but they still relied on those same men to hunt down runaways, and they would often order the whipping of those who were considered to have strayed from the path.  Now, Serra’s primary objective was to convert others to the Catholic faith, and he succeeded: for this, he was canonized by Pope Francis in 2015.  His efforts to Christianize, and thereby colonize, what became California are a reason why his likeness is one of two statues that represent the state in statuary hall.  But his treatment of Indigenous lives are a big reason why other statues of the man, which dot the California landscape, have been vandalized, challenged, and in some cases, even removed.  He set in motion the events that would bring the West Coast into the American story, and it’s a story that includes a simultaneous melding and clash of cultures…but getting there was problematic for those already living there, and like so many individuals in history, a reexamination of Serra’s legacy brings more questions that concrete answers.

Next week, we go back east, but still west…at least, “west” according to Americans of the 1780’s.  Indigenous efforts at declaring and protecting their rights were amping up, and in what was then considered the Southwest, the Creek Nation took the lead.  In our next episode, we’ll explore Alexander McGillivray, and the Creek Treaty of 1790.