062: A Franciscan in Troubled Times Part 1

In this episode, we delve into the life and legacy of Father José María Suárez del Real, a Mexican Franciscan missionary in 1840s California. Through anecdotes and historical context, we explore his role during the mission secularization period, his challenges in Alta California, and his impact on the local communities and California history. The episode sheds light on a tumultuous era of California's past, often overlooked in simplified historical narratives. Tune in to better understand this critical period in California history.

00:00 Introduction to Father Real
01:02 Complexities of California History
02:27 Introducing Father Jose María Suárez del Real
04:05 Arrival of the Franciscan Missionaries
05:32 Challenges Faced by the Missionaries
08:58 Secularization of the Missions
11:38 Struggles and Adaptations
18:35 Conclusion and Further Insights
19:06 Support and Resources

Transcript

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"Father Real was one of the most genial and kindly of the missionaries. And he surprised all those with thought that every one of the fathers was severe. He saw no harm in walking out among the young people and saying friendly things to them. He was often known to go with young men on moonlight rides, lassoing grizzly bears, or chasing deer on the plain.. His own horse was one of the best ever seen in the valley. And the father wore a scarlet silk sash around his waist under the Franciscan habit." Guadalupe Vallejo. Father, Jose Maria del Refugio Suárez del Real was the most unworthy priest that has desecrated the cloth in California."-James Alonso Forbes.

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If you're familiar with. My podcast, you're probably aware. That one of my gripes or pet peeves about how California history is perceived. Is that it's done in such a. Simplistic way. I've been interviewed on media from NPR to local public television stations to only be shown. Regarding topics about California history. And one of the things I always try to do is to, is to bring on. Some nuance some context, because I think that that's what gets left out most of the time, when we talk about California history. Now this makes sense. In a lot of ways, because most people, if they've grown up in California, learned about the history of their state in fourth grade, and then probably stopped learning after that. And then there are people who know a whole lot experts. Like the people I've interviewed on this show. Whose knowledge is so advanced. That you know, It comes from a place of great specialization. So there's not a lot of people in the middle. Who who really. Understand. A lot about it. And so what I'm trying to do is to share. The different layers. And complexities and interesting stories. About California history, because I think they need to be shared. So what I want to do here. Today is to talk a little bit about a person that I've researched. And I'll probably spread it over a number of different episodes. But who kind of shows how complex and contradictory. The people who populated the story of California, especially in the early days. Were. He is uh, a Franciscan missionary. Name was father. Jose Medea. SWAT is the L'Oreal. Now. You may have heard of him because during the, the era of the Ranchos, that the era of secularization, when the missions. The mission. Chain was sort of dismantled. He was in charge of a number of missions. Including, Mr. San Carlos. And Carmel. Santa Clara, San Jose. And others, he was also in charge of going up to Sonoma at a certain point. So. He played an important role and he was also. A M a missionary president of California during the us occupation and up through the, the annexation and statehood of California. So I want to talk a little bit about him today. To try and give you some background to this. To this person in this period of time, which was so tumultuous for the people who were living in California. At that time. In fact the story begins in June of 1832 when nine young Franciscan missionaries. From the college of our lady of Guadalupe is like a tick us. In Mexico. Arrived in tip peak in the state of Silicon notes in a LOA. They were about to board a ship to take them to the port of Monterey and Alta California. And there they were expected to take charge of several missions. No. All of these men had been born in the Americas and almost all of them born in new Spain, which later became Mexico. They probably were expecting. To go. And take over. Well, I don't know. I don't know what kind of idea they had, but they were probably expecting to do more or less the same type of work. That their predecessors had done in Alta California. That is Spanish born missionaries. There's oversea missions. With native Pete, with communities of native people on them, et cetera. But little, did they know that when they actually arrived? Things would be kind of upside down. They're very identity is Franciscans and missionaries would be challenged in a way. That the Spanish born missionaries hadn't experienced. So. Father rail as he was known. Was, Born in 1804 in new Spain. I'm not sure exactly where something I'm working on. And then he had been, ordained a Franciscan priest in 1831 made his vows as well as this Franciscan. At the college of Zacatecas in 1828. Now. Why was he coming to Alta, California? Well, in 1827 and again, in 1829. The newly formed. The newly independent Mexican federal. Government declared. The expulsion of almost all the Spaniards residing in the Republican Mexico. So. Lay people, priests, religious nuns. We're all. If they were born in Spain, they were expected to return to Spain. Of course. That was easier said than done, especially in Alta, California. Where. Basically all of the clergy were Spanish born. In any case. A number of them did leave. Like father Antonio pity. A mission San Luis Rey, who we talked about with Elena Hazleton. So there were vacancies, there were spots, especially in Northern California. Where they did not have a priest to minister either to the natives or also to the Hispanic population. So, What happened was. The Mexican government. Decided to ask the college of Zika, tick us. To send missionaries. So what does that mean? A college or Colicchio. In this circumstance. There's a place. Where missionaries were trained were, were priests, friars were trained to become missionaries. So, for example, father who knit. So Sarah had been trained and most of the Spanish Franciscans in Alta California had been trained at the college of San Fernando in Mexico city. And most of them. We're Spanish. They spent several years. Learning training to be a missionary. If you listen to the talk with Jeremy beer about father Garces, he talked a lot about their training and how rigorous it was. Any case what the Mexican government was looking for. I was a college at cold. who had Mexican born Franciscans, Franciscans priests. Who were not born in Spain, but were born in Mexico. And so the college. Of our lady of Guadalupe have Zika tick us, had them. So they were. Tasked with going and replacing the Spanish Franciscans who had left and all to California. No. While they were waiting. For their vessel to leave. Another member joined the trip and that was a man named Jose Figueroa. Ghetto Jose figured. Oh, Had been governor of the territories of Sonora and Sina LOA and Mexico. And he was now being sent to Alta California. Two. Take over as governor there. And he was being tasked with the secularization. The dismantling of the mission system. Okay. So it was almost ironic that he's traveling Figaroa is traveling on us, this ship. Going to out the California with a bunch of missionaries. Who are going to be sent to missions that are actually going to be. Devolved into something else. So. This idea of secularization. Which I spoke about in an earlier episode. Was that. The missions. As native communities. We're meant to be actually come become towns. The mission community would become a Pueblo at town. And the missionaries themselves. Would be replaced with, clergyman. Who were what they call secular. That is. They weren't part of a religious order. They were attached to a parish, right? And, then the parish would. And the village would be self-supporting and pay taxes as well. That's another thing that the, the, the Spanish crown wanted. So that was a goal that they had set. Already during Spanish times. But it never came about because the Franciscans, would always object at the, that the native people we're not ready. To be. Sort of transformed into Spanish citizens yet. And so they needed. To still live under the regime of the missions. No. The previous governor. Of Alta California. had already. Decreed that the missions would be secularized in 1831. But. It didn't happen or he, he moved a lot more slowly. Because a father in our Cecil dura and who was the president of the California missions at the time, Franciscan. Really objected. And for that precise reason, he felt that the. That not only were the native people not ready. But he felt that. Secularizing the missions would actually leave the whole thing open to unscrupulous people who would try and take advantage and just I get ahold of the mission properties and use them for cheap labor. So. It hadn't really happened except for, One or two missions in Southern California. Now figured O a. Was determined to actually make it happen. But he had been warned by the Mexican government to proceed in a very prudent and. And slow way. They eventually arrived in Alta California. In early of 1833, all of them. In fact, the ship, had to stop early on and Cabo San Lucas. That was, the journey was really difficult. There were a lot of storms. And there were even mutinies aboard the ship. So when they stopped in Cabo San Lucas, Father Rael father Jose. Rail. And his brother Antonio, he had a brother who was also a Franciscan priest coming to Alta California. They actually got off the ship. And went Overland. So when they arrived there, Jose Del. Al's first assignment was mission San Carlos border. A male. Which is on the Carmel river and was the place that had been the headquarters of who nippers. Procera. And he's buried there. As you know, But when, when rail arrived there, It was in very bad shape. If you were to go to Carmel. The mission at Carmel today has been very beautifully restored, but at that time, It was really already kind of falling apart. And this is 1833, but a couple of years later in 1835. They were even taking the tiles. Off of the, the mission church. To build the city hall. So, It was a difficult time to arrive in Alta California. And the times have been difficult for, for already a couple of decades. Francisco García Diego, who was one of the priests that accompany for the rail? Eventually was made the father prefect. Of the missionaries. Wrote a letter. At one point saying that. The demands since 1810. On the missionaries and the missions and the Indians have been so much. That. It, it has been devastating. And in fact, what he was complaining about was it seemed that the missions were only. Producing goods for the military, for the procedures. And this is something we've talked about before. That after 1810 with the struggles in Mexico over independence. Supply ships stopped coming. From Mexico. New Spain. To Alto, California to resupply the procedures. And so. It felt to the missions. Too. Help. Maintain the procedures. This caused a lot of discontent. Among native people. Contributed to a lot of native people running away. And not only that, but revolts like the 1824 Chumash revolt. That we spoke about with Dr. John Johnson. So this was a very difficult time. And not only that. But when soon after father rail arrived, Governor Figueroa. Publishes decree. To secularize the missions. That is to a point. Administrators, civilian administrators to oversee them and to redistribute the lands. And the goods, including the real estate of the missions to buildings. All of their supplies, tools, et cetera. So Rachel was ordered to work with this administrator. Jose Joaquin Gomez was his name. To draw up an inventory of the mission, property supplies, and livestock. And then to sort of a prey make an appraisal, the total value. The final document was 39 pages long. But this. Led to something that was also very difficult. For rail and the other Franciscans once they made. This appraisal. Once they did the inventory of the properties. Then those properties could be sold off or. You know, redistributed amongst the Indians. Some of them were not all. But. None of the proceeds of those transactions would go to the Franciscans now. The Franciscans, of course. Lived. At the missions previously. And as such, you know, they lived off of the, the produce of the missions. Right. So. None of those proceeds now would go to the Franciscans and effectively. They no longer had any income. So he was basically told you don't have any income. You don't have any means of support now. Figure it out for yourself. So. That is where he wound up. In just one year after arriving in Alta, California. And it wasn't just father rachel. But almost all of them. And the problem was here. That not only was the mission no longer a way for them to be supported. But. There was an idea that, well, then the local. Kelly Ford meals to local settlers. Would Thai that is give a portion of their, earnings to the church in order to support the missionaries as well. That was not a practice that ever took hold in Alta, California, right? And so almost nobody was giving any money to support the church to support. The missionaries. And so not only was he. Living. In a dilapidated mission. And now the property had been taken away. But there was no means of support, no income, no tithing. No donations. So he found himself in a very difficult position so much so that. Father Francisco Garcia. Diego, who I mentioned before the father prefect. The Zack, a tick and missionaries in California wrote letters to governor Figueiredo and you can find these letters. In the archives. And he said, and I quote, the ministers of religion is the priests should be respected by men and they should have the means to subsist and to conduct divine worship. Garcia said. And he said didn't, if the faithful do not provide this, that is the means to subsist, to which end they are bound. That is. They're they're supposed to support their priests. We can not be held responsible for the spiritual tasks to which we are about. In other words, if they don't support us. We don't have a way to go minister to them. So this was the situation into which these men came. And father Raul in particular. I'm going to stop there and we'll talk more about what happened to him later and what happened to these guys? And how, The later events of California history affected them. And how they impacted those events. And I think you're going to find it very interesting. But for now, think about this time period. In California's history and how things. Changed. So we'll be talking more about this. So stay tuned.

19:14

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