The longest journey begins with a single step … and an idea. The idea was to establish a chain of missions the length of California. And the journey began as early as 1602 when Sebastian Vizcaino documented his visit to Monterey Bay, reports that Jose de Galvez discovered in 1765.
Eager for Spain to beat the Russian and English explorers, Galvez chose Gaspar de Portola to lead an expedition to northern California. In November of 1769, Portola and his men climbed to the top of Sweeney Ridge and from that vantage point, discovered San Francisco Bay.
In the mid-1770s, Antonio Marin Bucareli, Viceroy of Mexico, authorized Captain Juan Bautista de Anza to lead a group of soldiers, settlers, their pack animals, and hundreds of cattle across the Colorado Desert and into California with the ultimate intent of establishing a presidio and a mission at the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula. Over three months later, Anza delivered his caravan to Monterey. From there he and a smaller group headed north to scout a site for the presidio and mission.
On Friday, March 29, 1776, Anza came upon a lagoon where they could rest before going on to select a defensible outpost site for the Presidio near the entrance to the Bay. Some three miles to the southeast, Anza chose a site for the mission. There was a creek flowing into the lagoon. He named the creek Arroyo de los Dolores, Our Lady of Sorrows, and it would assure a fresh water supply.
Pleased with his decision, Anza and his group of explorers returned to their camp site at Mountain Lake (in the Presidio). Anza himself would return to Mexico, having completed his part in selecting the sites.
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On June 17, 1776, Lt. Jose Joaquin Moraga, with Father Francisco Palou and Father Pedro Cambon and a small group of soldiers, settlers, including wives and children, five Indians, pack animals and a number of cattle left the Monterey Presidio and trekked to San Francisco to carry out Anza’s orders to establish a presidio and a mission. Twelve days later, June 29, 1776, having reached their destination, a small arbor was constructed of tule rushes and the first mass was offered there, five days before the Declaration of Independence was signed on the opposite side of the continent.
Work on the presidio was begun first. The supply ship, "The San Carlos,” arrived from Monterey Aug. 18, enabling the work to proceed more rapidly, with the dedication Sept. 17, 1776. Work was also begun on the original mission, a small chapel measuring 28 feet by 14 feet, made of wood, plastered with clay, and topped with a roof made of tule thatch. It would be dedicated Oct. 9, 1776, the sixth Mission to be established under the direction of Father Junipero Serra. In 1782, the mission’s location was moved two blocks to the west, a new structure being built measuring 114 feet by 22 feet, with adobe walls some 4 feet thick. It was dedicated on April 3, 1791.
Besides securing territory for Spain, the soldiers and the church fathers had the duty to bring in more settlers and to convert the Indians to Christianity. There were sometimes as many as a thousand Indians within the Mission land area, assisting in the farming and the care of livestock. The Mission needed to be self-sustaining and it needed laborers to be so.
When Mission Dolores could no longer accommodate the growing congregation, a larger parish church was built next door to it. The 1906 earthquake damaged the parish church so badly, it had to be torn down. A new one was built in 1918. But the little Mission Church of St. Francis of Assisi came through the earthquake almost unscathed. It is the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco, withstanding time and temblors and tourists.
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