[p. 19 San Antonio de Padua, 1908d]
[p. 19] San Antonio de Padua.
The Mission San Antonio de Padua (Saint Anthony of Padua), now a mass of ruins, was founded by Father Junipero Serra, July 14, 1771, under most auspicious circumstances. The ringing of bells attracted an Indian, and instead of hiding in fear, he remained to witness the ceremony of dedication, and later brought his companions in large numbers to meet the missionaries.
The mission is located in a beautiful oak-studded glen, in the Santa Lucia Mountains, and near the Salinas River, in Monterey County. Father Serra named the valley Los Robles. The present ruins are those of the second church, which was built in the year 1809 or 1810, and was extended by adobe structures several times. The Indians assisted Fathers Buenaventurra, Sitjar and Miguel Pieras in erecting the first temporary structure, which was unusual.
San Antonio became famous for its piety, prosperity and its splendid horses. In 1805 it had a population of 1261 neophytes. An inventory of property made in 1835, when the mission was secularized, showed the valuation of buildings and vineyards to be $90,000.00, but in 1845 it was invoiced at only [p. 20] $8,000.00, and the membership had declined to ten men and five women. Mrs. Forbes writes in 1904 that, "At present the roof of the mission building has fallen in and the last room is ready to collapse. The relics have all been stolen or removed to other places, with the exception of one iron kettle used by the Fathers in cooking soup for the Indians. Only one family of the original Indians of the Valley remains, and they live many miles from the mission. The tree upon which Father Serra hung the bell when the first chapel was founded still stands beside the road, leading up to the mission. Near by the mission flows Mission creek, a branch of the San Antonio river. In mission days the Padres constructed a dam across the river, and its water was diverted to irrigate mission lands. At one time San Antonio rivalled San Juan Capistrano, San Luis Rey and Santa Barbara in prosperity and importance. The buildings were extensive. Long cloisters, arches and broken walls and tiled roofs now remain to tell the story of architectural grandeur."
[p. 20] San Gabriel Arcangel, p. 20
The mission San Gabriel Archangel was founded September 8th, 1771, by Fathers Angel Somera and Pedro Benito Cambon. The first mission site was located five miles south of the present mission on the banks of the San Gabriel (then San Miguel) river. The first chapel was of logs cut to length, the desired height of the building, then split in two and set upright in a trench or ditch. The roof was made of tules and adobe mud. The dwelling of the priests and attendents were enclosed with a stockade of similar construction which, however, was soon replaced with an adobe wall. Not a vestige of the first mission of San Gabriel remains, and it is even quite uncertain as to its exact location.
By reason of danger from floods, from the river's overflow, low-land frosts and poor drainage, the mission was moved to its present site, then as now, a most charming location, in the midst of a belt of live oak, on warm and responsive soil. The date of removal to the new site is unknown, but it must have been about 1775, since Junipero Serra in his second annual report of 1774 indicates his intention to move San Gabriel Mission a short distance and states that for that reason no permanent improvements had been made on the old site.
The stone church which is now the admiration of visitors was half finished in 1794, and had not been completed in 1800. It was first built with an arched roof, in which cracks soon appeared. When these were repaired an earthquake reopened them. The arched roof was then removed and a new roof of timbers and tiles substituted in 1804. The valley was fertile and Indians were numerous but were seemingly slow to embrace the religion of the Friars, since [p. 21] only seventy-three baptisms were recorded the first two years. Up to the year 1800, there were, however, 1078 neophytes attached to the mission. There had been 1953 baptisms, 869 burials and 396 marriages performed. Once established on the new mission site affairs seemed to take on new life and enterprise and set the pace for those missions already established and those to be.