from Life of Junipero Serra

by Francisco Palou (1787)

Translation by George Wharton James (1913)

CHAPTER XV

The Venerable Father Founds the First Mission Which He Dedicates to San Fernando f and then Leaves with the Expedition for the Port of San Diego.

During the time that the troop was detained in the camp called by the natives of that region Vellicata, there was abundant opportunity to explore the whole region round about as well as for the construction of some little houses to act as a shelter from the storms. They also constructed a little chapel in which the Reverend Father Fr. Fermin Lasuen celebrated Mass when he went there to hear the confessions of the people of the first detachment during the Lenten season. When His Honor the Governor and the Father President and Fr. Miguel de la Campa arrived there on the 13th of May, as we have recorded in the previous chapter (which was the day just preceding Pentecost), it seemed wise to establish there a Mission as the place lent itself well to the purpose. The more so because the soldiers who had been there for several months with the cattle and horses had reconnoitered the country for several leagues about. For this reason and because it was within easy communication between San Diego and Old California, and also because the nearest Mission to that place was San Francisco de Borja, at least sixty leagues distant and over a rather desert region which lacked water, they resolved to make here the center of a new establishment.

Having settled on this, but not being able to remain, as there was urgent need for them to proceed to San Diego, they agreed that on the next day (May 14th), which was Pentecost, they should take possession of the land in the name of their Catholic Monarch and make the beginning of the Mission. As soon as this resolution was reached, the soldiers, servants and muleteers set to work to clean out the room which was to be used for the chapel, and they also brought decorations and hung up the bells.  A great cross was also prepared.

The next day, which was May 14th and the feast of the Holy Spirit, the first step toward the founding of the Mission was taken.  The Venerable Father, vested in alb and cope, blessed the water and with it sprinkled the chapel, the yard, and the Holy Cross which had been venerated by all, and set up in front of the chapel. He named as Patron of the Mission the same Patron Our College has, — the Holy King of Castile and Leon, San Fernando. He also named as resident Missionary of it the Rev. Father Miguel de la Campa Coz. Having sang there the first Mass, he delivered a fervent discourse on the coming of the Holy Spirit and on the establishing of the Mission. When the Holy Sacrifice had been concluded (which was celebrated with no other candle than the light of a taper and another little piece of a candle, owing to the fact that the freight in which was the wax had not come) he sang the Veni Creator Spiritus, supplying the place of an organ or any other musical instrument by the continual shooting of the soldiers who discharged their guns for this purpose, the smoke from them also taking the place of the incense.

Owing to the haste with which the expedition had to go on, the Venerable Father Founder did not have the satisfaction of celebrating here the first baptism as he did in the other ten Missions which he established, but before God he should not lose the merit of the many pagans who were converted to His Divine Majesty. For within the next four years and when the Mission was delivered to the Reverend Dominican Fathers, there were two hundred and ninety-six newly received Christians of all ages, as was shown by the register which I myself delivered to those same Fathers and which, after being signed by them, was sent to His Excellency the Viceroy. As the good Father Junipero had remained here three days, God willed it that he should see a group of the very same pagans who afterwards were to receive Holy Baptism and so be permitted to rejoice in the hope of success, as is manifest he did in the expressions found in his diary and which I insert here, seeing that there is no room for it all in this “Account,” as that would make too voluminous this story of his life.

“The 15th of May, second of the Feast of the Holy Spirit and second of the founding of the Mission, after the two Masses which Father Campa and I celebrated, I have been greatly comforted because after the two Masses were over, while I was in retirement in the little hut which had been given me for a sleeping-place, word was brought that some of the pagans had come and were even then drawing near. I praised God, kissed the ground, giving God thanks that after so many years of ardent desire, it had been granted to me to find myself in the midst of these people in their own land.   I went out immediately and there met twelve of them, all of them men, and tall, with the exception of two who were boys, one about ten years old and the other about sixteen. I saw then that which I had read about and could never scarcely believe, that these men went about as completely naked as was Adam in Paradise before he had sinned. So they went about and so they presented themselves, and during the long time we were treating with them, though they noticed that we were dressed, they did not seem to have the least particle of shame on appearing before us naked. I placed my hand, as a sign of affection, on the head of each and filled their two hands with dried figs which they immediately began to eat. We also received, with every sign of appreciation, the gift which they presented, a net of maguey [agave] fiber and four fish, rather large and very handsome, but as the poor fellows had not taken the pains to dress them and much less salt them, our cook said they were no longer serviceable. Father Campa also presented them with some figs. The Governor gave them tobacco in the leaf; all the soldiers showed them kindness and invited them to eat with them, and through an interpreter I made them understand that there would remain there permanently one of the Fathers, the same whom they saw there and that his name was Father Miguel, that they should come, together with the rest of the people to visit him and to let the word go out that they were not to be afraid nor suspicious as the Father would be their friend and that those soldiers who were to remain there with the Father would do them much good and no harm; but that they were not to steal the cattle which we allowed to roam the country; but rather in case they were in need, to come and ask of the Father and he would give them what they asked whenever he could. All these observations they received apparently with satisfaction and made signs to show they assented to everything so that it seemed to me the time was not far away when the Apostolic net could be cast and the people evangelized.

So it came to pass as we shall see. Then the Governor said to the one who acted as the leader, that if hitherto he had not had the title of Captain, as a rank given him by his own people, that from that day he made him the Captain, granting him the authority in the name of our lord the King.

When the Governor perceived that very soon the pagans would gather about this first Mission, he carried into effect the order which he had from the Inspector-General, namely: to deliver to the Father charged with the teaching the fifth part of the cattle. These Father Campa received in the name of his future children, marking the animals so that he could distinguish them from the rest of the herd still there and which were destined for the Mission of Monterey, as it seemed wise to leave these latter here until he could be sure as to the success of the expeditions. He also left with Father Campa forty fanegas of com, a bag of flour and another of hard-tack, chocolate, figs and raisins in order that he would have something to give as presents to the Indians in order to attract them. He also left as a guard an escort of soldiers with their corporal, and on the 15th day, in the afternoon, the expedition set out, although it traveled only three leagues.

During the three days of resting in Vellicata, our good Father had not felt any inconvenience from his foot, perhaps because the joy and the distractions of the founding of the Mission had caused him to forget his pains. But it was not so when he was again on the march, and during the journey of three leagues his foot swelled so badly, and also his leg, that it seemed to be cancered. The pain increased and became so intense that he could not find any easement from it. However, he said nothing about it till he had made another day’s journey, also of three leagues and they had come to the camp of San Juan de Dios. Here he found himself suffering so severely from his malady that he could not stand, nor even sit, but had to lie prostrate in his bed, enduring such an agony of pain that he could not sleep or rest.

When the Governor saw what a plight he was in he said: “Your Reverence well knows that you cannot accompany the expedition. We are only six leagues from the place from which we set out. If your Reverence will permit, they can carry you back to the first Mission in order that you may there become well again, and we will go on our journey.” But our Venerable Father, who never gave up hope, replied in this manner: ”Please do not speak to me further about the matter, because I trust in God who will give me strength to arrive at San Diego, as he has given me strength to come this far, and in case this is not His good pleasure for me, I shall resign myself to His holy will. Even if I die on the road I will not go back, but you can bury me here and I shall very gladly remain among these pagan people if such be the will of God for me.”

When the Governor saw the firmness of the Reverend Father, and that neither on foot nor on horseback was he able to travel, he ordered a litter made in the form of the bier used for the carrying of the dead, using small branches for the bed of it, in order that on it the Father might lie down and be carried by the converted Indians from California who were accompanying the expedition as servants and laborers for just this kind of service. When the Venerable Father heard of this he was much grieved about it in view of the extra labor which it would cause and the extra burden they would have to bear, and it hurt his very humble spirit to be served in this way.  With this added distress, he withdrew within himself to commune with God and to ask that He would grant him some slight alleviation, in order to avoid the trouble which he would give to the Indians if they had to carry him in this way. Reviving his faith and his trust in God he called to him that afternoon one of the muleteers, called Juan Antonio Coronel, and said to him: “My son, don’t you know how to make me a remedy for my foot and leg?” But the man replied: “Father, what do I know about remedies? Am I a surgeon? I am only a muleteer and I only know how to cure the galls on the backs of the pack-animals.”

“Very well, then, my son, take into account that I am one of your beasts of burden and that this sore is a gall-sore from which has resulted the swollen leg. The pains I feel are so great that I cannot sleep, so please make the remedy and apply it just as if I was one of your animals.”

At this the muleteer laughed, as did all the rest, but he replied: “I will do it. Father, in order to give you pleasure.”

Taking a little tallow, he crushed it between two stones and then mixed it with some of the herbs of the field which he found at hand, and having heated it well, he applied it to the leg and foot, leaving it placed over the sore like a poultice. God worked through this so wonderfully that (as our servant of God said in a letter written to me from San Diego) he slept well that night until daybreak and awoke so much better from his pains and from the sore that he could arise and take part in the Matins and Praise, as was his custom, and when he had finished the prayers he said Mass as if he were not suffering from any malady. All were astonished, both the Governor as well as all the rest of the troop, to see the Reverend Father so suddenly restored to health and in such good cheer, ready to go on with the expedition and without obliging it on his account to be further delayed.

The expedition went on its way, following the trail of the first section, which was the same as that traversed three years previously by Father Wenceslao Link (according to the testimony of the soldiers who accompanied him on his expedition to the Colorado River) as far as the place which the Father just mentioned called “La Cieneguilla,” distant from the new Mission of San Fernando de Vellicata twenty-five leagues to the north. From the above mentioned place he followed the trail of the former expedition in the same direction, seeking for the mouth of the Colorado River but to which they were not able to arrive because (as he says in his diary which he sent on to His Excellency the Viceroy) a little while after leaving Cieneguilla, they found in front of them a high Sierra, all of stone where the pack-animals could not travel, so they were obliged to return to the frontier Mission called San Borja from which the expedition had set out.

The members of our expedition were aware of all this, through the information given by some of the soldiers who had gone in it and had accompanied the Jesuit Father, as well as from data which his own diary supplied and which was in the possession of the Venerable Father Junipero. At any rate, as our expeditions did not intend to reach the Colorado River, but the port of San Diego, they turned aside from the northern route at Cieneguilla, and, taking to the northwest they made their way down to the coast of the great sea, the Pacific, and found no difficulty in reaching San Diego, where they arrived on the first of July after having spent in the voyage from the Mission of San Fernando forty-six days.

When the members of the expedition came in view of the harbor, it seemed as though immediately their hearts were filled with a great joy as was demonstrated by the troops shooting off their guns. These were answered by corresponding shots from those of the first expedition which had arrived on the same day on which in Vellicata they had celebrated the founding of the first Mission called San Fernando. This salute of arms was augmented by the salvos from the ships which were lying in the harbor, and which were repeated until all had dismounted and had shown by their affectionate embraces their mutual affection and their great joy to see that all the expeditions had gathered at the place destined and toward which they had all so ardently looked.

The services which were celebrated in the port as soon as there had arrived there the Commander and Governor, together with the Reverend Father President, will be told in the succeeding chapter, and as well will be given there a letter which my venerable Father Lector Fr. Junipero wrote me on his arrival and in which he informed me as to the journey and the dispositions and determinations made by the Governor with reference to the movements on both sea and land.