Title: "Father Junípero Serra and the Sacred Expedition." An illustrated presentation by Dr. Rubén G. Mendoza for the National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop for K-12 Teachers convened at the Asilomar Conference Grounds on July 13, 2013.

1. Father Junípero Serra and the Sacred Expedition
Presented by
RUBEN G. MENDOZA, PhD, RPA, Project Archaeologist
Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, California – July 13, 2013

2. Past is Prologue

3. Olmec
Cahokia
Tenochtitlan

4. La Reconquista – The Surrender of the Moors at Granada, 1492

5. The New World

6. Mesoamerica
Olmec
Tikal
Cahokia
Tenochtitlan
Amazonas

7. Inca
Moche
Huari
Chimor

8. Mexica origins and the rise of Mexico-Tenochtitlan

9. I have fought beside these Indians and I have seen their loyalty and the great service
that they have done for Your Majesty…they have fought and suffered along beside us,
and many a Spanish Soldier owes them his life…I can say in all honesty that without
them we would never have conquered this land.
Francisco de Bracamonte, 1576

10. Indian militias and the battle for Mexico-Tenochtitlan ala Diego Rivera

11. Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro (1485 –1547 )

12. Spanish Exploration and Conquest

13. As with the Calfiornias, the founding of the missions and presidios of La Florida was a sacred venture.

14. Spanish fortifications and Missions of La Florida. Photo by Ruben G. Mendoza, 2011.

15. The frontier fortifications of Florida and California were seldom more than earth and pole stockades.

16. Spanish fortifications in La Florida, such as those at San Marcos and Fort Matanzas, remain emblematic
of the might of the Spanish in the early years of the empire. Photo by Ruben G. Mendoza, 2011.

17. The fortress of San Marcos in San Agustin, Florida,
incorporates
many
of
those
defensive
characteristics
sought
in
later
Spanish
fortifications and presidio ramparts. Photo by
Ruben G. Mendoza, 2011.

18. Fort Matanzas successfully fended off a British attack with its heavy guns.

19. Fort Mose, an Afro-Hispano or Afro-Mestizo settlement of Florida staved off British slaving in Spanish La
Florida. Photo by Ruben G. Mendoza, 2008.

20. Fort Mose essentially consisted of a stockade
with battlements and towers in a plan recalling
that at the Presidio of Monterey. Photo by
Ruben G. Mendoza, 2011.

21. The presidio de San Agustin de Tucson incorporated many of those elements seen in the Cardero
drawings from the Presidio of Monterey. Photo by Ruben G. Mendoza, 2011.

22. The Presidio de San Agustin de Tucson consisted
of an adobe rampart, church, and barracks
buildings, like that of Monterey. Photo by Ruben
G. Mendoza, 2008.

23. Las Californias and the Sacred Expedition

24. Las Californias in the 16th century

25. Queen Califia
Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo or Garci Ordóñez de Montalvo, ~1450 – 1504
Amadis of Gaul, Las sergas de Esplandián or The Exploits of Esplandian

26. We found on our journey, as well as in the place where we stopped, that they
treated us with as much confidence and good -will as if they had known us
all their lives.
We have seen Indians in immense numbers, and all those on this coast of the
Pacific contrive to make a good subsistence on various seeds, and by fishing..
Fr. Junípero Serra , OFM.

27. Fray Junípero Serra and Gaspar de Portolà
Route of the Sacred Expedition, 1769
"Occupy and fortify San Diego and Monterey
for God and the King of Spain.”
(Order of King Charles III to Visitador General José de
Gálvez, 1769)
Burgundy Flag 1542-1785

28. The Sacred Expedition of 1769

29. Fray Junipero Serra (1713 –1784 )

30. Anza’s 1st Expedition
Departs Tubac Presidio
for Alta California
January 8, 1774, with 3
padres, 20 soldiers, 11
servants, 35 mules, 65
cattle, and 140 horses.
Reached Mission San
Gabriel Arcángel on
March 22, 1774.
Arrives at Real Presidio de
San Carlos de Monterey,
Alta California's capital,
on April 19, 1774.
Returns to Tubac in May
1774.
Anza’s 2nd Expedition
Departs for Alta
California in October
1775.
Arrives at Mission San
Gabriel in January 1776,
and proceeds to San
Carlos de Monterey.
Juan Bautista de Anza,
Expeditions of 1774-76
Identifies the port of San
Francisco on March 28,
1776 – future sites of both
a presidio and mission.

31. Jose Cardero sketch depicting thatched-roof 2 nd Chapel of 1771-72, with scaffolding of 3 rd Chapel and
Padre’s Quarters in background. Note sacristy lean-to structure to the right of the cross standing at the
northwest corner of 2nd Chapel. View south/southwest, circa 1791. Courtesy RPC Archives.

32. Fray Junipero Serra (1713 –1784 )

33. Fray Junipero Miguel Joseph Serra y Abram receives the last sacrament at San Carlos Borromeo de
Carmelo prior to his death on 28 August 1784. Photo © Ruben G. Mendoza, 2005.

34. Fray Serra’s Legacy
Mission San Diego de Alcalá - 1769
Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo - 1770
Mission San Antonio de Padua - 1771
Mission San Gabriel - 1771
Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa - 1772
Mission San Francisco de Asís - 1776
Mission San Juan Capistrano - 1776
Mission Santa Clara de Asís - 1777
Mission San Buenaventura - 1782
Asistencia de San Pedro y San Pablo - 1786
Pacifica
Asistencia de Santa Margarita de Cortona 1787 - Santa Margarita
Asistencia de Nuestra Señora Reina de los
Angeles - 1784 - Los Angeles
Asistencia de San Antonio de Pala - 1816
Eastern San Diego County
Mission Santa Barbara - 1786
Mission La Purísima Concepción - 1787
Mission Santa Cruz - 1791
Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad - 1791
Mission San José - 1797
Mission San Juan Bautista - 1797
Mission San Miguel Arcángel - 1797
Mission San Fernando Rey de España - 1797
Mission San Luis Rey de Francia - 1798
Mission Santa Inés - 1804
Mission San Rafael Arcángel - 1817
Mission San Francisco Solano - 1823
Asistencia de Santa Ysabel - 1818
Santa Ysabel
Estancia de San Bernardino de Sena – 1819,
Redlands
Estancia de Santa Ana Estancia -1817,
Costa Mesa
Las Flores Estancia - 1823,
Camp Pendleton

35. The carved stone façade of the Royal Presidio Chapel or San Carlos Cathedral has been designated a
registered National Historic Landmark.

36. Recent archaeological investigations at the Royal Presidio Chapel serve to confirm that Jose Cardero’s
1791 illustration was accurate and well proportioned. This and related facts lend credence to the
likelihood that Cardero employed a Camera Lucida to produce his images. Image courtesy of the
Archives of the Diocese of Monterey.

37. Wall mural depicting the Plaza de Armas and Presidio guard of the recently reconstructed Presidio San
Agustín de Tucson, Arizona. Note cuartel or barracks building in background.

38. Gaspar de Portolà’s Legacy
El Presidio Real de San Diego - July 16, 1769 - First Military District
- San Diego, San Luis Rey, San Juan Capistrano, and San Gabriel
El Presidio Real de Santa Bárbara - April 12, 1782 – Second Military District
- San Fernando, San Buenaventura, Santa Bárbara, Santa Inés, La Purísima, and El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la
Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula [Los Ángeles])
El Presidio Real de San Carlos de Monterey (El Castillo) - June 3, 1770 – Third Military District
- San Luis Obispo, San Miguel, San Antonio, Soledad, San Carlos, and San Juan Bautista, and the Villa Branciforte
[Santa Cruz])
El Presidio Real de San Francisco - December 17, 1776 – Fourth Military District
- Santa Cruz, San José, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Rafael, Solano, and El Pueblo de San José de
Guadalupe [San José]

39. During the course of archaeological monitoring, a
host of secondary discoveries were made in situ.
Among such findings, the re-discovery of the 1905
marble commemorative marker that once
marked the location of the “Junipero Oak” was
paramount.

40. Fin