California Missions Teacher Resources

This site discusses the mission movement in California and its effect on the Native Americans. Timeline of the missions' founding is also provided.

A brief description of the culture of the Chumash. Read about their canoes, houses, and understanding of astronomy.

Students can use this page as a jumping off page to do research on Spanish missions in California. There are numerous links to Scholastic articles and to other websites on subtopics such as missionaries, Franciscans and places in...

Find background information about the life of Father Junipero Serra and his biographer, Father Francisco Palou. Read about the missions they established in California and their work in converting Native Americans to Christianity. Click...

This study of Junipero Serra's (1723-1789) life was first published in 1913. It's made available here with some great features. You can search the book for key terms, read background information on the author and the subject, print or...

This collection at the University of California-Berkeley can now be accessed online through the Online Archive of California. It provides a vast collection of historically significant primary source images of early California and the...

Use this site to learn how the natives lived in missions and were educated and converted to Christianity. Also learn who established the missions and why they were created.

This hotel has become the largest Mission Revival style through progressive additions and embellishments since its first predecessor cottage was built in 1876. In addition to lodgings, it features shops, a chapel, furniture from around...

one of only 2 remaining wooden coasters on the West coast, it was built in 1925 by noted coaster builders Prior and Church. It was saved from destruction in 1987, restored, and is still operating today.

This primary source set uses documents, photographs, and artwork to tell the story of the development and impact of Spanish missions in California during the Mission period.

Detailed lesson plan that uses primary sources to help students learn about the people of California from pre-Columbian times to the Mexican rancho periods.

The San Diego History Center provides the interesting story of Portola, an early governor of California. Provides a great story about Monterey.

The second Roman Catholic California Mission Church, this was the headquarters of the padre presidente, Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuen . It was destroyed in the mid-19th century and restored in 1884 and 1920. It remains a parish...

The 16th California Mission church remains well preserved and still in use today though under earthquake remediation construction. Inside are murals by Esteban Munras.

A brief look at each of five Spanish missions established in the 1700s along the San Antonio River in California.

Table of Contents of an easy-to-understand history of California ranging from the first peoples to the turn of the century and covers the topics of the Missions, the discovery of gold, the towns and the cities.

Junipero Serra (1713-1789) was a missionary who worked in Mexico and later California, mainly among the native people. He was beatified by the Catholic Church in 1988. This is a short profile of his life.

Seee how Mexico's independence from Spain affected not only the Mexicans who lived in California, but also the native population, and the white Americans.

Mission San Buenaventura in California.

A biography of Father Junipero Serra, including excerpts from a biography written by Serra's good friend, Palou.

A biography of Father Junipero Serra, including excerpts from a biography written by Serra's good friend, Palou.