Read about the California missions that have contributed to California state history. View paintings of all twenty-one missions created by artist, Jerome Tupa. Includes a variety of activities, quizzes, puzzles, etc. to add to the...

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.

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

Peruse this thorough resource featuring historical California missions stretching from San Diego to San Francisco as the Spanish established themselves on the west coast of North America between 1768-1853. Read stories of the early...

From the "Century" magazine, an article from 1890 by James Bidwell who came to California in 1841.

Briefly describes each of the 21 California Missions that make up California's historic mission trail. The missions are located from San Diego to Sonoma.

california missions

Founded and directed by the internationally renowned architect and author Nader Khalili, this institute works to create homes from the earth using such materials as sand, clay, and dirt. Its mission is to create tree-less places for...

Be sure to play the beautiful Mission Music as you explore this colorful journey into the history of the California missions.

Follow behind the wheels of two bicyclists who rode from mission to mission and documented their journey. They kept in contact with fourth graders in Palo Alto, California who have been studying California Missions.

An 1890 article in "Century Magazine" by Guadalupe Vallejo relates his understanding of Hispanic influences on ranches and missions that existed in California before it became a state.

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.

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 is a short biography of Father Junipero Serra, a Franciscan priest who founded many of the Catholic missions in California.

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.

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

The only Spanish mission in California to remain under the leadership of the Franciscan Friars since the day of its founding.

The first fortified presidio, it along with the first mission, San Diego Mission Church, paved the way for Spanish colonization of California. No structures remain, but the site is now located in Presidio Park.

The five Franciscan missions of Sierra Gorda were built during the last phase of the conversion to Christianity of the interior of Mexico in the mid-18th century and became an important reference for the continuation of the...

This in-depth resource presents a history of the American West from pre-Columbian times until World War I with profiles, documents, and images. It encourages visitors to link these into patterns of historical meaning for themselves....

This was the first Spanish Mission in Alta California and the start of El Camino Real. Originally located in the Presidio of San Diego, it later moved a few miles away. The nearby Old Mission Dam, also a NHL, provided water for milling...

The first major irrigation project on the Pacific coast, this dam supplied water for milling and irrigation at the Mission San Diego de Alcala, 5 miles away. Now part of Mission Trails Regional Park.

Now a historical park, it is the only example in California of a "complete" mission complex.

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...