L: 



Vlll PREFACE. 



versary of the white settlement of San Francisco, and also the centen- 

 nial anniversary of the independent existence of our nation. 



The Missions were in their best condition in 1814, (after which they 

 were injured by the stoppage of pay and other consequences of the Mexi- 

 can Revolution) but they continued to increase in population and prop- 

 erty until 1826, when they had 24,611 Indian neophytes, 215,000 head 

 of neat cattle, 135,000 sheep, and 16,000 horses, and harvested 75,000 

 bushels of grain. The friars of the ascetic era have all disappeared. 

 Of their converts only a few hundred remain, and those, with rare ex- 

 ceptions, no longer occupy their old homes. Most of the Missions have 

 served as centers round which towns have been built. Some of the 

 adobe churches still stand as monuments of the industry of the neo- 

 phytes, guided by friar architects. The oldest building of our city, 

 erected more than half a century since, though lately renovated, is the 

 church at the Mission, dedicated to St. Francis, the founder of the 

 Francisc'an Order, the preeminent hero of asceticism, whose name has 

 been adopted by the San Franciscans, but whose practice is not followed 

 by them, as the taste, the fashion, the beauty, the wealth, the luxury 



[^represented by this auditory, may testify. 

 / The third era, that of Mexican dominion and pastoral life, lasted 

 twenty-four years, beginning on the Qth of April, 1822, when the inde- 

 pendence of Mexico from Spain was formally proclaimed and first offi- 

 cially recognized at Monterey, the capital of the territory. The white 

 population increased slowly. The Mexicans were not a colonizing peo- 

 ple. The journey from Sonora by land was long and beset by many hard- 

 ships and dangers. The advantages of California were not generally 

 known or appreciated. Most of the men who became prominent under 

 Mexican dominion were officers or soldiers, or the sons of soldiers, se"nt 

 out to protect the Missions. Most of the early immigrants came at the 

 request and with the assistance of the Government. On the 2pth of 

 November, 1777, the first town was established at San Jose" by a party 

 of fourteen families, which had started from Sonora two years before ; 

 and on the 4th of November, 1781, the pueblo of Los Angeles was 

 founded by another party. The rancheros and town people never 

 agreed very well with the friars, who became subordinate in influence 



