322 Recreations of a Sportsman 



fix the Spaniards find themselves in to-day. 



" I can remember my grandfather telling about 

 the building of the missions. He came up the 

 coast with Father Lasauen, and was a Spanish 

 officer of rank, who decided to cast his fortunes 

 in America. Father Lasauen picked out this 

 place in 1787, but the mission was not started 

 until 1788, when my grandfather marched up 

 the coast from Santa Barbara at the head of 

 the escort guarding the gang of laborers who 

 had been selected to build a mission at this point. 



" A month or so later Father Lasauen and 

 Fathers Vincente Foster and Jose Arroita came 

 up and built the mission. There was a big In- 

 dian town here, in fact, several, and they con- 

 sidered it a good locality, as their purpose was 

 to civilize and convert the Indians, and in many 

 instances the Indians did most of the work in 

 rearing the buildings. I have seen the old books 

 and in 1780 the mission had twelve hundred In- 

 dian converts, and the country about was the 

 Purissima Rancho, laid out for miles, as the 

 fathers were great farmers. 



" They planted wheat and grain, introduced 

 cattle of various kinds, grapes, and all Spanish 

 plants, and in about 1804 they had a town about 

 the mission of fifteen hundred souls, mostly In- 

 dians; and that is the reason many of the soldiers 

 married Indians. You see in Santa Barbara 

 and Los Angeles many Spaniards that are very 



