Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa

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Missíon San Luís Obispo De Tolosa
Missíon San Luís Obispo De Tolosa
Missión San Luís Obispo de Tolosa in 2011.
Missíon San Luís Obispo De Tolosa is located in California
Missíon San Luís Obispo De Tolosa
Location of Missíon San Luís Obispo De Tolosa in California
Location728 Monterey St.
San Luis Obispo, California 93401
Coordinates35°16′50″N 120°39′52″W / 35.28056°N 120.66444°W / 35.28056; -120.66444Coordinates: 35°16′50″N 120°39′52″W / 35.28056°N 120.66444°W / 35.28056; -120.66444
Name as foundedLa Misión de San Luís Obispo de Tolosa[1]
English translationThe Mission of Saint Louis Bishop of Toulouse
PatronSaint Louis of Anjou, Bishop of Toulouse, France
Nickname(s)"Prince of the Missions"[2]
"Mission in the Valley of Bears" [3]
"The Accidental Mission" [4]
Founding dateSeptember 1, 1772 [3]
Founding priest(s)Father Presidente Junípero Serra[5]
Founding OrderFifth
Military districtThird [6]
Native tribe(s)
Spanish name(s)		Chumash
Obispeño
Native place name(s)Tilhini[7]
Baptisms2,644 [8]
Marriages763 [8]
Burials2,268 [8]
Governing bodyRoman Catholic Diocese of Monterey
Current useParish Church / Museum
Reference no.325[9]
Website
http://www.missionsanluisobispo.org

Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa (Spanish: Misión San Luís Obispo de Tolosa) is a Spanish mission founded September 1, 1772 by Father Junípero Serra in San Luis Obispo, California. Named after Saint Louis of Anjou, the bishop of Toulouse, the mission is the namesake of San Luis Obispo. The mission offers public tours of the church and grounds.

The Mission of San Luis Obispo is unusual in its design, in that its combination of belfry and vestibule are found nowhere else among the California missions.[citation needed] Like other churches, the main nave is short and narrow, but at the San Luis Obispo Mission, there is a secondary nave of almost equal size situated to the right of the altar, making it the only L-shaped mission church in California.

History[]

In 1769, Gaspar de Portola traveled through California on his way to the Bay of Monterey and discovered the San Luis Obispo area.[10] Expedition diarist and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí wrote that the soldiers called the place "llano de los osos," or the "plain of the bears."[citation needed] Since then, mistranslations of Crespi's diary have called this area "la cañada de los osos" (the canyon of the bears) which has been further mistranslated as the "valley of the bears."[citation needed] Portola followed the same route the following year, on his way to establish the Presidio of Monterey. Missionary president Junípero Serra, traveling by sea, met the Portola party there and founded San Carlos Borremeo, in Monterey, which was moved to Carmel the following year.[10]

When food supplies started to dwindle at the mission, Serra remembered the stories of the "valley of the bears." He decided to send a hunting expedition to San Luis Obispo to help feed the Spanish and neophytes (natives that converted to Christianity) in Monterey. The huge success of the hunting expedition caused Junípero Serra to consider building a mission in that area.[citation needed] Upon further investigation, he was convinced that San Luis Obispo would be a perfect site for a mission, based on its surplus of natural resources, good weather and the Chumash, a local Native American tribe who could be used as labor, often by means of enslavement.[11] The mission became the fifth in the mission chain founded by Father Junípero Serra.[12] Serra himself was known for intimidating and controlling native subjects, and once "baptized" the Chumash were not allowed to leave the missions, nor were the generations to follow.[13]

Father Serra sent an expedition down south to San Luis Obispo to start building the mission, and on September 1, 1772, a cross was erected near San Luis Obispo Creek and Serra celebrated the first mass. However, following the first mass, Father Junípero Serra left the responsibility of construction to Father Jose Cavaller. Father Cavaller, five soldiers and two neophytes began building what is now Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa.[10] Father Cavaller used Chumash labor in building the palisades, which would serve as temporary buildings for the mission. However, Native American tribes set these buildings ablaze in an act of resistance against European colonization. The buildings were thus rebuilt using adobe and tile structures.[14]

Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa as it looked circa 1900. Note that the wooden belfry has been removed and the chapel façade has been modified substantially in the recent photo below.

Beginning in 1794 Mission San Luis Obispo went through extensive building operations.[14] Buildings to accommodate the nearby Native Americans and many improvements to the mission, including storerooms, residences for single women, soldiers barracks and mills were added.[10] The renovation was finally finished after completion of the quadrangle in 1819, and celebrated a year later by the arrival of two mission bells from Lima, Peru.[15] The arrival of the bells marked the end of improvements made to Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa for many years.[12] In 1830 Father Luis Gil y Taboada took over the mission, but he died three years later. Then in 1842, the death of Father Ramon Abella marked the last Franciscan at the mission.[12]

Rancho period (1834-1849)[]

In 1845, Governor Pío Pico sold the San Luis Obispo Mission to Captain John Wilson for $510.[16] John C. Frémont and his "California Battalion" used the mission as a base of operations during their war with Mexico in 1846 (see Bear Flag Revolt).[citation needed] The mission fell to ruins during the period of secularization and the priests who were left would rent out rooms to help support the mission.[citation needed]

California statehood (1850 - present)[]

The Mission San Luís Obispo de Tolosa became the first courthouse and jail in San Luis Obispo County, California.[16] In 1850, when California became a part of the United States, the first California bishop, Joseph Alemany, petitioned the Government to return some of the mission lands back to the Church.[10] Since then, it has undergone major civic, political and structural changes. In the 1880s, the front portico and bell loft were removed when weakened by an earthquake. An attempt was made to "modernize" the structures, and the colonnades along the front of the convento wing were razed and the Church and residence were covered with wooden clapboard.[16] A New England-style belfry was added. The changes protected the structure from further decay, although significantly altering the facade of the buildings. In the 1930s, during the pastorship of Fr. John Harnett, the buildings underwent extensive restoration to transform them back to early mission style.[16] The 1893 annex was extended in 1948.[16] The mission is still the center of the busy downtown area, and functions as a Roman Catholic parish church for the City of San Luis Obispo in the Diocese of Monterey.

In 1970 the Mission was recognized as the center of the City of San Luis Obispo, with the dedication of Mission Plaza.[12] Mayor Ken Schwartz worked with students from Cal Poly to develop a plan to convince voters to close Monterey Street in front of the mission.[17] Construction of a plaza began in 1969 and the plaza was dedicated in 1970.[17]


Spanish origin[]

In 1602, the Spanish began to show interest in California and sent Sebastián Vizcaíno, a pearl fisher, to explore the area. Vizcaino traveled the coast naming many of the cities that are important to the California coast today such as San Diego, Santa Barbara and Monterey. Spain finally chose to create Vizcaino's suggested chain of missions when it was proven that California was indeed part of the continent. The goal of creating the chain was given to the Franciscan Order. While Spain had economic motives for establishing a stronghold in California, the Franciscan order of the Catholic Church also had religious motives.[18] With these factors in mind the missions were created in order to control the coast so that the ships from Spain would remain safe as well as bring the indigenous peoples to the Catholic faith. Re-education became the method for reaching Spain's religious and economic goals as they strived to convert the Native Americans to Catholicism as well as make them loyal Spanish subjects.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Leffingwell, Randy (2005). California Missions and Presidios: The History & Beauty of the Spanish Missions. Stillwater, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. p. 85. ISBN 0-89658-492-5.
  2. ^ Schulte-Peevers, Andrea (1996). California. Oakland, California: Lonely Planet Publications. p. 682. ISBN 1-74059-951-9.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Yenne, Bill (2004). The Missions of California. San Diego, California: Advantage Publishers Group. p. 56. ISBN 1-59223-319-8.
  4. ^ Ruscin, Terry (1999). Mission Memoirs. San Diego, California: Sunbelt Publications. p. 53. ISBN 0-932653-30-8.
  5. ^ Ruscin (1999), p. 196.
  6. ^ Forbes, Alexander (1839). California: A History of Upper and Lower California. Cornhill, London: Smith, Elder and Co. p. 202.
  7. ^ Ruscin (1999), p. 195.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c Krell, Dorothy, ed. (1979). The California Missions: A Pictorial History. Menlo Park, California: Sunset Publishing. p. 315. ISBN 0-376-05172-8. As of December 31, 1832; information adapted from Engelhardt's Missions and Missionaries of California.
  9. ^ "Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Visit". Mission San Luis Obispo de Toulosa. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  11. ^ Congress, Allison Herrera Image credit: Library of; April 29, HABS CAL; 27-JOLO V; 1; edition, 2019 From the print (April 29, 2019). "Indigenous educators fight for an accurate history of California". www.hcn.org. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Mission History". Archived from the original on July 25, 2011.
  13. ^ "Elias Castillo's 'Cross of Thorns' presents a bleak picture of California history". Santa Cruz Sentinel. March 16, 2015. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b "San Luis Obispo de Tolosa". Archived from the original on January 28, 2010.
  15. ^ "Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa". Archived from the original on January 21, 2010.
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Visit Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa: History". Mission San Luis Obispo de Toulosa. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b Ferreira, Gabby (October 20, 2019). ""Kenneth Schwartz, former SLO mayor and father of Mission Plaza, dies at 94"". The San Luis Obispo Tribune. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
  18. ^ "Mision San Carlos, Carmel". Archived from the original on October 27, 2009.[self-published source]

External links[]

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