California Missions Settlements of the time

Posted by webisimo on October 29th, 2014

The Spanish Missionaries who came to California from Mexico, their settlement in the nearby area were not engineers or architects. They also couldn’t acquire anything from outside to build their outposts in the territory. The only thing available for them was the soil on which their feet stood.

Adobe bricks

This soil, they used to prepare adobe bricks. They did it by drying it under the sun for several days. It is the clay-like nature of the soil which made it possible.  The Spaniards also prepared tiles using these bricks. History reports that this was the first skill the Native Indians acquired as a part of their life in the Missions.

Every building needed hundreds of adobe bricks for its construction. And, the Missionaries had to hire thousands of Indian laborers to fulfil this requirement.

Preparing the bricks began by mixing the clay. Done this, dry manure, water and straw were added to it inside a pit. The workers had to perform this task with their feet; trampling around so that it gained the right texture to be poured into the molds. The molds had the shape of a box without bottom and were made of wood. This was a task which asked for specific skill. When the bricks gained a shape in the molds, they were taken away to dry. These wooden frames then got refilled to prepare more bricks. When these were ready to be used, they were combined using mortar lime or mud.

Roof

The roofs of the settlements of the Missions were made of dried reed. The trouble was that reeds easily caught fire. To avoid this danger, the Missions began using tiles. This according to historians became a landmark in their development. It allowed the Missions to settle down in the area and prosper. Reports say that some Missions used tiles on the floors of their buildings.

Architecture

The buildings the Missionaries constructed resembled in appearance to their Spanish counterparts. However, they were modified as per the requirement of the time and the materials available in the locality. And, they truly looked rugged and simple. These may appear crude in nature. But, they managed to have an influence on the building patterns in the region even today. Surveys show that Mission style is greatly appreciated and is employed in building new homes here.

Agriculture

Architecture is just one among the contributions Spaniards gave to the California of today. They brought agriculture. History states that Father Junipero Serra planted many fruits and cultivated numerous crops in the area.

The Missions had everything required to sustain themselves. They also maintained schools and educated the inhabitants. The natives were taught numerous skills and were acquainted with European art and culture. There were also migrants from the Europe who had lands which they used for cultivation.

California Missions may represent a time of oppression to the Indian natives who were forced to convert to Christianity. But, it had been a golden era for the Indians who were able to get used to the system. Get to know the history of the time; modern California has inherited a lot from Missionaries.

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