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Davy Crockett

The First Mission

Part A
Missions
Missions were created to bring the word of God to a new land. They thought the Indians deserved a chance to go to heaven.. The country of Spain helped the Catholic church and the Spanish priests. They wanted to strengthen the Spanish Empire over in the New World. The thought they could teach the Indians how to be like the Spanish. Spain thought the Indians could become Spanish citizens. This would give the king more power. The missions were set up between 1769 and 1823 in California. The Spanish also build forts called "presidios." Presidios were supposed to protect California from foreign troops like the Russians and the British. Spain already had missions in Mexico. They went to Alta California which is not a part of Mexico. They made a trail of missions called the El Camino Real. El Camino Real means "Royal Highway" in Spanish. They called it this to honor the king of Spain. Each mission had a Franciscan priest called a "padre." Padre means "father" in Spanish. The head of the priests was Padre Junipero Serra.


Part B
San Diego Mission
The mission I picked is the very first mission. It has a long name. Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala.   It is located in San Diego California. Blessed Father Junipero Serra founded it. It was first made on July 16, 1769. Padre Serra liked the site because it was near the San Diego River.
The San Diego Mission was completed in 1774. But in 1775 it was destroyed by Yuman Indians who were angry at the Fathers for destroying their way of life. The mission was taking the people of the tribe. It also took land and other resources. So they burned down the mission and killed one of the padres. Father Luis Jayme ran out of the fire and was beaten to death by the Indians.

In 1776 the Padre Serra decided to make the   mission at a new location. They moved closer to the Indians. When they decided to make a new mission they uses adobe for the walls and they used tile roofs. They used...