The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-11-06
Special Contributors.
THE MISSION INDIANS-II.
BY MRS. o. J. HILES.
Milwaukee, Wis.,

milwaukee, Wis.,
In 1869 the first mission was estab-
lished at San Diego; within fifty-five
years, or previous to 1927, so great was
the zeal, and so unselfsh was the fervor
of the Fathers, twenty-seven missions
were founded. They were between lat
itudes 32o 80 and 370, but were mainly
south of $50, with an area Of about
$4,000 square miles. Two-thirds of
this is mountain and desert, and one
half of the rest would have required
large expenditures of time and labor
before 1t could have been fitted for agri-
culture. These missions fiourished un-
interruptedly until 1884. Their flocks
and herds had increased to such an
extent that the grazing capacity of the
country occupied by the missions,
proved insufficient for their support.
The value of the missions at this, the
date of their greatest prosperity, in cat
tie and other personal property could
not have been less than S., ,000, 900, while
if the value of the land that had been
reclaimed from barrenness by the slow
and arduous process of irrigation, be
considered, it could scarcely be appreci-
ated. While California was under the
control of Spain, and during the strug-
giles of Mexico for independence, the
power and wealth of the missions had
constantly increased. But the desire of
the Fathers for external prosperity was
subordinate to their efforts for the spir-
itual well-being of the Indians. The
Indian problem, whose unknown guam
tity has never yet been demonstrated
by its known factors, was, by these
noble and self-sacrificing Fathers, in a
fair way of solution. In this short
space of time, 10000 human beings,
who had been strangers to even the
thought of civilization, or to advance
ment in any less crystallized form, had
been brought into, not only consider
able comprehension of complex modes
of existence, but an apprehension of
some Of the underlying truths which
make complexity possible and desirable.
1t is marvellous to human understand
ing, with its limited knowledge of
cause and effect, how, in so short a
time, men and women whose ancestors
from time immemorial had known no
means of supplying the necessaries of
existence, but by the chase; who had
known no law but the law of self-pro-
lection, no worship but the worship of
the Indians Great Spirit, should have
become domesticated laborers, carpen-
ters, masons, weavers, tanners, shoe
makers, blacksmiths, horticulturalists !;
should have become law-abiding citi-
zens of large communities and should
have worshiped, with intelligence and
the fervor of devotion, the God of the
Christian. They were peaceable, in
dustrious, happy, contented, and relig-
ious. They had done all the work Of
the country. They had planted, sowed,
reaped, irrigated, and herded. The
churches and other buildings, with the
vast walls which enclosed them, had
been built by these Indians, under the
superintendent of the Fathers. Tim
bers for framing had been brought from
great distances, and in some instances,
enthusiasm for the sacredness of the
new religion was carried to such an
extent, that heavy beams were not
allowed to touch the ground during
transportation, but were changed from
shoulder to shoulder, as one set of men
became tired, and another took their
places. Adobe had been patiently mold
ed, dried, and made into walls by hands
which, until then, had handled only the
bow and arrow. For more than fifty
years they had patiently toiled, upheld
by childlike love for, and faith in the
God of the Fathers. But was this their
only faith, and the fruition of its hope
their only expectation ? Was there to
be no individual gain in material things,
for all this labor? Religious enthusi-
asm may quicken the untutored to a
knowledge of his indiyidualism, which
knowledge is the first step toward civ
ilization; but after that knowledge is
reached, long trains of eoncomitant
needs rise gradually before his newly
awakened vision, and he begins to de-
wise means whereby they may become
parts of his development. AS the mis-
sions increased in importance, laws for
he care and protection of the Indian