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History of San
Fernando Mission
(Saint Ferdinand). A Franciscan mission, founded Sept. 8,
1797, in Los Angeles co., Cal. The site chosen is said to have been that of a
native rancheria called Pasecgna, but the place had already been occupied as a
private ranch, with a house which the missionaries appropriated for their
dwelling. Bancroft says that the name of the site was Achois Comihavit. The new
mission was dedicated by Father Lasuen to San Fernando, Rev de España,
the ceremonies being witnessed by a large gathering of natives. On the first day
10 children were baptized. By the close of the year there were 55 neophytes, and
310 in 1800. In 1806 an adobe church with tiled roof was consecrated. The number
of neophytes reached 955 in 1810, while the death rate was lower than at most of
the missions.
The mission seems to have been some what cramped for lands, at
least numerous protests were made against the granting of neighboring ranches to
private individuals. Nevertheless the mission was prosperous, the average crop
for the decade ending 1810 being 5,220 bushels. The greatest number of
neophytes, 1,080, was reached in 1819. After this there was a decided decline in
both population and prosperity. In 1834 the natives numbered 792. Up to this
time there had been baptized 2,784 Indians, of whom 1,367 were children. The
effect of secularization was not so disastrous here as at most of the missions,
the administrators in charge giving general satisfaction, so that in 1840 there
were still 400 Indians in the ex-mission community.
In 1843 San Fernando was
returned to the control of the padres, but in 1845 was leased to private
individuals, and in the following year was sold by Goy. Pico for $1,120. The
last resident minister left in 1847. The old mission church was built of adobe
and is now in ruins, though the walls are still standing; the monastery has been
repaired by the Landmarks Club of California. The Indians in the neighborhood
of San Fernando belong to the Shoshonean linguistic stock and have been included
under the name Gabrieleños, though more
distant tribes to the north east
doubtless furnished many neophytes.
The following villages are recorded as
having existed in the neighborhood of San Fernando: Kowanga, Mapipinga,
Okowvinjha, Pascegna, Quapa, Sawayyanga, Tacuenga, Tuyunga.
Additional Mission Resources:
Notes About the Book:
Source: The Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Frederick Webb
Hodge. 1906, Bureau of American Ethnology, Government Printing Office.
Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and
then ocr'd. Minimal editing has been done, and readers can and should expect
some errors in the textual output.
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