Salad Bowl of the World · Episode 3 of 14 · 21 min
Missions and Cattle
The Salinas Valley's first global market was cowhide, and the labor behind it was not free. Four Franciscan missions turned the valley into a farm and cattle range, building its first irrigation works with Indigenous labor. After Mexico opened the coast in 1822, hides and tallow flowed to Lima and Boston through Monterey. The baptism and burial registers record the human cost, and secularization in 1834 handed most of the land onward.
Who's who
- Junípero Serra+2 more episodesFranciscan president of the missions; founded San Carlos and San Antonio
- Fermín Francisco de LasuénSerra's successor; founded Soledad and San Miguel
- Buenaventura SitjarFranciscan at San Antonio credited with its water system
- William E. P. Hartnell+1 more episodeAgent whose 1822 contract opened the hide-and-tallow trade
- José FigueroaGovernor whose 1834 regulations secularized the missions
- Pío PicoGovernor who sold or leased the remaining missions in 1845-46
Where it happens
- Mission San Antonio de Padua, California+1 more episodeValley's first farm; dam, aqueduct, reservoir and grist mill
- Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, CaliforniaMother house of the chain; Serra's headquarters and burial place
- Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, CaliforniaSheep and cattle mission on the windy valley floor
- Mission San Miguel Arcángel, CaliforniaFounded among the Salinan at the valley's southern head
- Monterey, California+2 more episodesCapital and sole port of entry; Custom House built 1827
Timeline
- June 3, 1770The presidio and Mission San Carlos are founded at Monterey.
- July 14, 1771Serra founds Mission San Antonio de Padua.
- October 9, 1791Lasuén founds Mission Soledad on the valley floor.
- July 25, 1797Mission San Miguel is founded among the Salinan.
- June 20, 1822Governor Solá approves the contract trading mission hides and tallow to an English house in Lima.
- 1834Mexico secularizes the missions, promising neophytes half the livestock and a plot of land.
Still debated
Mission population peaks, baptism and burial totals differ by source and end date, and Soledad's burial register is lost, so its death toll is an estimate. Claims about Soledad's large aqueduct and irrigated acreage rest on the mission's own account alone.
