Mission San Luis Rey de Francia

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For the novel by Thornton Wilder, see The Bridge of San Luis Rey.

**Mission San Luis Rey de Francia**
Location	Oceanside, California
Image:Mission San Luis Rey de Francia current.jpg Today, Mission San Luis Rey de Francia is well maintained. This Mission is architecturally distinctive due to the combination of Spanish, Moorish, and Mexican lines exhibited.
Name as Founded	La Misión de San Luis, Rey de Francia ^[1]
Translation	The Mission of Saint Louis, King of France
Patron	King Louis IX
Nickname(s)	"King of the Alta California Missions" ^[2]
Founding Date	June 13 1798 ^[3]
Founding Priest(s)	Father Fermín Lasuén ^[4]
Founding Order	Eighteenth
Military District	First ^[5]
Native Tribe(s) Spanish Name(s)	Kumeyaay, Quechnajuichom Diegueño, Luiseño
Native Place Name(s)	Quechinga ^[6]
Current Owner	Roman Catholic Church
Current Use	Franciscan College / Museum
Coordinates	33.1°15′63″N, 117.2°00′66″W
National Historic Landmark	#NPS–70000142
California Historical Landmark	#239
Web Site	http://www.sanluisrey.org/

Mission San Luis Rey de Francia was founded on June 13, 1798 in what is now the town of Oceanside, California. In 1816, Mission San Antonio de Pala was established twenty miles inland as its asistencia ("sub-mission"). The local Quechnajuichom tribe became known as the Luiseño, after the Mission. An early account of life at the Mission was written by one of its neophytes, Pablo Tac, in his work Indian Life and Customs at Mission San Luis Rey: A Record of California Mission Life by Pablo Tac, An Indian Neophyte (written in Rome circa 1835, edited and translated by Minna Hewes and Gordon Hewes in 1958). In the book, Tac lamented the rapid decline of his people:

In Quechla not long ago there were 5,000 souls, with all their neighboring lands. Through a sickness that came to California 2,000 souls died, and 3,000 were left." ^[7]

Tac went on to describe the preferential treatment the padres received:

In the mission of San Luis Rey de Francia the Fernandino [sic] father is like a king. He has his pages, alcaldes, majordomos, musicians, soldiers, gardens, ranchos, livestock...." ^[8]

The Mission-born, Franciscan-educated Tac noted that his people initially attempted to bar the Spaniards from their southern California lands. When the foreigners approached, "...the chief stood up...and met them," demanding, "...what are you looking for? Leave our country!"

Following secularization, no religious services were held at the Mission for 46 years. It was not until 1892, when two Mexican priests were given permission to restore the Mission as a monastery, that the celebration of mass resumed at Mission San Luis Rey. Father Joseph O'Keefe was assigned as an interpreter for the monks. It was he who began to restore the old Mission in 1895. The cuadrángulo (quadrangle) and church were completed in 1905. Today, Mission San Luis Rey de Francia is a working mission. It is cared for by the people who belong to the parish, and is still being restored. There is a museum and visitors center at the Mission, as well as a small cemetery. Walt Disney's Zorro was shot here at the beginning of its production. In its fourth episode titled "The Ghost of the Mission", a Spanish soldier whose surname was Contreras (rank and frist name were unspecified) had a job to protect the bell tower, but witnessed the mission being haunted. This character and the actor were uncredited with the regular cast members . It appropriately aired on American Broadcasting Comapny for Halloween (October 31,1957).

1 Notes
2 References
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Notes

^ Leffingwell, p. 27
^ Yenne, p. 158
^ Yenne, p. 156
^ Ruscin, p. 196
^ Engelhardt, San Diego Mission, p. v.; 228 "The military district of San Diego embraced the Missions of San Diego, San Luis Rey, San Juan Capistrano, and San Gabriel..."
^ Ruscin, p. 195
^ Lightfoot, p. 108
^ Lightfoot, p. 105
^ Young, p. 18

[edit] References

Engelhardt, Zephyrin, O.F.M. (1920). San Diego Mission. James H. Barry Company, San Francisco, CA.
Leffingwell, Randy (2005). California Missions and Presidios: The History & Beauty of the Spanish Missions. Voyageur Press, Inc., Stillwater, MN. ISBN 0-89658-492-5.
Lightfoot, Kent G. (2004). Indians, Missionaries, and Merchants: The Legacy of Colonial Encounters on the California Frontiers. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. ISBN 0-52020-824-2.
Ruscin, Terry (1999). Mission Memoirs. Sunbelt Publications, San Diego, CA. ISBN 0-932653-30-8.
Yenne, Bill (2004). The Missions of California. Thunder Bay Press, San Diego, CA. ISBN 1-59223-319-8.
Young, Stanley and Melba Levick (1988). The Missions of California. Chronicle Books LLC, San Francisco, CA. ISBN 0-8118-3694-0.