Mission San Luis Rey de Francia facts for kids
Mission San Luis Rey de Francia in July 2022
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 Location in California
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| Location | 4050 Mission Ave. Oceanside, California 92057 US |
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| Coordinates | 33°13′57″N 117°19′13″W / 33.23250°N 117.32028°W |
| Name as founded | La Misión de San Luis, Rey de Francia |
| English translation | The Mission of Saint Louis, King of France |
| Patron | Louis IX of France |
| Nickname(s) | "King of the Missions" |
| Founding date | June 13, 1798 |
| Founding priest(s) | Father Fermín de Lasuén |
| Area | 35 acres (14 ha) |
| Built | 1815 |
| Architectural style(s) | Spanish Colonial |
| Founding Order | Eighteenth |
| Military district | First (El Presidio Reál de San Diego) |
| Native tribe(s) Spanish name(s) |
Kumeyaay, Quechnajuichom Luiseño & Diegueño 'Mission Indians' |
| Native place name(s) | Quencha—Quechla |
| Baptisms | 5,399 |
| Marriages | 1,335 |
| Burials | 2,718 |
| Neophyte population | 2,788 |
| Secularized | 1834 |
| Returned to the Church | 1865 |
| Governing body | Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego |
| Current use | Parish/Museum/Cemetery/Retreat House |
| Official name: San Luis Rey Mission Church | |
| Designated | April 15, 1970 |
| Reference no. | 70000142 |
| Designated | April 15, 1970 |
| Reference no. | #239 |
| Website | |
| http://www.sanluisrey.org/ | |
Mission San Luis Rey de Francia (also known as Misión San Luis Rey de Francia in Spanish) is a historic former Spanish mission located in Oceanside, California. It gave its name to the Luiseño tribe, who are also known as Mission Indians.
This mission was once the largest of all the California missions. It covered a huge area, about 950,400 acres (384,600 hectares), including its buildings and farmlands. Other smaller outposts, like the San Antonio de Pala Asistencia (built in 1816) and the Las Flores Estancia (built in 1823), were also managed by Mission San Luis Rey.
Contents
The Mission's Early Days
The mission's full name is La Misión de San Luis, Rey de Francia, which means "The Mission of Saint Louis, King of France." It was named after King Louis IX of France. People often called it the "King of the Missions" because of its size. Father Fermín Lasuén officially started the mission on June 12, 1798. It was the eighteenth of twenty-one Spanish missions built in Alta California, which was then part of New Spain. Olive trees were first planted here in 1800.
The main church building you see today was finished in 1815. It was the third church built on this spot. This church is so well-preserved that it's recognized as a National Historic Landmark. Today, Mission San Luis Rey is still an active parish church for the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego. It also serves as a museum and a place for retreats. The mission was once home to many animals, including about 26,000 cattle, along with goats, geese, and pigs.
Life for Native Americans at the Mission
A Luiseño man named Pablo Tac grew up at the mission. He wrote about his experiences in a book called Indian Life and Customs at Mission San Luis Rey. In his book, written around 1835, Pablo Tac shared how his people, the Luiseño, faced challenges after the mission was founded. He noted that many people became sick, which led to a decrease in their population.
Pablo Tac also described how the mission fathers, or padres, managed the mission. He wrote that a padre was like a leader, overseeing many things. This included managing workers, gardens, farms, and animals. The Luiseño people initially tried to protect their lands in Southern California from the Spanish settlers.
Changes During the Mexican Era
In 1830, the very first Peruvian Pepper Tree in California was planted at Mission San Luis Rey. This tree, now often called the California Pepper tree, is very common across the state. After Mexico gained independence from Spain, the Mexican government passed a law in 1833 called the Mexican secularization act of 1833. This law meant that much of the mission's land was sold.
The Native American people, who had been working at the missions, were now free from the mission system. When the Native people at San Luis Rey heard they would be free, they cheered, "We are free! We do not want to obey! We do not want to work!" Thousands of them left the mission to return to their ancestral homes.
The Mission as a Military Post
During the Mexican–American War (1846–1847), the United States Army used the mission as a military base. In 1847, the U.S. military governor of California, Richard Barnes Mason, set up an agency at the mission. His soldiers took control of the property. Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, a Native American Shoshone who had traveled with the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition as a child, was appointed as a local leader (called an Alcalde) in the San Luis Rey area. Charbonneau later stepped down in 1848. He felt that some people thought he was unfair because of his Native American background when disagreements happened.
The Mission in Modern Times
After the mission was closed in 1834, religious services stopped for many years. The Luiseño were left behind as the Franciscan padres departed. In 1893, two priests from Mexico received permission to bring the mission back to life as a Franciscan college. Father Joseph O'Keefe started restoring the old mission in 1895. The main courtyard (called a cuadrángulo) and the church were finished by 1905. A college for training priests, San Luis Rey College, opened in 1950 but closed in 1969.
Mission San Luis Rey in Pop Culture
The mission has even appeared on TV! Several episodes of the Disney TV show Zorro, filmed in 1957, used Mission San Luis Rey as a stand-in for another mission, Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. For the show, Disney even added a skull and crossbones to the cemetery entrance!
In 1998, a special concert was held at the mission to celebrate its 200th anniversary. It featured the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the ancient Cappella Giulia Choir from St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. This was the first time this 500-year-old choir had ever visited the Western Hemisphere. The mission also underwent important structural improvements in February 2013 to make it safer during earthquakes.
Today, Mission San Luis Rey de Francia is a lively place. It serves as a parish church, cared for by its community. It also has a museum, a visitors' center, a retreat center, beautiful gardens with the famous Pepper Tree, and its original small cemetery. Restoration projects continue to preserve this important historical site.
Images for kids
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The courtyard of the mission
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Mission San Luis Rey de Francia as it appeared in 1986. In 1841, French explorer Eugene Duflot de Mofras sketched the Mission, showing a second bell tower. This suggests two towers were planned but never finished. The single tower was also used as a lookout.
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Old Cemetery - founded in 1798
See also
In Spanish: Misión San Luis Rey de Francia para niños
- Spanish missions in California
- List of Spanish missions in California
- Las Flores Asistencia
- Mission San Antonio de Pala
- Luiseño – Mission Indians
- Population of Native California
- California mission clash of cultures
- USNS Mission San Luis Rey (AO-128) – a ship named after the mission.
