Editing Spanish missions in California (section)

=== Mission industries ===

[[File:Mission San Juan Capistrano 4-5-05 100 6559.JPG|thumb|A view of the [[Catalan forge]]s at Mission San Juan Capistrano, the oldest existing facilities (''circa'' 1790s) of their kind in the State of California. The sign at the lower right-hand corner proclaims the site as being "...part of Orange County's first industrial complex."]]

The goal of the missions was, above all, to become self-sufficient in relatively short order. Farming, therefore, was the most important [[Industry (economics)|industry]] of any mission. Barley, [[maize]], and wheat were among the most common crops grown. Cereal grains were dried and ground by stone into flour. Even today, California is well known for the abundance and many varieties of fruit trees that are cultivated throughout the state. The only fruits indigenous to the region, however, consisted of wild berries or grew on small bushes. Spanish [[missionary|missionaries]] brought fruit seeds over from Europe, many of which had been introduced from Asia following earlier expeditions to the continent; orange, grape, apple, peach, pear, and fig seeds were among the most prolific of the imports. Grapes were also grown and [[fermentation (food)|fermented]] into wine for [[sacrament]]al use and again, for trading. The specific variety, called the ''Criolla'' or ''[[Mission (grape)|Mission grape]]'', was first planted at Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1779; in 1783, the first wine produced in Alta California emerged from the mission's winery. [[Ranch#Spanish North America|Ranching]] also became an important mission industry as cattle and sheep herds were raised.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Mission San Gabriel Arcángel unknowingly witnessed the origin of the California citrus industry with the planting of the region's first significant orchard in 1804, though the commercial potential of citrus was not realized until 1841.<ref>A. Thompson, p. 341</ref> Olives (first cultivated at Mission San Diego de Alcalá) were grown, cured, and pressed under large stone wheels to extract their oil, both for use at the mission and to trade for other goods. The Rev. Serra set aside a portion of the Mission Carmel gardens in 1774 for tobacco plants, a practice that soon spread throughout the mission system.<ref>Bean and Lawson, p. 37</ref><ref group=notes>Bean: "Serra's decision to plant tobacco at the missions was prompted by the fact that from San Diego to Monterey the natives invariably begged him for Spanish tobacco."</ref>

It was also the missions' responsibility to provide the Spanish forts, or ''presidios'', with the necessary foodstuffs, and manufactured goods to sustain operations. It was a constant point of contention between missionaries and the soldiers as to how many ''fanegas''<ref>A ''fanega'' is equal to 100 [[Pound (mass)|pounds]].</ref> of barley, or how many shirts or blankets the mission had to provide the garrisons on any given year. At times these requirements were hard to meet, especially during years of drought, or when the much anticipated shipments from the port of [[San Blas, Nayarit|San Blas]] failed to arrive. The Spaniards kept meticulous records of mission activities, and each year reports submitted to the Father-Presidente summarizing both the material and spiritual status at each of the settlements.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

[[File:Primitive plow.jpg|thumb|Natives using a primitive [[plough|plow]] to prepare a field for planting near Mission San Diego de Alcalá.]]

Livestock was raised, not only for the purpose of obtaining meat, but also for wool, leather, and tallow, and for cultivating the land. In 1832, at the height of their prosperity, the missions collectively owned:<ref>Krell, p. 316: As of December 31, 1832.</ref>
* 151,180 head of cattle;
* 137,969 sheep;
* 14,522 horses;
* 1,575 mules or burros;
* 1,711 goats; and
* 1,164 swine.

All these grazing animals were originally brought up from Mexico. A great many Indians were required to guard the herds and flocks on the [[Ranch#Spanish North America|mission ranches]], which created the need for "...a class of horsemen scarcely surpassed anywhere."<ref name="engelhardtMAM3-18">Engelhardt 1908, pp. 3–18</ref> These animals multiplied beyond the settler's expectations, often overrunning pastures and extending well-beyond the domains of the missions. The giant herds of horses and cows took well to the climate and the extensive pastures of the Coastal California region, but at a heavy price for the California Native American people. The uncontrolled spread of these new herds, and associated [[Invasive species|invasive exotic plant species]], quickly exhausted the [[California native plants|native plants]] in the grasslands,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnga.org/|title=California Native Grasslands Association – Home|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090828124501/http://www.cnga.org/|archive-date=2009-08-28}}</ref> and the [[California chaparral and woodlands|chaparral and woodlands]] that the Indians depended on for their seed, foliage, and bulb harvests. The grazing-[[overgrazing]] problems were also recognized by the Spaniards, who periodically had extermination parties cull and kill thousands of excess livestock, when herd populations grew beyond their control or the land's capacity. Years with a severe drought did this also.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Mission kitchens and [[bakery|bakeries]] prepared and served thousands of meals each day. Candles, soap, grease, and ointments were all made from [[tallow]] ([[kitchen rendering|rendered]] animal fat) in large vats located just outside the west wing. Also situated in this general area were vats for dyeing wool and [[Tanning (leather)|tanning]] leather, and primitive looms for weaving. Large ''bodegas'' (warehouses) provided long-term storage for preserved foodstuffs and other treated materials.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

[[File:Mission sb lavanderia.jpg|left|thumb|Mission Santa Barbara's ''lavandería'' was constructed by [[Chumash (tribe)|Chumash]] neophytes around 1806.]]

Each mission had to fabricate virtually all of its construction materials from local materials. Workers in the ''carpintería'' (carpentry shop) used crude methods to shape beams, lintels, and other structural elements; more skilled artisans carved doors, furniture, and wooden implements. For certain applications bricks (''ladrillos'') were fired in ovens ([[kilns]]) to strengthen them and make them more resistant to the elements; when ''tejas'' (roof tiles) eventually replaced the conventional ''jacal'' roofing (densely packed reeds) they were placed in the kilns to harden them as well. Glazed ceramic pots, dishes, and canisters were also made in mission kilns.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Prior to the establishment of the missions, the native peoples knew only how to use bone, seashells, stone, and wood for building, tool making, weapons, and so forth. The missionaries established manual training in European skills and methods; in agriculture, mechanical arts, and the raising and care of livestock. Everything consumed and otherwise used by the natives was produced at the missions under the supervision of the padres; thus, the neophytes not only supported themselves, but after 1811 sustained the entire military and civil government of California.<ref>Engelhardt 1922, p. 211</ref> The [[foundry]] at Mission San Juan Capistrano was the first to introduce the Indians to the [[Iron Age]]. The [[blacksmith]] used the mission's [[bloomery|forges]] (California's first) to [[smelting|smelt]] and fashion iron into everything from basic tools and hardware (such as nails) to crosses, gates, hinges, even cannon for mission defense. Iron in particular was a commodity that the mission acquired solely through trade, as there was no mining infrastructure or industry in the region.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Melendez |first=David |date=2021-12-20 |title=Missionaries and Borderlands: "The Mission Play" and Missionary Practices in Alta California |url=https://czasopisma.ispan.pl/index.php/pt/article/view/982 |journal=Pamiętnik Teatralny |volume=70 |issue=4 |pages=61–78 |doi=10.36744/pt.982 |issn=2658-2899|doi-access=free }}</ref>

No study of the missions is complete without mention of their extensive [[water supply]] systems. Stone ''zanjas'' ([[aqueduct (watercourse)|aqueducts]], sometimes spanning miles, brought fresh water from a nearby river or spring to the mission site. Open or covered lined ditches and/or baked clay pipes, joined with [[lime mortar]] or [[bitumen]], gravity-fed the water into large [[cistern]]s and fountains, and emptied into waterways where the force of the water was used to turn grinding wheels and other simple machinery, or dispensed for use in cleaning. Water used for drinking and cooking was allowed to trickle through alternate layers of sand and charcoal to remove the impurities. One of the best-preserved mission water systems is at Mission Santa Barbara.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/parksrec/parks/features/views/missionhistorical.asp|title=Santa Barbara – Mission Historical Park|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905094801/http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/gov/depts/parksrec/parks/features/views/missionhistorical.asp|archive-date=2017-09-05}}</ref>