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William Henry Hudson - The Famous Missions of California
It was thus with the feeling that, while something had been done, far more was left to do, that the padre
returned to his own special charge at San Carlos. Various circumstances in combination had caused the
postponement, year after year, of that third mission, which, according to original intentions, was to have
followed immediately upon the establishments at San Diego and Monterey. Three new settlements were
now projected on the Santa Barbara Channel, and the first of these was to be the mission of San
Buenaventura. It was not until 1782, however, that the long-delayed purpose was at length accomplished.
The site chosen was at the southeastern extremity of the channel, and close to an Indian village, or
ranchería to which Portalà's expedition in 1769 had given the name of Ascencion de Nuestra Señora, or,
briefly, Assumpta. A little later on, in pursuance of the same plan, the then governor, Filipe de Neve,
took formal possession of a spot some ten leagues distant, and there began the construction of the
presidio of Santa Barbara. It was Junipero's earnest desire to proceed at once with the adjoining mission.
But the governor, for reasons of his own, threw obstacles in the way, and in the end this fresh
undertaking was left to other hands.
For we have now come to the close of Father Junipero's long and strenuous career; and as we look back
over the record of it, our wonder is, not that he should have died when he did, but rather that he had not
killed himself many years before. His is surely one of those cases in which supreme spiritual power and
sheer force of will triumph over an accumulation of bodily ills. Far from robust of constitution, he had
never given himself consideration or repose, forcing himself to exertions which it would have appeared
utterly impossible that his frame could bear, and adding to the constant strain of his labours and travels
the hardships of self-inflicted tortures of a severe ascetic régime. He had always been much troubled by
the old ulcer on his leg, though this, no matter how painful, he never regarded save when it actually
incapacitated him for work; and for many years he had suffered from a serious affection of the heart,
which had been greatly aggravated, even if it was not in the first instance caused, by his habit of beating
himself violently on his chest with a huge stone, at the conclusion of his sermons - to the natural horror
of his hearers, who, it is said, were often alarmed lest he should drop dead before their eyes. The fatal
issue of such practices could only be a question of time. At length, mental anxiety and sorrow added their
weight to his burden - particularly disappointment at the slow progress of his enterprise, and grief over
the death of his fellow-countryman and close friend, Father Crespì, who passed to his well-earned rest on
New Year's Day, 1782. After this loss, it is recorded, he was never the same man again, though he held
so tenaciously to his duties, that only a year before the call came to him, being then over seventy, he
limped from San Diego to Monterey, visiting his missions, and weeping over the outlying Indian
rancherìas, because he was powerless to help the unconverted dwellers in them. He died at San Carlos,
tenderly nursed to the end by the faithful Palou, on the 28th August, 1784; and his passing was so
peaceful that those watching thought him asleep. On hearing the mission bells toll for his death, the
whole population, knowing well what had occurred, burst into tears; and when, clothed in the simple
habit of his order, his body was laid out in his cell, the native neophytes crowded in with flowers, while
the Spanish soldiers and sailors pressed round in the hope of being blessed by momentary contact with
his corpse. He was laid beneath the mission altar beside his beloved friend Crespì; but when, in after
years, a new church was built, the remains of both were removed and placed within it.
It is not altogether easy to measure such a man as Junipero Serra by our ordinary modern standards of
character and conduct. He was essentially a religious enthusiast, and as a religious enthusiast he must be
judged. To us who read his story from a distance, who breathe an atmosphere totally different from his,
and whose lives are governed by quite other passions and ideals, he may often appear one-sided,
extravagant, deficient in tact and forethought, and, in the excess of his zeal, too ready to sacrifice
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