Beyer's Byways: San Buenaventura Mission is a complex, historical place

A boy was born on Nov. 24, 1713, in the small hamlet of Petra on the island of Mallorca off the coast of Spain. His name was Miquel Josep Serra i Ferrer – later to be known simply as Father Serra.

The lad grew up in a humble setting, working in the wheat and bean fields along with his parents, Antonio and Margarita.

Little did they realize that the young man would someday have such an important role to play halfway around the globe.

Miquel felt a religious calling and joined the Franciscan Order at Palma. He was given the name Junipero in honor of Brother Junipero, who had been a close friend of Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan Order.

He became a priest in 1737 and headed off to college. His teachers and fellow students believed him to brilliant in his studies, and in fact, he received his doctor of philosophy from the Lullian College in Palma de Mallorca.

His superiors believed he had a great and bright future educating other young men who had also entered the priesthood.

But that was not for Miquel. He had the wanderlust in him and wanted to be a missionary in far-off lands.

I understand the wanderlust of visiting places I have not seen before – it is exciting. To view new sights and experience the thrill of something unique is always on my list of things to do.

That is what adventure is all about – no matter where that adventure may be waiting.

Father Junipero Serra, as he was known at this time, knew where he wanted to go.

He ended up in Mexico City in 1750. Now, I am not going into much detail here about the time he spent in Mexico City except to say that in 1752 he was put in charge of the Spanish Inquisition.

Not a glorious era for the Catholic Church.

Laureen and I found ourselves recently in the Ventura area, and decided to stop at the San Buenaventura Mission and have a look-see.

We have been there before, many years ago, and it is a beautiful place to visit with meticulously tended gardens, tall trees, rows of rose bushes all behind a tall and thick wall with a beautiful large fountain with bubbling water.

The promenade leading to the front of the basilica is wide and lined on both sides with older but well-kept buildings that now house restaurants, bars and other sorts of shops.

A foot-wide, three-inch deep, white tiled trough runs through the middle of the promenade from just across the street from the basilica to a huge fountain a hundred yards from the church.

A good-sized grassy park sits just west of the site where lots of folks were out enjoying the late afternoon beachy weather.

It is a peaceful place to saunter. And saunter we did, with Laureen jumping up onto a mammoth-sized Adirondack blue chair stationed along the promenade.

“I feel tiny,” she said.

“Anyone would in a chair the size of a Boeing 747.”

San Buenaventura was founded in March 1782 by Father Serra; it was one of nine such missions Serra dedicated out of the total 21 missions constructed.

The Jesuit Order had been given the command by Rome in the late seventieth century to start establishing missions to educate the natives in the ways of Christianity in what would be later known as Baja California. But in 1767, King Carlos III expelled all those belonging to the Jesuit Order and forced them to return to Spain.

Some research hinted the reason they were expelled was that King Carlos III believed the religious order had amassed a huge amount of wealth and was becoming too powerful in the far-off lands.

Hmm, sounded as though he may have been a bit jealous.

“Those guys are just feeling too big in their robes,” the king may have said.

Anyway, when the Jesuits left, Serra and the Franciscan Order took over establishing missions.

“Want to wander the gardens?” I asked.

Laureen nodded. “I’d love to.”

And so, we did.

After Serra had left the mission and headed north, he left Padre Cambon in charge, and he immediately began construction of a rock aqueduct. The mission needed a full-time water supply and he found it along the Ventura River. The aqueduct ran for almost seven miles into a couple of holding tanks stationed behind the San Buenaventura Mission.

The actual red tile and brick filtering tanks are still there on the grounds to be viewed.

It was quite a feat to build such a water system, but Cambon had the assistance of the local Chumash people.

Not sure it was truly a volunteer action on the Chumash side, though.

The Chumash were the Native Americans who were living in the area when the Spanish first arrived. Their territory included the central and southern coastal regions of California and three of the Channel Islands.

It is believed that natives had been living in and around where the Chumash resided for over 11,000 years. In fact, in 1959, archaeologist Phil Orr found a human femur on Santa Rosa Island and radiocarbon dated it to over 13,000 years old. They called the remains Arlington Springs Man.

I have no idea why. Santa Rosa Man sounds so much more authentic, and the locale is identified. A song could probably be written about it.

“I’m just an old Santa Rosa Man lying around on an island surrounded by the blue ocean waters. Oh, for the rest of my bones…”

But I am simply a humble writer and not the one who found such an old femur bone.

The aqueduct watering system worked well for decades, carrying water to the orchards and gardens in and outside the mission while also allowing drinking water to flow easily into the church grounds.

Unfortunately, a huge flood in 1862 destroyed the aqueduct completely.

A woman we met at the mission told us that the aqueduct ruins can still be seen a few miles northeast of the mission.

A sidenote, after visiting the mission, we ventured toward the ruins and sure enough there they were. The craftsmanship and effort to build such an aqueduct, even hundreds of years later, was easy to see. It was very impressive.

An interesting place to visit is the small graveyard behind the mission. There are three men buried there: Padre Vicente de Santa Maria. who died in 1806, Padre Jose Senan, who died in 1823, and Padre Suner, who died in 1831.

Inside the museum is the historical time frame of when Serra first arrived and the role he played establishing the mission.

But to me, a great deal of effort is placed on the importance of the Chumash people themselves during the same time.

Information concerning the daily life of the Chumash details how they spent their days weaving baskets, making clothes, tending gardens, planting orchards, taking care of the various animals — cattle and horses — and receiving both religious and Spanish lessons.

The mission was visited by a merchant by the name of Alfred Robinson, who wrote in his 1846 book, “Life in California”: “In their proper season they have apples, pears, peaches, pomegranates, tuna or prickly pears, and grapes.”

There are art projects depicting the early days of the mission. Paintings and drawings of those who lived and worked at the mission when it was founded and in the following years. Handicraft items created by hands long dead but as though they were woven just yesterday.

Museums are like that — a place to visit, understand, and appreciate those that are no longer here but will never be forgotten.

San Buenaventura Mission is such a place. It is peaceful, beautiful and historical.

Of course, a lot of history has passed since Father Junipero Serra walked into the Chumash territory to build a mission and much of it, in modern eyes, is not to our liking.

Many of the natives who were met along the way by the Spanish and others were treated horribly, there is no denying that, but at the same time it is our combined history and must be looked upon as such.

The adage, “We cannot change the past but only the future” rings true when visiting such places as San Buenaventura Mission or any of its 20 other cousins, but that does not mean they should not be visited.

It was a different time and sometimes, when we travel, we must remember that — that is only fair.

For more information: www.sanbuenaventuramission.org

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Beyer's Byways: San Buenaventura Mission is a complex historical place