San Luis Obispo Mission

Back from our Northern Trip and ready to tell about the rest of the California Missions.

On the 23rd, we made our way back toward Monterey to spend Christmas at home (posted on this a couple of days ago), but we were able to go to two more missions along the way.  The first was Mission San Luis Obispo.

This was our eleventh mission of the trip...can these historical churches continue to be interesting and different?  Yes!  They never ceased to impress us as we moved about the buildings and the gardens.

San Luis Obispo was the 5th of the missions built under the care of Fr. Serra in 1772.  It was one of the few churches that would not be relocated.  It was named after a 14th century Franciscan bishop from France.

This mission actually has an interesting beginning.  The expedition that had traveled to San Francisco was making its way back when they began to grow hungry.  They noticed that the fields had been harvested by bears and the people were just as hungry as the men of the expedition.  When one of the bears appeared before the group, they struggled yet succeeded in bringing the bear down.  They had a feast for all around.  The leaders of the expedition named the area La Cañada de los Osos (Valley of the Bears).  Later when the inhabitants of two of the near by missions were starving for food during a bad season, the leaders remembered the valley and sent a hunting party.  They returned with over 9000 pounds of bear meat.  It is now customary to sing a song of thanksgiving to the bears on February 13th in remembrance of this occasion.  Fr. Serra decided the need for a mission at this location would be the best for all the surrounding missions.

Although much of the population of this mission was from the local tribes, this mission also boasts the first baptism of a white child.  With the good also comes the terrible and this mission was attacked by some of the natives several times.  Due to this, the thatch roof system used was not helpful for this mission.  This lead to the first of the Spanish tiles used in the missions.

When we arrived at the mission, it was early in the morning and we had the place to ourselves.  We had a volunteer talk to us about the history and he encouraged us to visit the fountain on the opposite side of the mission.

We enjoyed the simple museum that held artifacts of the mission period, including the original altar.  There was also a recreation of the monks quarters (quite simple) compared to the officer quarters (quite fancy).

Upon entering the mission church, we quickly dubbed it the "Mission of the Birds."  I know that San Juan Capistrano is known for its swallows, but this church had incorporated into its painted walls many of the wild birds to the area.  So beautiful and unique!

We did remember the volunteer's advice and made our way to side of the mission and discovered a fun bear fountain!  So fitting to the history of the area and the mission!