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Article: Mission Indians of California
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
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MISSION INDIANS OF CALIFORNIA
MISSION INDIANS OF CALIFORNIA.
Beginning in 1769, the first of twenty-one Franciscan missions was established in California. The missions ranged from San Diego north to San Francisco and were a means for the Spanish to control the Indians. Soldiers rounded up Indians who, once taken inside the missions, became slaves. Those who tried to escape were severely punished; some were killed. Indians' tribal names were usually forgotten, and instead they became known by the names of the missions they served. During the sixty-five years of the missions, Indians were inflicted with disease and despair, and their numbers were depleted by over 80 percent.
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