El Camino del Oro
Although the missions in Baja California are older鈥攖he earliest of which was established at Loreto in 1697鈥攖he first mission in what is now the state of California was founded in San Diego by Spanish Franciscan friars in 1769. Over the next fifty years, Spanish missionaries established a total of 21 missions throughout California, stretching as far north as Sonoma. They were connected by El Camino Real, also called the Royal Road or the King鈥檚 Highway, a route that today鈥檚 Highway 101 approximates.
In 1821, Mexico declared its independence from Spain and claimed California as a province. Mexico passed laws restricting the missions and their vast land holdings were confiscated and distributed as land grants, leading to the formation of large ranches. By 1850, when California became the 31st state of the Union, many of the missions had been abandoned and were in ruins. It wasn鈥檛 until the 1890s, when artists began portraying the missions as relics of California鈥檚 romantic past that a serious effort was made to preserve and restore them.
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Although the missions in Baja California are older鈥攖he earliest of which was established at Loreto in 1697鈥攖he first mission in what is now the state of California was founded in San Diego by Spanish Franciscan friars in 1769. Over the next fifty years, Spanish missionaries established a total of 21 missions throughout California, stretching as far north as Sonoma. They were connected by El Camino Real, also called the Royal Road or the King鈥檚 Highway, a route that today鈥檚 Highway 101 approximates.
In 1821, Mexico declared its independence from Spain and claimed California as a province. Mexico passed laws restricting the missions and their vast land holdings were confiscated and distributed as land grants, leading to the formation of large ranches. By 1850, when California became the 31st state of the Union, many of the missions had been abandoned and were in ruins. It wasn鈥檛 until the 1890s, when artists began portraying the missions as relics of California鈥檚 romantic past that a serious effort was made to preserve and restore them.
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