Junipero Serra: California's Founding Father

This is an unparalleled source of information about the development of missions in Baja and Alta California, through the prism and timeline of Junipero Serra, a Franciscan from the island of Mallorca. Written by UC Riverside historian Steven Hackel, the book is a repository and storehouse of information and history. Much in the style of Marc Reisner's Cadilllac Desert (also about California) Hackel's book selects a subject and gathers the data and supporting documents in extraordinary detail. Invaluable details- but, that being said, this book is not a page-turner. It can be dense and heavy, even uninspired at times, but the unparalleled treasure trove of information, historical documents (brief excerpts), and broad based view of a pivotal time in history made this book worth the struggle. I have always been suspicious of biographers that fawn and worship their subjects, but it seems at times that Hackel actively dislikes the subject of his book. In spite of Hackel's reservations, I grew to admire Serra's fortitude (how many miles did he walk with an ulcerous leg, with no shoes?) and bureaucratic battles with Spanish and Mexican government officials, and the Franciscan order itself. His disgust with the military, ("The soldiers, clever as they are at lassoing mules and cows, would catch an Indian woman with their lassos to become prey to their unbridled lust") yet knowing the mission's dependence on armed support put Serra at odds with his superiors in Mexico City and the power structure of New Spain. His initial enthusiasm of conversion was tempered with riots and rebellions, massacres, thefts, and constant ill health. "Be wise as serpent and harmless as a dove," would prove to be his operating principle, blending his faith, years of education, and persistence into working within (and out of) the system. His passion for Catholic conversion and baptism remained undimmed, culminating in a bureaucratic end-run that gave him the ability to confirm many parishioners in the last few years of his life. Hackel allows for very little sentimentality, but he does state that in Serra's last days, in pain, he was comforted and cradled on the floor of his small room by Indians, and given last rites by his fellow Mallorcan and longtime Franciscan colleague Palou.It was quite a journey- from Mallorcan native, to youthful novitiate, to years of study...but always burning with a desire to spread the gospel of Christ to uncharted lands, Serra took up the cross and sailed across the world to do his work. During his own lifetime he saw infighting among the orders (Domincans vs. Franciscans) and dealt with the Spanish attempts to transition the missions to parish centers instead of political forces. As someone who has profound disagreements with Catholic tenets, I still admire Serra's vision and dedication to his faith, though with some trepidation. Hackel writes a marvelous geographical and political history through one man's life. Not only of "California to be" but from Mallorca to Alta and Baja California under Spanish rule, covering the genesis of one of the most powerful states in America. The maps and details of the missions are fascinating. However, I would have appreciated more visuals and details about the mission building and construction and Serra's burial site at Mission San Carlos in Carmel. Seeing the bells and the mission sites will never be the same after reading this book. The missions were built with human sacrifice- some involuntary and some willing. The arrival of the Spanish military and padres decimated the natural habitats and multiple tribes of Indians through disease, death, and abuse. There is no progress without sacrifice. Hackel's book makes it clear that progress is relative, and does not come without a price, either individually or as a whole.

On the plus side, Hackel has attempted to write a full life of Serra -- not just the typical focus on his work in Alta California. However, there are very few sources for the earlier parts of his life -- no doubt the reason why it has not previously been written about -- and this forces Hackel into a lot of speculation -- more than I as a professional historian was comfortable with. Far too often in the early chapters, Hackel tells us what Serra must have been thinking with words like "surely he thought" when a more responsible phrasing might have been "we can't know what he thought". Another positive about the book is that it is good, old-fashioned biography. It is free of jargon and postmodernist gimmicks. Some historians, for example, might have been tempted to hypothesize a sexual relationship between Serra and Francisco Palou, but Hackel sensibly avoids that sort of silliness. His speculations, numerous though they are, stay well within the bounds of good sense. A final positive is that the book is fairly well balanced. We certainly get to see Serra's darker side and it's fair to say that his pious excesses as well as his condescending attitudes towards the native peoples are not going to make him very likable to 21st century readers. But he was a man of his time, and Hackel rightly avoids making overmuch of those things. Unfortunately, problems leave more traces in the historical records than do the mundane, so we end up hearing rather more about Serra's conflicts with Spanish authorities and rather less about the successes of the day-to-day growth of some of the missions under his care. That's not Hackel's fault, but it was disappointing to have the successes largely reduced to lists (for example) of the numbers of Indians baptized and confirmed. Serra's real achievements often were harder to discern than his setbacks.While I learned a lot from the book, and found it a very easy read, I did find some disturbing factual errors that lead me to wonder about Hackel's familiarity with early modern Catholicism. For example, he has Serra belonging to the Order of St. Francis -- which is not the name of the Franciscans. They are the Order of Friars Minor, thus the initials OFM after their names. Moreover, he calls Serra a "padre" ("father") after his profession while noting that he was not ordained. Of course, he would have been Fray Junipero, not Padre Junipero. He also often referred to priests as ministers several times, a jarringly Protestant term. Finally, Hackel invents a non-existent sacrament: "Final Communion". There was a death-bed sacrament, but it was Final Unction (or Anointing). Whenever possible, the dying would also participate in the sacraments of Penance (confessing their sins and receiving absolution) and the Eucharist (or Communion) but those were not separate sacraments for the dying. (One last oddity: Hackel has two separate tribes -- the Esselen and the Excelen -- in the same place near San Carlos mission, without noticing that surely are the same tribe just spelled differently!) When I find errors of detail like that in things that I know about, it makes me suspicious about errors lurking in the material I don't know about. Thus the reason for my middling rating. As a native Californian who visited all of the Franciscan missions as an elementary school student, I have long been fascinated with Serra and his colleagues. I do feel as if I now have a much better understanding of their world and especially of the political and military context within which they operated. In spite of the flaws, I do recommend this book for a wide audience.

An informative book about the life of Junipero Serra, a Franciscan missionary in North America and Mexico in the 1700's. However it did not go much beyond the facts and give some background information into his life and mission. For someone new to his story it is well worth a read.