Relación histórica de la vida y apostólicas tareas del venerable Padre Fray Junípero Serra
Mexico, 1787

Palóu was a Franciscan missionary and student of Father Junípero Serra. In 1749 they left Spain together for Mexico, and from there journeyed to Baja California in 1768. Palóu eventually headed north in 1773, establishing the border between modern Mexico and the United States along the way. Over the next thirteen years he assisted Serra in establishing the mission system throughout California. In 1785 Palóu was recalled to Mexico, where he died in 1789.

Serra eventually settled at the mission in Monterey, California, where he held influence regarding Spanish colonial policies toward the region. Committed to the conversion of Native Americans, Serra was a part of a mission life that was very harsh on the natives and sometimes included the forced conversion to Roman Catholicism. Once members of a mission, Native Americans were completely under the control of the monks and were often beaten or imprisoned. Serra died at his mission in 1784 and was beatified in 1988.

Relacion historica de la vida y apostolicas tareas del venerable padre Fray Junipero Serra : y de las misiones que fundó en la California Septentrional, y nuevos establecimientos de Monterey was not printed again until 1852; a much-abbreviated version was translated into English in 1884.

Selected Pages

Call number: Clark Library Montana Collection F864 .P18