Referaat Spanish California
In 1769,
the first parties set north from Baja California, and the line of Spanish settlement
along the coast was inaugurated when soldiers and priests established a presidio
and mission church at San Diego. By the end of the Spanish colonial period,
Alta California had three more presidios (at Monterey, San Francisco, and Santa
Barbara) and no fewer than twenty-one missions. In addition to the missions,
where the Franciscans ministered to local converts, and the military presidios,
small towns or pueblos sprang up. The earliest of these were associated with the
missions and presidios, but in 1777 an independent civil pueblo was created at
San Jose, and others followed. The pueblos tried to attract settlers with land
grants and other inducements and were governed by an alcalde (a combination
of a judge and a mayor) assisted by a council called the ayuntamiento. After
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