Karan

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Created by: Karan Seroy

Mission location
Mission Soledad is located a mile west of US Hwy 101 near the town of Soledad. Mission Soledad is considered suitable because it was providing a break to the priests on the 100 mile journey between Mission San Antonio de Padua to the south and mission Carmel to the north.The mission system was designed so that each mission was one day's travel from its neighbor.

Founding of the mission
Mission Soledad was founded by Father Fray Fermin Lasuen on October 9, 1791. It was the thirteenth California mission.

Building of the mission
There were very few Indians in the area when the mission was founded, which is why it took so long for the mission to be built. There were not enough Indians to do the work. Mission Soledad was built with the help of the Ohlone tribe. The brushwood shelters were built at first and it took 6 years to built adobe chapel with straw roof. The missions buildings were build in the shape of an open square called a Quadrangle. Inside the Quadrangle there was a courtyard, friar's quarters, living area, guest area, kitchens, workrooms, two infirmaries for sick and Monjerio area for unmarried women. The materials used for the construction was logs, with roofs of woven straw, adobe, or brick building that had tile roofs. It looks like an ancient Roman temple built before the birth of Christ.

Life at the mission?
Priests, Soldiers and Ohlone Indians lived at the mission. The Ohlone men worked at leather and wood crafting as well as farming and were also working as blacksmiths. The women were responsible for preparing food. The also spun yarn, wave blankets and cloth and made clothes, candles and soap. The children helped with the work and had classes in Spanish and Bible studies. There was some free time after the evening prayers during which people talked, sang, danced and played games like hoop and pole. The Ohlone women learned to make Spanish foods, which they cooked for everyone at the mission. They ate a cereal made from corn called atole and lunch that consisted of a meat and vegetable stew called Pozole.

Indians at the missions
The Ohlone tribe lived at the mission. The typical daily schedule for Ohlone Indian is to start at sunrise, when everyone went to the church to pray and sing. An hour later the bell rang for breakfast. At 7:00 am the Ohlone Indians went to do their work. The Ohlone Indians ate their midday meal and took a small nap called a Siesta at 1:00P.M. Two hours latter around 3:00 p.m. everyone returned to work. Evening prayers were scheduled at 5:00 p.m. After an hour of church dinner was held for all followed by some free time. A bell rang at 8:00 for women to go to bed. At 9:00 P.M men went to bed. The Europeans want to convert the Ohlone to christens and be baptized.and also they wanted to prevent Indians from worshiping their own gods.The Indians were allowed to bathe, wash clothes, and have fresh drinking water.They were also given plenty of food, clothes with shelter and protection. This made the Indians life easier and also encouraged more Ohlone Indians to live in the mission.

Mission today
The church at the Mission is currently used for monthly Masses, Weddings, as a Public museum, and a favorite visitor spot. The Mission was twice destroyed by floods and the third flood basically marked the end for the Mission. A small chapel and adobe ruins are all that was left standing. The recreation currently standing was started in 1954, A group of women known as the Native daughters of the golden West decided to restore it. The group built a chapel to look like the original, but they left the crumbling walls that surrounded the church. After the restoration was finished, it was handed over to the volunteers who had agreed to maintain the restored mission.The mission is also called as Mission Soledad which means loneliness in Spanish.

Questions
Is the mission still in ruins? What year was the mission restored? What was the biggest problem in the mission success?