On a Mission along El Camino Real

In the mid-18th century, when Spain’s King Charles III learned that Russian explorers and fur traders were settling along the Alaskan coast, he decided it was time to claim Alta California and establish colonial control. Successful colonization required three dwellings: Missions, so priests could convert Indians to Catholicism and teach them how to become self-sufficient; Presidios, for the military and Spanish administrators; and Pueblos, for civilian settlements. Father Junipero Serra was