Mission of the Valley

Before Rachel left Friday night, we visited one more mission that day. We went to one nearby in the San Fernando Valley called Mission San Fernando Rey de Espana.  It was really pretty and the lawns were very well manicured.  This time we had plenty of time to tour the place.  It was really interesting to see.

Here’s an interesting quote from Wikipedia, “The goal of the missions was, above all, to become self-sufficient in relatively short order. Farming, therefore, was the most important industry of any mission. Prior to the establishment of the missions, the native peoples knew only how to utilize bone, seashells, bush, and wood for building, tool making, weapons, and so forth. The missionaries discovered that the Indians, who regarded labor as degrading to the masculine sex, had to be taught industry in order to learn how to be self-supportive. The result was the establishment of a great manual training school that comprised agriculture, the mechanical arts, and the raising and care of livestock.”