Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad

Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad

Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad
Location of Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad in California
Location	36641 Fort Romie Road Soledad, California 93960
Coordinates
Name as founded	La Misión de María Santísima, Nuestra Señora Dolorosísima de la Soledad
English translation	The Mission of Mary Most Holy, Our Most Sorrowful Lady of Solitude
Patron	Our Lady of Solitude, Our Most Sorrowful Lady of Solitude
Nickname(s)	"The lonely Mission"
Founding date	October 9, 1791
Founding priest(s)	Fermín Francisco de Lasuén
Founding Order	Thirteenth
Military district	Third
Native tribe(s) Spanish name(s)	Chalon, Esselen, Yokuts, Salinan
Native place name(s)	Chuttusqelis
Baptisms	2,131
Marriages	648
Burials	1,705
Secularized	1835
Returned to the Church	1859
Governing body	Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey
Current use	Chapel / Museum
California Historical Landmark
Reference no.	233

Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, known colloquially as the Soledad Mission or Mission Soledad, is a Spanish mission located near the present-day town of Soledad, California. The mission was founded by the Franciscan order on October 9, 1791 to convert the Native Americans living in the area to Catholicism. It was the thirteenth of California's Spanish missions, and is named for Mary, Our Lady of Solitude. The town of Soledad is named for the mission.

After the 1835 secularization of the mission and the later sale of building materials, the mission fell into a state of disrepair and soon after was left in ruins. A restoration project began in 1954 and a new chapel was dedicated in 1955. The chapel now functions as a chapel of Our Lady of Solitude, a parish church of the Diocese of Monterey. The priests' residence was later recreated, and functions as a museum.

History

Mission era

Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, La Misión de María Santísima, Nuestra Señora Dolorosísima de la Soledad, was founded October 9, 1791 by Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, the 13th of 21 missions in the California mission chain.

The Chalon, a subgroup of the Ohlone were converted and made to work and live there, followed by Esselen and Yokut people. By 1803, there were 627 Mission Indians at Mission Soledad. At the Mission many Chalon married local Esselen speakers, while others married Yokuts were brought into the mission between 1806 and 1834.

The mission's herds numbered 1,150 cattle, about 5,000 sheep, 30 swine, 670 horses and 40 mules. Spanish Governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga was buried in the chapel after he died on July 24, 1814 during a visit to the Mission.

The mission was inundated by floods in 1824, 1828, and 1832, and following secularization (when Pio Pico sold the mission for a reported $800), the remaining buildings were looted for supplies.

File:Nuestra Senora de la Soledad circa 1900 Keystone-Mast.jpg

The ruins of Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad circa 1900.

Restoration and reconstruction

In 1954, when the Mission Soledad restoration was begun, only piles of adobe dirt and a few wall sections from the cuadrángulo (quadrangle) remained. The chapel was reconstructed and dedicated under the auspices of the Native Daughters of the Golden West on October 9, 1955. The ruins of the quadrangle, cemetery, and some of the outer rooms, while not restored, can still be seen. Governor Arrillaga's grave was identified and given a new marker.

The Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad is now a functioning Catholic chapel and public museum.

See also

• USNS Mission Soledad (AO-136) – a Buenaventura Class fleet oiler built during World War II.

References

• Tapis, Estevan, OFM, State of the Missions of New California ... December 1803.

External links

• Official Mission Soledad website
• Mission Nuestra Senora de la Soledad: Early photographs and sketches archives - via Calisphere California Digital Library