To The Presidial
Troops Were Joined Thirty Christian Indians From The Missions, Armed
With Bows And Arrows.
These were intended for the land expedition.
The
mission of Santa Maria, the northernmost mission on the peninsula, was
the rendezvous of the land forces, and from Loreto four lighters loaded
with provisions for the land expedition were sent up the gulf to the bay
of San Luis Gonzaga, the nearest point to the mission of Santa Maria,
whither also went by land the troops, muleteers, and vaqueros, with the
herd of every sort. Finding insufficient pasturage for the cattle at
Santa Maria, they advanced to Velicata, some thirty miles distant, and
here was assembled the land expedition. In addition to the officers
named, Don Miguel Costanso, ensign of royal engineers, was ordered to
join the expedition as cosmographer and diarist, and Don Pedro Prat was
appointed physician. To minister to the soldiers and take charge of the
missions to be established in the new land, the following missionary
priests, all of the college of San Fernando in Mexico, were named to
accompany the expedition. Fray Junipero Serra, appointed president of
the missions of Alta California, Fray Juan Crespi, Fray Fernando Parron,
Fray Juan Vizcaino, and Fray Francisco Gomez.
On the 6th of January, 1769, at the port of La Paz, the San Carlos was
loaded and ready for sea. The venerable Father Junipero Serra sang mass
aboard her, and with other devotional exercises blessed the ship and the
standards. The visitador named the Senor San Jose patron of the
expedition, and in a fervent exhortation, kindled the spirits of those
about to sail.
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