"The Spanish originally planned to turn the missions over to Indian leaders and non-missionary clergy after ten years. That didn't exactly happen.
Mexico's fight for independence from Spain affected California's missions very little. But after the war, ownership of the missions transferred from Spain to Mexico, and California became a Mexican province. In a document titled "Provisional Regulations for the Emancipation of the Mission Indians," issued 7/15/1833, then California governor José Figueroa proclaimed that the missions would become parish churches and half their lands would go to the Indians.
That didn't exactly happen either.
Few Tongva, also known as Gabrielinos, got any land. Some administrators sold land cheaply or gave it to friends and relatives. One of these administrators, appointed by Figueroa to oversee secularization, was Pío Pico, who later became the last Mexican governor of California.
Gabrielinos who received land had a hard time keeping it. Some tried farming, but failed in debt or had their lands confiscated and given away by the Mexican government. Some even turned down land, as the concept of land ownership wasn't part of their culture."
Get the Story:
Petrea Burchard:
The Gabrielinos: Aftermath
(The South Pasadena Patch 2/11)
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