California Missions
San Francisco de Solano 1823
California Missions
Physiographic Regions
San Rafael Arcángel 1817
San Francisco de Asís 1776
San José de Guadalupe 1797
Santa Clara de Asís 1777
Santa Cruz 1791
El Camino Real, or The Royal Road, connects 21 Spanish missions
Physiography is the shape of the land surface. California has
that were built in Alta California. Beginning in San Diego in
12 very distinct physiographic regions. Most of the state is
1769, Spain continued to build mission settlements up the coast
made up of high mountains and low valleys that orient north
until 1823. Each mission site was carefully selected, and located
to south. The Great Central Valley is an enormous and level
no more than a long day’s ride by horse apart. The Spanish
valley between the Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada. More
looked for land that was close to the coast, had fresh water
mountains and small valleys form the Basin and Range region
sources, and supplied wood for fires and construction. They also
on the eastern border. The Mojave and Colorado Deserts
looked for level fields with good soil for crops and livestock. The
comprise the vast southeast quarter of California. Mountains
natural landscapes on mission lands were soon replaced with
also rise above the coastline from the Klamath Mountains
agriculture and other businesses. These settlements forever
at the Oregon border, to the Southern Coast Range. South
changed the Indian way of life.
of Point Conception, a broad coastal plain extends from the
Pacific Ocean to the Transverse and Peninsular Ranges of
San Juan Bautista 1797
Southern California.
Nuestro Señora de la Soledad 1791
San Antonio de Padua 1771
San Miguel Arcángel 1797
San Luis Obispo de Tolosa 1772
La Purísima Concepción 1787
Santa Inés 1804
Top Mission Populations by Year
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
500
0
1000
Santa Bárbara 1786
San Buenaventura 1782
San Carlos Borreméo de Carmelo 1795
Santa Cruz 1796
Santa Bárbara 1803
La Purísima Concepción 1804
San Luis Obispo de Tolosa 1804
Nuestro Señora de la Soledad 1805
San Antonio de Padua 1805
San Fernando Rey de España 1811
San Juan Capistrano 1812
San Miguel Arcángel 1814
Santa Inés 1816
San Buenaventura 1816
San Gabriel Arcángel 1817
San Francisco de Asís 1820
San Juan Bautista1823
San Luis Rey de Francia 1826
Santa Clara de Asís 1827
San Rafael Arcángel 1828
San Diego de Alcala 1829
San José de Guadalupe 1831
San Francisco de Solano1832
San Fernando Rey de España 1797
San Gabriel Arcángel 1771
San Juan Capistrano 1776
Presidio
San Luis Rey de Francia 1798
Mission
0
0
El Camino Real
100 Miles
50
100
San Diego de Alcala 1769
The sources and credits for this map are listed at http://humboldt.edu/cga/atlas-sources-credits. Note that this map is an 11x14 page, and not meant for 8.5x11 printing or use.
San Carlos Borreméo de Carmelo 1770
200 Kilometers
California Geographic Alliance ©2010
23