Pulling Things Together

As I have begun to pull all my material together I have asked myself, "what does these all mean?" Thinking about the role Maria Luisa Peralta has played in my research has lead me to ask, "why is her life silent?" and "what is the cause for this silence?" I have been searching for a significance in all that I have researched, read, and seen. Can it be that the opinions and views of the women in Alta California were of no consequence that they are omitted from history? My research has lead me to answer a resounding "NO!" In fact, I have unearthed mounds of information, it might not all be in their words but it tells about who they were and it reveals lives that greatly contributed to the building up of California. My research also leads me to claim that the social status of the Spanish-Mexican women of Alta California was greatly influenced by the Catholic Church and its views on the role of women in society. Further, the Spanish Crown and later the Mexican government promulgated these views by supporting the Church as the an absolute power. I will use the examples of women from Alta California to illustrate the views of the Catholic Church regarding women, the political views that affected these women and the cultural customs which preserved this social status. Also, I will show how all these three areas worked together to keep women in their assigned sphere. Lastly, I will address how my research has affected Bay Area History.

Religion and Women

It is impossible to speak of Alta California without mentioning the influence of the mission era on women. As we all know, the different orders of Cathloic priests split the land in Latin America and set out christianize the Native Americans. Between 1769 -1823, Father Junipero Serra and other Spanish friars established missions throughout California.


We are all familiar with the plan to build missions then lure the Indians into the missions using beads or food. Once in, the Indians would be baptized and expected to forsake their old ways. The priests were convinced that with long-term exposure to a Christian life the savage Indians could be converted. In the essay, "Sifting the Evidence: Perceptions of Life at the Ohlone (Costanoan) Missions of Alta California," by Russell K Skowronek, he claims that after "more than sixty years of missionary efforts," comprehensive studies reveal that the Ohlone, "maintained aspects of their precontact culture."

One reason for which Hispanic women were recruited to Alta California was for the express purpose of serving as role models for the neophyte women in the missions. Their role was to instill European habits of personal hygiene and etiquette and train the Indian women in the practical tasks of weaving and sewing. They served as "supervisors." More importantly, they were to prepare the neophytes for Christian marriage.

Eulalia Perez: Life of a Llavera

Eulalia Perez is significant to the story of the Californio woman because she was an eyewitness to the life of the neophytes living in the missions. She presents a female perspective on mission life. She lived in a house by Mission San Gabriel(in present day Los Angeles) and was keeper of the keys for tweleve to fourteen years. She described the "nuts and bolts" of mission life to Thomas Savage who interviewed Californios for the Bancroft Project in 1876. At the time of the interview, she couldn't remember how old but did remember when San Diego had "no other houses at the presidio except the comanders house and the soldier's barracks." (Beebe and Senkewicz, 100) Some say she was older than Spanish Alta California and others claim that she lived to be 140 years old.

She raised her family at the mission. Her daughters married and their husbands worked for the mission. Her son served as a guard. Eulalia's whole life was involved in the upkeep and success of the mission. In her testimonio, she speaks clearly and in detail about her responsiblities in organizing the processes for cooking and serving the meals for the laborers of the mission. She speaks in detail about the food that was cooked and how she kept track of all the comings and goings of the Indians assigned to her care. The internal operations of the mission, she felt, were "directed largely by her and her daughters." She witnessed the punishment the priests inflicted on the Indians for their disobedience. Most of all, "she celebrated the Spanish and Mexican women of Alta California. They educated the children, they cured diseases, and at Mission San Gabriel, they administered the largest population center in the Los Angeles area." I believe that it is safe to say that mission life was "her responsibility and her joy." Secularization "was painful to her as it had been for any of the clergy." (Beebe and Senkiwicz, 98)

Eulalia was living and working at Mission San Gabriel when Ferdinand painted this picture of the mission in 1832.

Perez's experiences in the mission are a positive testimony for those who are researching mission life. This was not the case with other Hispanic women serving in missions. Although the Hispanic women were greatly needed they were not trusted. Typically, one of the first buildings to be erected in the missions was the monjerio, the dormitories were where the single neophyte women slept. At the Santa Barbara Mission, no one was allowed to enter the monjerio without the keys of the "prelate, the alcalde, and the corporal of the mission guard. And no one was allowed in without the consent of the mission priest."(Bouvier,84)

Part of the preparation for expeditions, specifically in recruiting women for Alta California, Anza, Moncada and Rivera were instructed by the priests to take special care in selecting the women who would come to settle the new area. First of all, they had to be willing to relocate. They looked for Hispanic women who were of a pure blood line. Women who had a "good character" since they and their "daughters" would become the wives of soldiers. To set a proper example of a Christian woman for the neophyte converts, the expedition leaders were cautioned to look for virtuous women, this being the most important quality to the priests.

The Law and Women: See next post

• Example from the personal letters of Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton

Marianismo: See next post

• What is this? and How did this affect the lives of Spanish-Mexican women