The Number of: California Indians Baptised During the Mission Period: 1770 to 1834

he California Indians were a very important factor in the occupation and holding of the province; their conversion in religion and their introduction into the Spanish way of life made possible the land utilization until the Spanish nationals and naturalized aliens could supplant and later supersede the neophytes. The general political conditions of Europe and its overseas holdings were such in the middle of the eighteenth century as to impel the Spanish government to make an active effort in occupying its somewhat undefined and wholly unprotected territory west of the Mississippi River. The civil and military authorities undertook the occupation and holding of the areas in the immediate vicinity of the missions and the Franciscan Fathers undertook the conversion and