WOODEN BUCKET

Father de Lasuen established the San Fernando Mission where he did in part because of the seemingly fertile soil. An important reason for the rich land was the water supply. From the earliest days water was extremely valuable to those who lived in the San Fernando Valley.

Shortly after the foundation of the mission, the padres discovered a trickle of water and traced it to a spring to the north. With the help of the Indians, this water was diverted into a ditch and dammed. In l808, a more permanent dam of stone masonry was created for the purpose of controlling the water for irrigation. A clay pipe aqueduct, installed in 18ll, brought water directly into the fountain at the mission.

METAL CAULDRON

On the grounds of the vast San Fernando Mission were grown many things. As at the other California missions, cattle raising was the greatest industry. Many Indians were engaged in such operations as herding, branding and slaughtering the cattle.

Industrial products manufactured at the San Fernando Mission included tallow, soap, shoes and clothing. A number of trades also flourished; among them adobe and tile making, stone-cutting and carpentry.

The San Fernando Mission became renowned for its excellent blacksmiths. Many types of fruit and vegetables were grown. Though used primarily as a stewing pot for cooking, in most of the activities conducted at the mission, metal cauldrons like the one pictured above could be used to carry or hold whatever was necessary.

MISSION POTTERY IN MUSEUM ROOMS

The San Fernando Mission, known for simplicity in design of its buildings and facilities, became self sufficient in the first two decades of the l9th-century. Because Spain was so far away and was in decline, food and many of the things needed to operate on a day to day basis had to be manufactured on site.

In some of the various museums rooms at the San Fernando Mission are replicas of bowls, jars and pottery similar to those used during the mission period. The principle material used to fashion these containers was red clay.

MISSION POTTERY

The Indians in the San Fernando Valley, in the early l9th century, were called by the Spanish, "Fernandino's." Three dialects of the Shoshone language were spoken. Many Fernandinos were accomplished craftsmen; the men producing objects in wood, stone, bone and shell. The women were unexcelled at weaving finely woven and beautifully decorated baskets.

The Indian "neophytes" or converts to Christianity, most of whom lived on the mission grounds; made the San Fernando Mission one of the most prosperous of the California missions. These clay bowls and containers are replicas of those utilized at the San Fernando Mission for meals and other purposes.