As he was establishing the Camino Real, Father-President Junipero Serra had planned on Mission San Buenaventura to be his 3rd mission. It would have been approximately half way between his first two missions established, Mission San Diego (1st) and Mission San Carlos at Carmel (2nd). Although the Catholic Church founded each mission, it was Spain that funded their costs. The Spanish governor refused to provide the soldiers necessary for mission safety. So its founding was delayed. The Camino Real was about 650 miles long, from San Diego to San Francisco. As missions were being founded,, the plan was to eventually build them so that they would be one day's ride apart (or 3 days walk) so that travelers would have a safe place to spend each night. Mission San Buenaventura was eventually founded as the 9th of 21 missions. But its reason for founding was the same -- to half the distance between two established missions in order to give a safe place for travelers.
It was my last California mission to visit.
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