Mission San Luis Rey

Mission San Luis Rey was the 18th mission, founded June 13, 1798, by Father Fermin Lasuen. Named for Louis IX, King of France 1215-70 who fought in the Crusades at Egypt and the Holy Land. Known as the "King of the Missions"

Considered the largest and richest of all the missions in both Americas, this mission is

located in present-day San Luis Rey, 5 miles north of Oceanside, where it was designed to close the gap between Mission San Diego and San Juan Capistrano. This was Father Lasuen's 9^th mission founding, but unlike the others, he stayed on for several weeks to lend his expertise. From the outset, it enjoyed many advantages. The Indians were very receptive to conversion and on opening ceremony had 54 baptisms. The neophyte population remained strong throughout the life of the mission, that in the first six months, the population jumped from 200 to 1400. Gifted in architecture, the leader of the mission was Father Antoni Peyri, who directed the elaborate structures with the culmination of the impressive noble church that still stands on the hilltop. The mission was laid out in the shape of a cross. Construction continued throughout the life of the mission until the mission buildings covered 6 acres, making it one of the most extensive in the mission chain. An elaborate water system directed water from the nearby rivers to a bathing pond and laundry room, then to a sunken garden and finally to fields for irrigation. Father Peyri was one of the most popular and versatile padres who was immensly loved by the Indians and was known as the guardian Father of San Luis Rey de Francia. The Pala Asistencia, San Antonio de Pala was established by Father Peyri in 1815 as a branch mission and is still in use today by the Indians as a parish.

Though Father Peyri worked cooperatively with both Spanish and later Mexican governments, including sending regular supplies, he could see the imminent decline of the missions under the Mexican government and chose to depart. In 1832, he slipped away during the night to avoid farewells, but when word got out that he had left, over 500 of the Indians tracked him down at San Diego, only to reach him in time to get a final blessing from the ship before it departed. The mission was secularized in 1833. Governor Pio Pico sold the lands in 1846 to his friends and relatives, including one section, which was 90,000 acres, divided between himself and his brother Andres. The Indians were forced off one ranchero of the mission after another, until in 1903, the United States  government gathered the remaining Indians into a "temporary"