History and Social Studies:
3.3.1 Research the explorers who visited here, the newcomers who settled here, and the people who continue to come to the region, including their cultural and religious traditions and contributions.

Literature and Language Arts:
2.3 Write personal and formal letters, thank-you notes, and invitations:

a.  Show awareness of the knowledge and interests of the audience and establish a purpose and context.

Introduction
Background for the Teacher
Guiding Questions
Learning Opportunities
Assessment
Guided Discussion Questions
Instructional Plan
Materials Needed
Groupings
Checking for Student Understanding
Guided Practice
Independent Practice
Closure
Extention
English Learners
G.A.T.E. Students

Introduction:

Though the settlement of California did not begin until 1769, Spanish missionaries arrived soon after the first voyage of Columbus. In 1493, Pope Alexander VI decreed that the Spanish explorers be accompanied by "worthy, God-fearing, learned, skilled and experienced men to instruct the inhabitants in the Catholic faith.” Soon after, religious communities and a chain of missions established by the Jesuits began to spring up in Mexico and Central America. Jesuit control of these missions was replaced by the Franciscans who extended the mission system into Upper California, under the control of Spanish authorities.

Miguel Joseph Serra was born November 24, 1713, the son of a farmer, at Petra, Majorca. He took his religious vows in 1730, where he also took the first name Junípero, after a disciple of St. Francis of Assisi. Later, after arriving in Mexico, he and Governor Portola determined to broaden Spanish domain into Upper California by extending the chain of missions northward. Father Serra personally established the first nine of what would eventually become twenty-one beautiful missions up the coast of California.

Background for the teacher:

Frank Augustus Miller, owner of the Mission Inn from 1880 to 1935, created a hotel that showcased his appreciation for California’s missions. Through the Inn, he evoked a romanticized view of the California mission era and an idealized version of California’s history. Miller christened spaces within the Inn the Cloister Walk, the Refectorio, and the Alhambra Courtyard, and he dedicated the Inn’s chapels to Saint Francis, Saint Cecelia, and Santa Clara. He also incorporated reminders and symbols of the missions throughout the hotel, including paintings, tapestries, della Robbia-inspired plaques, and sculptures of saints and angels. Costumed performers - some of Mexican descent – often serenaded hotel guests with the music of the early Californios.

The influence of the missions was so strong that many people assumed the hotel was once among the twenty-one missions dotting the California coastline. Indeed, Frank Miller was known to dress in a Catholic padre's cowl on occasion, conveying a vision of serenity, hospitality, and spirituality. The Mission Inn, however, was never part of Father Serra’s chain of missions and asistencias, nor did any nuns or priests reside at the Inn or regularly perform services there.

Among the enthusiastic supporters of the Mission Inn was Miller’s friend Elbert Hubbard, a writer, furniture maker, and founder of the Roycroft Colony in East Aurora, New York. Hubbard reinforced the myth of a mission on the hotel site when he wrote:

This hotel is built and furnished after the general style of the missions. Its mission to serve mankind and benefit humanity. . . One man’s spirit seems to run through the place – that of Frank A. Miller . . . fit successor to the men of God who looked after the mission that once stood on this same spot (Hubbard, 1907).

In 1932, Miller dedicated the Inn’s largest chapel, with the gold Rayas Altar and Louis Comfort Tiffany windows, to Saint Francis of Assisi. Imagery of St. Francis and Father Junipero Serra appeared throughout the hotel. The Mission Inn's shield-like escutcheon, designed by artist William Alexander Sharp, welcomed guests with the following: ENTRE, ES SU CASA, AMIGO ("Enter, this is your home, friend").

The Miller family’s passion for collecting reinforced the mission theme. The bell came to serve as an overriding symbol for the Inn. Over several decades, Miller and his family acquired in excess of eight hundred bells; today, there are approximately five hundred remaining in the collection. In 1908, Frank Miller copyrighted the “Raincross” symbol, complete with a bell at the center. Early Inn publications reported that Miller adopted the double-barred cross from the Native American people of the Southwest, but that origin has since been questioned (Hodgen, 2005). The bell imagery in the Raincross design certainly reflects a Mission-style influence. This symbol now appears throughout Riverside – from streetlights to jewelry, to city and county seals, and on concrete retaining walls lining Interstate 91. In addition to the city-wide use of the Raincross symbol, the mission theme is expressed in other ways. For example, a cross and plaque commemorating Father Junipero Serra was dedicatd by President William Howard Taft and can be found at the top of Mount Rubidoux, to the west of downtown Riverside.

Frank Miller was not alone in his fascination with the California missions. Many artists of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries depicted the missions in their paintings, including Englishman Edwin Deakin (1838-1923), Henry Chapman Ford (1828-1894), and Alexander Harmer (1856-1925). Together with early photographs, their artworks serve as important historical records, as many missions subsequently fell into disrepair and neglect. Miller acquired thirty-eight of Ford’s mission paintings, and exhibited them in an area of the hotel he called El Camino Real (the Royal Highway), named after the trail that connects the twenty-one California missions.

In 1895, Charles Fletcher Lummis-a newspaperman, librarian, editor of Land of Sunshine (later Out West), photographer, founder of the Southwest Museum, and friend of Miller-established The Landmarks Club of Los Angeles, which worked to preserve some of the California Missions. The club counted Mission Inn architect Arthur Benton, railroad tycoon Henry Huntington, and Frank Miller among its members (Benton, 1908).

The Landmarks Club’s earliest efforts included stabilization work at Mission San Juan Capistrano and Mission San Fernando Rey de España, two missions which inspired the architectural design of the Mission Inn (Lummis, 1903). In his poetic book about the Mission Inn, Benton mentions his own familiarity with the chain of missions, and notes that architectural features of the San Juan Capistrano, San Luis Rey, San Gabriel, Pala, and San Fernando Missions were all incorporated into the Inn (Benton, 1908). Some elements of the Mission Inn are also reminiscent of structures found at the San Diego and Santa Barbara Missions: the Moorish flavor of the Carmel Mission towers is echoed at the Inn, as well (Johnson, 1964).

Coinciding with such public fascination for Mission-style architecture was an interest in the plight of the Mission Indians. In her romantic novel, Ramona (1884), and her earlier book, A Century of Dishonor (1881), author Helen Hunt Jackson expressed her concern for California’s Native Americans. Since 1923, a yearly outdoor pageant in Hemet, California, has retold the tragic story of Ramona. Ramona also became part of the Mission Inn; the Ramona Dome, adjacent to the Cloister Music Room of the hotel, features a series of windows depicting Ramona and her lover Alessandro in stained glass.

Another pageant of the period, The Mission Play, told the story of California’s early history. Authored by California’s Poet Laureate and politician John Steven McGroarty, the play was staged adjacent to Mission San Gabriel Archángel for twenty years. McGroarty credited Frank Miller with the idea for the play.

Over the years, Frank Miller and others, including Elbert Hubbard, continued to portray the Mission Inn in the context of the California missions. Hubbard wrote:

(Miller) has absorbed the spirit of the old-time Mission Fathers. . .(Hubbard, 1909).

and

The Mission Inn is different from anything in America, or anything on
earth, as far as that is concerned. It has a distinct, peculiar atmosphere. It
is the old-time Mission Inn, with the quiet rest and silence, broken only
by the chiming bells that record the hours and call men to prayer. .. (Hubbard, 1912).

It is fitting that a bell hangs from a curved metal pipe support near Frank Miller’s personal suite of rooms at the front of the hotel, similar to markers placed along El Camino Real and at the California missions, themselves. Just as the missions inspired Frank Miller's imagination, his Mission Inn continues to inspire the imagination of all who visit.

Guiding Questions:

1. What was the purpose of building these twenty-one missions up the coast of California?
2. How did life change for the native peoples of California after the establishment of this mission system?
3. Why was geography a consideration for the placement of each of the missions?

Learning Opportunities: What do you expect your students to do by the end of this lesson? (Objective):

As a component during instruction on early California during the Spanish mission period, upon completing this lesson, students will be able to:

• Identify the people involved in establishing and building the Spanish missions in early California.
• Describe and discuss the cultures, religious traditions, and contributions of the people, native and non-native, who occupied the missions.
• Analyze various reference images and discussion to aid in writing.
• Write a formal thank you letter, using facts and details, and an awareness of the knowledge and interests of the audience.

Assessment: What evidence will let you know that each and every student has achieved this objective?

• Rubric Scored Formal thank you letter
• Pre/post test
• Vocabulary review

Guided Discussion Questions: What review, refocus, or leading will occur that will ensure that students are focused on the learning? (Anticipatory Set):

To introduce the topic of the Spanish missions and how their establishment changed the lives of the native people in California:

1. Why did Spain feel the need to build the missions in California?
2. How did the native people of California greet the Spaniards?
3. How did the geography of the area determine where the missions would be built?
4. How might life be different for the native people of California if the Spaniards had not established themselves in the territory with the building of the missions?
5. What was daily life like for the different people who occupied the missions?

Instructional Plan: How will the lesson be structured? What strategies will be used? (Instructional Input):

• Teacher peruses the above Introduction and Background Information.
• Teacher familiarizes self with information from website, which describes each artifact.
• Whole class direct instruction during initial questioning – tapping into prior knowledge.
• Whole class direct instruction for viewing artifacts from website or PowerPoint – contextual clue.

Materials needed to teach this lesson:

• Mission Inn website viewed on classroom LCD projector or printout PowerPoint and use on overhead or students may view from home or on classroom computer in small groups.
• Paper for Thank You notes - student will create Mission Inn graphic as decorative letterhead.

Groupings that will be used in this lesson:

• Whole class for checking for prior knowledge, guided questions, viewing artifacts,
• Independent for creating Mission Inn stationary and Thank You note.

Checking for student understanding:

• Pre/post test
• Vocabulary review

Opportunities for students to practice the skill/concept: (Guided practice):

Explain that Frank Miller, local entrepreneur, designed and furnished the Mission Inn to reflect the architecture of the California missions: it was his idealized version of an important celebration of California’s history. Tell students that today they will have the opportunity to see the architecture and ambiance of the California missions reflected in a local landmark, the Mission Inn. Give Pretest. (At each link during your Mission Inn artifact tour, there will be narrative to describe the artifacts. Use the script and links below for your student “tour” or see PowerPoint.)

One noteworthy symbol of the missions and the Mission Inn as well, is the bell. Over several years, the Miller family acquired over 800 bells in a collection, 500 of which are still in the Mission Inn, such as the Agua Mansa bell. Another bell in the Mission Inn collection was one modeled after the original El Camino Real bells. Ask students how many have been to the Mission Inn and how many have seen the Raincross bell? Explain that Frank Miller is the person who commissioned the design of the bell seen throughout the city.

Mr. Miller also hired artist William Alexander Sharp to create an escutcheon (shield) for the Mission Inn, which contained strong reference to the California missions.

Take students on a virtual tour of the Mission Inn. If projection of this site is not available, you may wish to print out the various artifact sites, make transparencies and use the overhead, or use one classroom computer as a station and ask that students view in small work groups. Suggestion: Other students groups may be involved in research.

Show students the adobe bricks, made by the native people, used in construction of the mission.This site not only shows individual bricks used in construction, but a finished home also built by the Miller family.

Throughout the hotel, artwork reflects the beauty of the California missions:  stained glass, and paintings by various artists, including paintings by Henry Chapman Ford, who tried to capture the images of the Missions as they fell into disrepair.

Frank Miller was so inspired by the California Missions that he is credited for ideas for several plays, including one written by California’s Poet Laureate, John Steven McCroarty – Mission Play written in 1911.

The California mission influence extended beyond the Mission Inn to Riverside’s own Mount Rubidoux.

Give Post test

What do you see today in Riverside that reflects the influence of the California missions?

Opportunities for students to practice the skill/concept independently: (Independent Practice):

Using plain stationary, illustrate a scene from Mission Inn artifact tour as a letterhead.

Review the information from your virtual museum tour on your graphic organizer; write a thank you note in the form of an formal letter to the curator of the Mission Inn. Follow the formal letter guidelines and writing rubric:

• Be sure to include the correct name and address of the curator.
• Thank the curator for the tour and mention at least three pieces of information you learned from this virtual tour.
• State the one piece of information that interested you the most.
• State a question that you have that was not answered.
• Use appropriate closing.
• Prepare a stamped, addressed envelope and mail a copy after rubric scoring.

Opportunities for students to reflect, summarize, clarify, or explain learning: (Closure):

Venn Diagram: Compare and contrast your home to a California mission.

Extensions:

• Field trip to the Mission Inn.
  
• Design a bell that would represent your own family to be hung in your home, using the Raincross as a model.
  
• Design an escutcheon (shield) for your own family, based on the same criteria as the one designed for the Mission Inn.
  
• Build a model of one of the California missions using student made adobe bricks.

English Learners:

Beginning:  Write one sentence in which you state at least one fact you learned from this virtual tour.

Intermediate:  Following the friendly letter format, write a one paragraph letter, thanking the curator for the educational tour.

Advanced:  Write a two paragraph thank you letter, following the friendly letter format.

G.A.T.E. Students:

Socratic Seminar:

• Were native peoples treated fairly?
• Were changes, as a result of the establishment of the missions, positive or negative for California?
• What questions were unanswered after your studies? How will you find out the answers?