be under
the care of his old friend, Padre Ibanez, died there, and was buried,
July 26, under the center of the church.

For about forty years priests and natives lived a quiet, peaceful life
in this secluded valley, with an abundance of food and comfortable
shelter. That they were blessed with plenty and prosperity is evidenced
by the record that in 1829 they furnished $1150 to the Monterey
presidio. At one time they possessed over six thousand cattle; and in
1821 the number of cattle, sheep, horses, and other animals was
estimated at over sixteen thousand.

[Illustration: ANOTHER VIEW OF THE WALLS OF MISSION LA SOLEDAD.]

[Illustration: MISSION SAN JOSE. SOON AFTER THE DECREE OF
SECULARIZATION. From an old print.]

[Illustration: FIGURE OF CHRIST, MISSION SAN JOSE ORPHANAGE.]

After the changes brought about by political administration the
number of Indians rapidly decreased, and the property acquired by their
united toil quickly dwindled away, until little was left but poverty and
suffering.

At the time secularization was effected in 1835, according to the
inventory made, the estate, aside from church property, was valued at
$36,000. Six years after secular authorities took charge only about 70
Indians remained, with 45 cattle, 25 horses, and 865 sheep,--and a large
debt had been incurred. On June 4, 1846, the Soledad Mission was sold to
Feliciano Soveranes for $800.

One of the pitiful cases that occurred during the decline of the
Missions was the death of Padre Sarria, which took place at Soledad in
1835, or, as some authorities state, in 1838. This venerable priest had
been very prominent in missionary labors, having occupied the position
of _Comisario Prefecto_ during many years. He was also the presidente
for several years. As a loyal Spaniard he declined to take the oath of
allegiance to the Mexican Republic, and was nominally under arrest for
about five years, or subject to exile; but so greatly was he revered and
trusted as a man of integrity and as a business manager of great ability
that the order of exile was never enforced. The last years of his life
were spent at the Mission of Our Lady of Solitude. When devastation
began and the temporal prosperity of the Mission quickly declined, this
faithful pastor of a fast thinning flock refused to leave the few
poverty-stricken Indians who still sought to prolong life in their old
home. One Sunday morning, while saying mass in the little church, the
enf