nction point of the main line
with the Grand Canyon branch), _Fray Marcos._

Poor Coronado, disappointed as to the finding and gaining of great
stores of wealth at Zuni, pushed on even to the eastern boundaries of
Kansas, but found nothing more valuable than great herds of buffalo and
many people, and returned crestfallen, broken-hearted and almost
disgraced by his own sense of failure, to Mexico. And there he drops out
of the story. But others followed him, and in due time this northern
portion of the country was annexed to Spanish possessions and became
known as New Mexico.

In the meantime the missionaries of the Church were active beyond the
conception of our modern minds in the newly conquered Mexican countries.

The various orders of the Roman Catholic Church were indefatigable in
their determination to found cathedrals, churches, missions, convents
and schools. Jesuits, Franciscans and Dominicans vied with each other in
the fervor of their efforts, and Mexico was soon dotted over with
magnificent structures of their erection. Many of the churches of Mexico
are architectural gems of the first water that compare favorably with
the noted cathedrals of Europe, and he who forgets this overlooks one of
the most important factors in Mexican history and civilization.

The period of expansion and enlargement of their political and
ecclesiastical borders continued until, in 1697, Fathers Kino and
Salviaterra, of the Jesuits, with indomitable energy and unquenchable
zeal, started the conversion of the Indians of the peninsula of Lower
California.

In those early days, the name California was not applied, practically
speaking, to the country we know as California. The explorers of Cortes
had discovered what they imagined was an island, but afterwards learned
was a peninsula, and this was soon known as California. In this
California there were many Indians, and it was to missionize these that
the God-fearing, humanity-loving, self-sacrificing Jesuits just
named--not Franciscans--gave of their life, energy and love. The names
of Padres Kino and Salviaterra will long live in the annals of Mission
history for their devotion to the spiritual welfare of the Indians of
Lower California.

The results of their labors were soon seen in that within a few years
fourteen Missions were established, beginning with San Juan Londa in
1697, and the more famous Loreto in 1698.

When the Jesuits were expelled, in 1768, the Franciscans t