Born Then
1769–1799

Life during the Spanish missions in California

Be born in a place it hit, a few years before it began, and see what it did to five ordinary lives.

What it meant for ordinary people

From 1769 Franciscan friars and Spanish soldiers founded missions along the California coast. Native people who were baptised were held at the missions, made to work and punished for leaving. Crowded quarters spread disease, and the native population of coastal California fell steeply.

Deaths: disease and harsh conditions killed many mission Indians; deaths exceeded births at most missions.

How hard it hits each person in the game (risk of death, of being conscripted, of leaving) comes from scholarly estimates.

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