The Franciscans came to California in 1768 under the renowned Father Junipero Serra. The first mission founded was San Diego. Up to 1823, 21 missions were organized, forming a chain which extended a distance of over ZOO miles. At the height of mission prosperity 30,000 Indians lived under the paternal guidance of the friars; they were fed, clothed and edu cated, with no expense to the government, the missions supporting themselves by agriculture and stock-raising; everything was manufactured at these establishments by the Indians. In 1834 the Mexican government began to con fiscate the missions and took them from the control of the friars; this work was finished by 1846 and brought about the complete destruc tion of the once so flourishing missions.
While the Spanish Franciscans were thus extending their labors in the south from the Atlantic to the Pacific, other bands of Friars Minor were emulating their example in the north. Champlain induced the French Francis cans, formerly called Recollects, to come to Canada as early as 1615. Thence they pene trated into Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The best known of these missionaries is Father Louis Hennepin. He accompanied La Salle on his expeditions, and was the first to publish a description of the Niagara Falls. While a cap tive among the Sioux he saw and named the Falls of Saint Anthony. About this time we find the English Franciscans laboring in Mary land and adjoining colonies for full half a cen tury. In the beginning of the 19th century the Rt. Rev. Michael Egan, a Franciscan and first bishop of Philadelphia, intended establishing a province of his order in Pennsylvania, but he died before accomplishing his design. In 1845
Franciscans from the Tyrol came to Cincinnati; in 1854 Italian friars formed a community in western New York, and in 1858 German friars settled in Illinois. The was the cause of many more coming to the United States.
At present there are in the States about 1, 200 Franciscans, who are distributed through out the country. Most of these friars are en gaged in regular parish work; some preach missions throughout the States; others are on the Indian missions in Michigan, Wisconsin, California, Arizona and New Mexico. They also conduct one seminary (Allegany, N. V. and six colleges (Allegany, N. Y., Cincinnati, Ohio, Teutopolis, Ill., Quincy, Ill., Pulaski, Wis., Santa Barbara, Cal.).
The Conventual Friars Minor came to the United States in 1851, and at present form a province in New York and New Jersey num bering about 125 members. Besides these there are in the States 134 Franciscan Brothers and some 7,800 Sisters, all belonging to the third Order of Saint Francis. In 1897 the four above-mentioned groups, namely, Observants, Reformati, Alcantarines and Recollects, who had always been under the same minister-gen eral, dropped their distinctive traits and are now known simply as Friars Minor or Francis cans. They number at present about 17,000.
Consult Shea,