Estencia

The Asistencia was originally built (originally one mile east of where it is today) as an outpost for cattle grazing activities in the Mission Era (1819 - 1834). This is when (it is believed) that Native Americans dug irrigation ditches (a.k.a zanjas) to serve the area. It was made completely of adobe and timber. The missionaries intended to bring religion and civilization to the Native Americans. The original site of the Asistencia was attacked by Indians in 1834, and was thus passed into private hands: José de Carmen Lugo purchased the property in 1842. It was then sold in the early 1850s to the Mormons, then it was a school, and later was used as a furniture factory. In 1857 Dr. Benjamin Barton bought the property. And finally, in 1925, the County of San Bernardino took over the property and its restoration was complete in 1937. The Asistencia today is a museum, and a wedding chapel. There is an on site manager who can help guests with any questions they may have about the Asistencia and wedding information (and fyi the manager has a few adorable cats that live in his office; thought I'd throw that in for some random Asistencia trivia).

Although the Mission thought it was helping the Native Americans, I don't think they would have liked missionaries invading their land. Yes, the missions brought religion and civilization (or what they believed to be civilization, because it is a matter of opinion) to the Native Americans, but they also brought diseases like Small Pox. Small Pox was fatal to many Native Americans because they had not yet been exposed to it, and was thus not immune to it. It seems that although the missions brought about a new (possibly better) form of civilization, they brought too much death.