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1897 - The Franciscans In California, Zephyrin Engelhardt

Franciscan Publications

Engelhardt noted that much had bee written about those who first introduced Christianity and civilization in California but little was reliable due to ignorance, malice, exaggeration and misstatements. Up to 1785, Engelhardt consulted original Spanish documents and compared those with statements of H. H. Bancroft. According to the author, with regard to the missions from 1831 through 1850, Bancroft was almost the only authority offering any accurate information. He believed as to historic facts, that Bancroft's work was reliable and all the more valuable because it came from a non-Catholic source.