Missions of California - Nuestra Señora de la Soledad

Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad (Our Lady of Solitude) was founded on October 9, 1791, by Father Fermin de Lasuen. Thirteenth in the mission chain, its purpose was to facilitate travel between Mission San Carlos de Borromeo de Carmelo and Mission San Antonio de Padua.

The padres faced many obstacles on the desolate Salinas River Valley. The mission was destroyed three times by the raging floodwaters of the Salinas River. Dampness and cold in winter and the grueling heat and wind of summer took their toll on the 30 priests who served there over the 44 years it was in operation.

When Mexico declared its independence from Spain, money and provisions for the missions ceased, causing the residents of the missions to suffer greatly. A smallpox epidemic killed many Native Americans, and others left to seek a better life. Like most other missions it then lapsed into disrepair and ruin.

For 90 years the mission sat crumbling. Restoration was begun in the 1950s by a group of women known as the Native Daughters of the Golden West, and today Nuestra Señora de la Soledad serves as a mission of the parish of Soledad.