Francisco Palóu
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Francisco Palóu (1723-1789) was a Franciscan missionary, administrator, and historian on the Baja California peninsula and in Alta California.
Palóu was born in Palma, Mallorca, Spain. He joined the Franciscan order in Mallorca. Together with his teacher Junípero Serra he traveled to New Spain in 1740 and served as a missionary in the Sierra Gorda region of Querétaro.
When the Jesuits were expelled from Baja California in 1768, the Franciscans under Serra were sent to replace them. Palóu was assigned to the mission of San Javier. The following year, Serra went north to found the new mission province of Alta California, and Palóu succeeded him as head of the Baja California missions. When the Dominicans took over the peninsular missions in 1773, Palóu moved on to California, marking the geographical boundary between the two orders' fields. He assisted in the exploration of the site of San Francisco and administered Mission San Francisco de Asís. When Serra died, Palóu was briefly head of the California missions, but soon returned to central Mexico.
Palóu is particularly noted for his pious biography of Serra and for his multi-volume early history of the Californias.
[edit] External Link
- Palóu's Life of Serra
[edit] References
- Palóu, Francisco. 1926. Historical Memoirs of New California. Edited by Herbert E. Bolton. 4 vols. University of California Press, Berkeley.
- Palóu, Francisco. 1955. Life of Fray Junipero Serra. Edited by Maynard J. Geiger. Academy of American Franciscan History, Washington, D.C.
- Palóu, Francisco. 1994. Cartas desde la península de California (1768-1773). Edited by José Luis Soto Pérez. Editorial Porrúa, Mexico City.
