The Esselen are a Native American people belonging to a linguistic group in the hypothetical Hokan language family, who are indigenous to the Santa Lucia Mountains of a region south of the Big Sur River in California. Prior to Spanish colonization, they lived seasonally on the coast and inland, surviving off the plentiful seafood during the summer and acorns and wildlife during the rest of the year.
Esselen native c. 1791, by José Cardero
A drawing of Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo prepared by Captain George Vancouver depicts the grounds as they appeared in November 1792. Round, native huts of thatched branches are shown in the background. From A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round the World.
Indians of Mission San Carlos Borromeo are lined up with military precision to greet French expedition led by Jean Francois Galaup, Comte De La Perouse. Watercolor attributed to Tomas de Suria or Jose Cardero, 1791, after a lost original painting at the occasion by Gaspard Duché de Vancy, 1786.
Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo
Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Río Carmelo, or Misión de San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, first built in 1797, is one of the most authentically restored Catholic mission churches in California. Located at the mouth of Carmel Valley, California, it is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark.
Façade of capilla (chapel) at Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo.
"The Mission of St. Carlos near Monterrey" in 1792, from: "A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round the World" by Captain George Vancouver.
Present-day retablo inside basilica.
St. Junípero Serra's grave inside the church
