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Mission San Diego de Alcalá was founded on July 16, 1769, the first in the twenty-one Alta California mission chain established by Father Presidente Junípero Serra; today it is known as "California's First Church." Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno named San Diego Bay San Diego de Alcalá when he made landfall there, some ten miles from the present Mission site, in 1602. Due to the mistreatment of the indigenous peoples, they rebelled against Spanish rule, and attacked the Mission on November 5, 1775. Father Luis Jayme, who had been left behind to run the Mission while Father Serra moved on to found other missions, was killed. Peace eventually settled over the area, and by 1797, there were approximately 1,400 Kumeyaay living in the vicinity of the Mission proper. Wheat, corn, wine grapes, barley, beans, cattle, horses, and sheep were the major crops. In 1795, construction on a system of aqueducts was begun to bring water to the fields and the Mission. After Mexico gained its independence from Spain, it decided that it was not profitable to maintain the missions. The missions were offered for sale to the natives, who were unable to come up with the price, so all mission property was broken up into ranchos and sold to Mexican citizens. In 1846, the Mission San Diego de Alcalá was given to Santiago Arguello. When the United States took over California, the Mission was used by the military from 1846 to 1862. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed an act declaring that all of the missions would become the property of the Catholic Church, most of which have remained so since that time. When Mission San Diego de Alcalá was granted back to the Church, it was in ruins. In the 1880s Father Anthony Ubach began to restore the old Mission buildings. He died in 1907, however, and the restoration stopped until 1931. In 1941, the Mission once again became a parish church, which is still an active parish serving the Diocese of San Diego. In 1976, Pope Paul VI designated the Mission church as a Minor Basilica.
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