Vocabulary

**Adobe-**Sun-dried bricks made of clay mixed with draw and sometimes horse manure, then baked in the sun. Also refers to structures made of this material. **Alta California**- The Spanish territory including present day California.
 * Vocabulary Words for Grades 3, 4, & 5 **

**Atole**- A maize (cornmeal) gruel or porridge.

**Bee-hive oven-** A wood-fired cone-shaped oven used for baking bread.

**Cantor-** A singer in church services, which was often a neophyte Indian.

**Colony**- A settlement that is ruled by a faraway government

**El Camino Real**- Technically, the "Royal Highway" a term used to designate the main road in a Spanish territory, in Alta California, El Camino Real was a dirt road that linked the missions and extended from San Diego to Sonoma. U.S. 101 roughly parallels El Camino Real. About 600 miles long.

**Expedition**- A journey into a land to learn more about it

**Father Junipero Serra**- A Franciscan Priest

**Franciscan**- Member of the Catholic religious order founded by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1209. Franciscans are dedicated to preaching, missionary work and charitable acts.

**Gaspar de Portola**- Army Captain that led one of the land expeditions to Monterey

**Hunters/Gathers**- Indians hunted and gathered food in their surrounding area in order to eat and live.

**Missions**- Religious settlements

**Missionary**- A person who teaches a religion to others.

**Neophytes**- Indians or people new to the Catholic faith and then lived at a mission. They were not allowed to practice their traditional beliefs.

**New Spain**- The territories governed by Spain's viceroyalities on behalf of the King of Spain. Alta California was one of those important territories.

**Pueblos**- The non-Indian towns established to help colonize Alta California.

**Presidio**- Fortified military outpost or fort. The Spanish presidios in Alta Californiaincluded barracks, workshops, stables and a chapel.

**Sacred Expedition**- The name of the plan by King Carlos III to quickly create colonies in Alta California

**Secularization**- The process under which the Mexican government removed the mission lands from the jurisdiction of the Franciscans (who were replaced by secular priests) and half the mission land theoretically turned over to the Indians. The bylaws for secularization were enacted by the Mexican Congress in 1828, ratified in 1833 and fully enforced in 1834.


 * Scurvy ** - A condition resulting from a lack of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). Common among sailors due to an inadequate intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. Many of the sailors on the Portola expedition of 1769 died of scurvy.