Mission San Antonio de Padua 1883

Henry Chapman Ford created this print of Mission San Antonio de Padua using etching, a printmaking technique, sometime during his life between 1828 and 1894. Ford, like many artists of his era, was captivated by the visual landscape of the American West and the history of Spanish missions in California. This image invites us to consider the complex and often romanticized narratives surrounding the mission era. While Ford’s print captures the aesthetic qualities of the mission, it is important to reflect on the complete history. The missions were sites of cultural exchange but also of profound disruption and violence for the Indigenous populations who were often forced into labor and conversion, and whose ancestral lands were appropriated. Ford's depiction encourages us to reconcile the artistic beauty with the underlying narrative of colonization and cultural transformation. It’s a visual reminder to critically examine the stories we tell about the past and whose perspectives are centered, inviting us to consider the perspectives of those whose experiences are often marginalized in mainstream historical accounts.