<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of 21 religious outposts or missions established between 1769 and 1833 in today's U.S. State of California . Founded by Catholic priests of the Franciscan order to evangelize the Native Americans, the missions led to the creation of the New Spain province of Alta California and were part of the expansion of the Spanish Empire into the most northern and western parts of Spanish North America . </P> <P> Following long - term secular and religious policy of Spain in Spanish America, the missionaries forced the native Californians to live in settlements called reductions, disrupting their traditional way of life . The missionaries introduced European fruits, vegetables, cattle, horses, ranching, and technology . The missions have been accused by critics, then and now, of various abuses and oppression . In the end, the missions had mixed results in their objectives: to convert, educate, and transform the natives into Spanish colonial citizens . </P>

What was the purpose in building the missions