CHAPTER XXII.
LA SOLEDAD The Mission of "Our Lady of Solitude" has only a brief record in written history; but the little that is known and the present condition of the ruins suggest much that has never been recorded.
Early in 1791 Padre Lasuen, who was searching for suitable locations for two new Missions, arrived at a point midway between San Antonio and Santa Clara.

With quick perception he recognized the advantages of Soledad, known to the Indians as _Chuttusgelis_.

The name of this region, bestowed by Crespi years previous, was suggestive of its solitude and dreariness; but the wide, vacant fields indicated good pasturage in seasons favored with much rain, and the possibility of securing water for irrigation promised crops from the arid lands.

Lasuen immediately selected the most advantageous site for the new Mission, but several months elapsed before circumstances permitted the erection of the first rude structures.
On October ninth the Mission was finally established.
There were comparatively few Indians in that immediate region, and only eleven converts were reported as the result of the efforts of the first year.

There was ample room for flocks and herds, and although the soil was not of the best and much irrigation was necessary to produce good crops, the padres with their persistent labors gradually increased their possessions and the number of their neophytes.