This paper specifically refers to the early period in California when the Anza Expedition took place, (1775-1776) and it extends its findings to conditions of the era in other parts of the Spanish frontier world.

The settlements in Alta California (at the time the name "California" referred to Baja California and that's why the distinction is being made) resembled many other locations in the borderlands of the Spanish Empire. Education in the borderlands, called in Spanish, "frontiers", was intended for two purposes.
First the missions were established to educate the neophytes (indigenous people recently converted) in Catholic doctrine and to make them faithful subjects of the Spanish Crown.

On the other hand, secular education in the presidios and pueblos gained momentum only when the population began to rise in the frontier. Before that point recent settlers did not have the time to indulge in formal education as life was consumed in establishing the elements of survival in house and field, as it was happening in all other settlements by pioneers in this country.

The dichotomy between education in the missions and the pueblos illuminates two different models sought in order to educate the people of Alta California. In the missions, the Franciscans' life was based on "religious vows of poverty, chastity and obedience," and their goals were to convert the Indians "for the salvation of their souls" (as it seems to be the goal of all missionaries in history), but they did not only instruct them in Catholic theology but they also taught them the Spanish language and various skills and crafts. In other words, they were being assimilated into the Spanish culture.

Mornings and evenings the Franciscans would conduct prayers. During the day they instructed the Indians in different fields of labor specialization. The mission complex was encircled by "classroom, stables, liveries, grain mills, warehouses and workshops, carrying out the different functions of the time."

The Indians were taught how to be blacksmiths, farmers and cooks. They were instructed in new culinary methods using different foods and utensils, but the food prepared at the Missions tended to be a mixture of both Indian and Spanish cuisine.

Regarding schooling, in an inventory list from Mission Santa Clara, from around 1808, 24 "cartillas de primeras letras" (primers) and 24 "cartones" (critical books) were found. These materials would have been used to teach the ABC's of the Spanish language, in other words, the Indians were not only being taught catechism, but how to read and write.

Also, means of entertainment were being taught. There are many records of Franciscans teaching the Indians how to play instruments, sing and compose music. At Mission San Jose, Father Duran created a new system of writing and reading music, so that it would be easier for the Ohlone to learn. He put together a thirty-member orchestra, which was known through the Missions (see note 1).

Father Junipero Serra focused on portraying the missions as centers for education and salvation." Libraries were created for a source of entertainment and educational material. The Franciscans would trade books with one another, and soon their libraries would grow.

Outside the missions, people were coming to settle California and there was a need to educate the people who settled in the pueblos, ranchos and presidios.

The availability of education in Alta California and Spanish world in the frontier period was dependant on two factors: a family's financial position and a family's proximity to presidios and pueblos that had schools in their area.
Private tutors and private institutions in Mexico City and Europe commonly educated sons of wealthy families.

Expedition leader Juan Bautista de Anza was from an aristocratic military family who lived in northern Mexico. He was educated in College San Idelfonso in Mexico City and completed his studies in the military academy.

The prestigious Colegio de Vizcaino provided "for the education of the female children of Spaniards" and the girls were taught subjects that would allow them to become excellent wives to respectable men in their own rank." At the end of the schooling a young woman would have learned how to read, write, sew, iron, cook and work with basic numbers.

The majority of settlers in Alta California could not afford to send their children to expensive boarding schools in the cities. Early -education was largely informal and was provided by older family members such as parents and grandparents. Children learned the complex skills needed to survive in the frontier. Before a male child was four he would be expected to perform easy chores in watching animals, fetching water, etc. Girls were expected to begin to learn how to manage household expenses. It was customary that men gave all of their earnings directly to their mothers and wives and that women would have learned a practical understanding of math and some basic bookkeeping skills. Children received a small amount of religious education from the priests who lived in and around their communities. In many settlements culture was transmitted by oral tradition, as the population was largely illiterate.

Because of this, in the late eighteenth-century, California governors began to establish public grammar schools in the presidios and pueblos, beginning in the 1780's and providing a basic knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic. One of the early teachers complained about his salary of $6.20 a month and Governor Borica ordered him to be paid "revenue from tobacco (a government monopoly), as well as with a house for himself and his family."

In the late eighteenth-century and early nineteenth century, Alta California's children between the years 7 and 10 were mandated to attend school Governor Sola commented that there were schools in the four presidios and two pueblos by 1817, covering the major outposts. After the Mexican independence, the federal government attempted to provide more comprehensive and accessible education in Alta California.

But the children at the Monterey Presidio attended school in a long, narrow schoolroom with few windows, which was chilly "even in summer" because of the thick adobe walls. Extreme disciplinary action, characteristic of the epoch, was taken against delinquent students. Children could be slapped on the hand or face, hit with an iron poker or whipped with a hempen scourge. (see note 2) While violent means were used to punish, students were also encouraged to excel, as they were bribed with sweets, dried fruits and nuts to memorize passages from the Bible or the Catechism.

The experience of Juan Alvarado, a student in the Presidio of Monterrey in the 1820's , illuminates the situation in secular schools. Alvarado was from a relatively poor family and had few opportunities for learning beyond the Presidio school, but his "unusual thirst for learning " was recognized by the Governor, who opened his personal library to Alvarado. He then had access to books like Don Quixote and with personal mentorship from the Governor, Alvarado received a superior education.

With the changing times and the increase in population, including more literate persons coming to the presidios and ranchos, an educated society eventually developed.

1. Notes by M. Rieger:
   A good example of the talent of many Native Americans for music was the existence of a marvelous violin instrument, completely built by a neophyte at Mission San Antonio de Padua, near King City in the Salinas Valley. This treasured instrument was played until recent times for special occasions. Unfortunately it was lately stolen from the Mission museum. Many other examples of art of the period, attributed to the Indians, were taken from Mission Dolores in recent years. Historians are now asking the Missions to donate these precious items to museums in the area, which are better equipped to protect them, with alarm systems, guards, etc., which the missions cannot afford.
2. As recently as the late 1940's, during my education in Barcelona, the nuns at my French Convent School were allowed to slap a student's extended hands with a flat piece of wood as a form of punishment for serious offenses.