On a hot dusty day in July of 1769, in a hidden canyon claimed as part of San Clemente, an Indian mother sat wailing over the dying child at her breast. 

At the same time, an expedition led by Gaspar de Portola, Spanish Governor of Baja California, accompanied by Franciscan monks, Fr. Francisco Gomez and Fr. Juan Crespi, was exploring Alta California in an attempt to deter Russia's presence in North America and convert its inhabitants to Christianity. 

When the explorers happened upon this unfortunate scene, the Indian woman, though surprise and even a little frightened by these strange newcomers, put her fears aside in concern for her child and consented, after much pleading from these "gray friars," to have the child baptized. The baby was christened Maria Magdelena by Fr. Gomez and was called by the Spanish soliders, La Cristianta (the little Christain). A second child who had been badly burned was also baptized as Margarita. 

Portola wrote in his diary of the event: 

"We did no doubt that both would die and go to heaven. With this, the first success that we have obtained, we consider well worthwhile the long journey and the hardships that are being suffered and that are still awaiting us. For this reason, this place is known to the soldiers as the "Canyon of the Little Christains." 

And, just as the birth of a child in an obscure stable marked the beginning of Christianity's history, the baptism of a dying Indian child in the hidden canyons of Alta California planted the seeds of Christainity in our home town. 

Reprinted in part and edited with permission from the publisher, Don Kindred, from San Clemente Journal dated August/September 1996 and edited by G. Wayne Eggleston, CPM, Director of The Heritage of San Clemente & Visitor Center. La Cristianita was written by Anne Batty.