Sainthood for Father Serra?

It is no surprise that the research of Carey McWilliams, author of “Southern California: an Island in the Sun,” was cited in the article on Native American resistance to sainthood for Junipero Serra. The frustration of reading McWilliams’ account of the Spaniards’ poor treatment of the California Indians, however, is replaced by the horror of his detailing of the Indians’ fate at the hands of the Americans who came later.

The Spanish were interested in subjugation, not extermination. It was left to the avaricious Americans to introduce the final solution to the California Indians.

DAN ARMSTRONG

San Juan Capistrano