ORANGE COUNTY ALMANAC : California’s First Baptisms
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The first Christian baptisms in California were in what is now Orange County in July, 1769.
Franciscan missionaries traveling with California Gov. Don Gaspar de Portola came upon an Indian camp near San Clemente where two babies were dying. The missionaries baptized them, and Gaspar’s soldiers named the area Los Cristianitos--the little Christians.
Source: “Orange County: Indians To Industry,” by C.E. and Marilyn Parker
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