In his letter, Serra advised building Mission San Buenaventura in what is today Ventura, and Mission La Purísima Concepción in Lompoc to create a chain where travelers and letter carriers could consistently pause on journeys.
Serra's vision for an interconnected chain of churches - as well as a postal system - across California was essential to Spain's colonization of the region as it pushed indigenous residents to convert to Catholicism.
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