Father Junipero Serra, a loyal member of the Order of Franciscan Minors, was given the task of spreading the Catholic faith to the natives of Alta (lower) California. As his first order of business in the New World, Fr Serra established the mission of San Diego, and then went north toward to Bay of Monterey, establishing missions along the way. By 1772, however, the supplies of the missionaries ran low, and people began to starve. Fr Serra, remembering the lush valley full of bears he passed on the way north, decided it could be the perfect supply depot, and set up his fifth mission there.

On this day, September 1, 1772, Father Junipero Serra founded the fifth mission (out of an eventual 21) in California, naming it after Saint Louis, Bishop of Toulouse, France. That same day, Fr Serra celebrated his first Mass, with a cross at the nearby San Luis Creek.

The mission grew, with specialized buildings sprouting up nearby the mission, but after the Mexican independence in 1822, the area was spun off and sold to Capt. John Wilson for $510, who converted some of the buildings into a courthouse and a jail. After California joined the United State, the state’s Archbishop Joseph Alemany asked and was granted a return of the lands to the Church, where they still remain to this day.