Drawing of Mission San Luis Obispo by Henry Chapman Ford, ca.1900

Photograph of a drawing of Mission San Luis Obispo by Henry Chapman Ford, ca.1900. Two women and a child are standing in the arcade of the mission (left). A horse is tied to a post near one of the several entrances to the arcade. A larger building (main building?) stands behind the arcade. Several smaller buildings (or houses?) are visible in the distance. Mountains are visible in the distance. Photoprint reads: "Ford etching as of 1865. Done in 1883".; "Henry C. Ford was best known for his paintings of the entire chain of twenty-one California missions. He was born in Livonia, New York in 1828, but he pursued his studies in Paris and Florence during the late 1850's. He was a Civil War illustrator and veteran, and as soon as he was discharged from service, he settled in Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago, Ford became an accomplished landscapist, and was one of the founders of the Chicago Academy of Design in 1873. The studio that Ford kept in Chicago burned down in 1871. Due to his failing health, Ford moved to a milder climate, settling in Santa Barbara, California. In the summers of 1880 and 1881, he traveled by horse and buggy to each mission site south of Santa Barbara. On the mission grounds, Ford made pencil drawings and painted sketches. He was the first artist to make a set of mission images in two media, oil and etching. He went to New York to turn his renditions into etchings, which were inexpensive and could be easily duplicated. In 1893, he exhibited his mission etchings at the Chicago World's Fair. Later in his life, Ford taught and continued to paint from his Santa Barbara home. He died in 1894, leaving behind the important historical contribution of his California mission paintings." -- unknown author.; "This mission was founded by Father Junípero Serrá on September1, 1772. This, the fifth mission, was dedicated to Saint Louis, Bishop of Toulouse. The mission was put there because Father Serrá knew he would need a mission in the middle of California, and because there was plenty of water in La Canada de los Osos (The Valley of the Bears)." -- unknown author