Livestock Raised at Mission Santa Cruz

During the Spanish and Mexican mission periods (1791–1834), Mission Santa Cruz operated as a self-sustaining agricultural enterprise. The primary livestock raised included:

• Cattle (for meat, hides, tallow, and labor)
• Horses (for transportation, herding, and military use)
• Mules (as pack animals and for plowing)
• Oxen (as draft animals for heavy labor like carting and plowing)
• Sheep (for wool, meat, and lanolin)

These animals were central to the mission economy. Cattle hides and tallow (rendered fat) were the primary export goods in the "hide and tallow trade" with Boston and British ships. The vast mission ranchos (land grants) extended far beyond the mission quadrangle to support these herds. Indigenous neophytes (converts) provided the labor as vaqueros (cowboys), shepherds, and artisans.