Father Antonio Ubach

Father Antonio Ubach. Last of the Padres. Antonio Dominic Ubach, passionate advocate for California Native Americans, and defender of Indian rights, ran St. Anthony’s Indian School on this site from 1856 to 1891. Father Ubach, created programs to help hundreds of Indian children adapt to an American society. He lobbied government to protect the Indians and their lands and was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant to lead official missions of State. Father Ubach was immortalized in Helen Hunt Jackson’s 1884 novel Ramona as the fictional character Father Gaspara. The landmark book focused national attention on the plight of the Native Americans in California. An accomplished scholar, poet and swordsman, he left Spain for America in 1855 to devote his life to religious duty for over a half century. Considered to be the last of the Padres, he was beloved and respected by all for his tireless charitable work. His funeral in 1907 was attended by thousands of San Diego citizens, settlers and Indians whose lives he touched. True to his character, his last words were “have charity.”