California Missions

21 missions were established by the Franciscan monks from the Roman Catholic church which are peppered throughout California. These missions are located from San Diego to Sonoma. They're constructed in Spanish style and much of the labor is attributed to the Native Americans. These missions played a large role in the colonization of California and paved the way for the Golden State we know today. Here is a direct link to the list (which you can view online and download as a PDF): https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8eEAMxReDq1NTJraG55amlXdms/edit?usp=sharing

A great resource for detailed information on individual missions is CaliforniaMissions.com, http://www.missionscalifornia.com/

No Cost Genealogical Databases for U.S. and California via U.S. GenWeb Project

There are a few well-known genealogical databases on the web such as www.ancestry.com. Ancestry.com is a great source because it includes research other's have already done but also can include images of documents like death certificates, marriage certificates, census data, etc. The downside to Ancestry.com is that they charge a monthly or annual fee to use the site.

Note: Sometimes they offer a 2 week free trial (but you have to input your credit card information and cancel within 2 weeks.

A free alternative is the U.S. GenWeb Project which is run by volunteers who aim to provide free genealogy websites and research within the US.
http://usgenweb.org/research/

The state of California has its own website- which is part of the U.S. GenWeb Project.
http://www.cagenweb.com/

I recommend accessing more than one database or research site because they may not all contain the same information. Good luck!