▁of ▁the ▁miss ions ▁res emble d ▁a ▁slave ▁plant ation ▁in ▁many ▁respect s . ▁Foreign ers ▁who ▁visited ▁the ▁miss ions ▁remarked ▁at ▁how ▁the ▁pri ests ' ▁control ▁over ▁the ▁Indians ▁appeared ▁excess ive , ▁but ▁necessary ▁given ▁the ▁white ▁men ' s ▁isol ation ▁and ▁numeric ▁dis adv antage . ▁Indians ▁were ▁not ▁paid ▁w ages ▁as ▁they ▁were ▁not ▁considered ▁free ▁labor ers ▁and , ▁as ▁a ▁result , ▁the ▁miss ions ▁were ▁able ▁to ▁profit ▁from ▁the ▁goods ▁produced ▁by ▁the ▁Mission ▁Indians ▁to ▁the ▁det r iment ▁of ▁the ▁other ▁Spanish ▁and ▁Mexican ▁sett lers ▁of ▁the ▁time ▁who ▁could ▁not ▁comp ete ▁econom ically ▁with ▁the ▁advantage ▁of ▁the ▁mission ▁system . ▁ ▁The ▁Francis c ans ▁began ▁to ▁send ▁ne oph y tes ▁to ▁work ▁as ▁servants ▁of ▁Spanish ▁soldiers ▁in ▁the ▁pres id ios . ▁Each ▁pres id io ▁was ▁provided ▁with ▁land , ▁el ▁ran cho ▁del ▁rey , ▁which ▁served ▁as ▁a ▁past ure ▁for ▁the ▁pres id io ▁liv est ock ▁and ▁as ▁a ▁source ▁of ▁food ▁for ▁the ▁soldiers . ▁The oret ically ▁the ▁soldiers ▁were ▁supposed ▁to ▁work ▁on ▁this ▁land ▁themselves ▁but ▁within ▁a ▁few ▁years ▁the ▁ne oph y tes ▁were ▁doing ▁all ▁the ▁work ▁on ▁the ▁pres id io ▁farm ▁and , ▁in ▁addition , ▁were ▁serving ▁dom est ics ▁for ▁the ▁soldiers . ▁While ▁the ▁fiction ▁pre va iled ▁that ▁ne oph y tes ▁were ▁to ▁receive ▁w ages ▁for ▁their ▁work , ▁no