Frank Miller of the Mission Inn started a Christmas tradition in 1915. In the Cloister Music Room, Miller, his family, and staff from the Inn performed a Christmas Pageant. With Miller’s love of the romanticized stories of the California Missions (upon which the very architecture of the Mission Inn was based), he developed a play in which Nativity scenes from the life of St. Francis, and as he perceived Father Serra, were performed to tell the Christmas story to the Native Americans at the California Missions.
On Christmas Eve in 1915, the curtain went up at 8:30 p.m. for the Miller family, employees and guests of the Inn, and special guests who held song service cards. Frank Miller, who often wore the brown robe of a Franciscan monk, played Father Serra. Miller performed as Father Serra every year from 1915 through 1934. He died on June 17, 1935. The last performance seems to have been in 1935, several months after Miller’s death.
Two other priests, Padre Pedro and Padre Juan, were played by DeWitt Hutchings (Miller’s son-in-law) and Francis Borton (Curator of the Mission Inn and author), respectively. Among his works, Borton wrote early Handbooks of the Mission Inn and The Call of California, a Collection of poems about California. The two padres arrange the Nativity Scene on the stage, and Padre Pedro explains to the children sitting on the stage the story of the birth of the Christ Child and the life of St. Francis. Some sources credit St. Francis with creating the first nativity scene in 1223 in Greccio, Italy. Padre Juan then explains Father Serra’s life in California. Hutchings portrayed Padre Pedro throughout the pageant’s run, while Borton played Padre Juan through 1928, as he died in June 1929.
Another familiar name who performed that first year was Ernest Yeager, who played Gaspar, one of the Three Wise Men. Yeager arrived in Riverside in November 1912 from Miller’s hometown of Tomah, Wisconsin. He started as a bellboy and worked his way up to Miller’s private secretary. Ernest Yeager was one of the First World War veterans who appeared on the Mission in Heroes Banner of those who worked at the Inn and served during the war. After eleven years working at the Inn, Yeager, with Miller’s encouragement, branched out and formed his own construction company, E. L. Yeager Construction Company.
In 1916, the pageant was described as “staged on the platform near the organ in the cloister, with softly played music, and well-managed lighting, adding to the beauty of the production. In a mission setting, the large cast of characters was shown, and the story in words and song was clearly told.” Miller, as he so often did, went all out in his production. Miller, as he would every year, played the part of Father Serra. Hutchings and Borton revived the characters of Padre Pedro and Padre Juan. Ernest Yeager appeared again, this year as Portola. Gaspar de Portolá was a Spanish military officer, the first governor of Upper California, and the founder of Monterey and San Diego. A new participant in 1916 was Miller’s grandson, Frank Miller Hutchings. As a six-year-old, he played the part of an Indian child. Frank’s sister, Alice Richardson, acted as Ramona, demonstrating Miller’s tendency to mix up stories to fit the occasion…