Serra wanted to put some distance between the mission's neophytes and Fages' soldiers. Serra found that the land near the mouth of the Carmel River (named "Río del Carmelo" by Vizcaíno in 1603) was better suited for farming. In May 1771, Spain's viceroy approved Serra's petition to relocate the mission. The mission was established in the new location on August 1, 1771; the first mass was celebrated on August 24, and Serra officially took up residence in the newly constructed buildings on December 24. The name of the relocated mission was extended to "Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Río Carmelo". It was within a short distance of the Rumsen Ohlone villages of Tucutnut and Achasta. The latter village may have been founded after Mission San Carlos was relocated to Carmel Valley. The mission was about from the nearest Esselen territory, Excelen. "Mission Carmel", as it came to be known, was Serra's favorite and, because it was close to Monterey, the capital of Alta California, he chose it as his headquarters. When he died on August 28, 1784, he was interred beneath the chapel floor. After Serra's death, Father Fermín Lasuén replaced the adobe structure with one made of stone quarried from the nearby Santa Lucia Mountains. After the Carmel mission was moved to the mouth of Carmel Valley, the Franciscans began to baptize some natives. By the end of 1771, the population of the mission was 15 with an additional 22 baptized Indians, out of a total population of northern California of 60. Farming was not very productive and for several years the mission was dependent upon the arrival of supply ships. Historian Jame Culleton wrote in 1950, "The summer of '73 came without bringing the supply ship. Neither Carmel nor Monterey was anything like self-supporting." To improve baptismal rates, they sought to convert key members of the Esselen and Rumsen tribes, including chiefs. On May 9, 1775, Junípero Serra baptized what appears to be the first Esselen, "Pach-hepas", the 40-year-old chief of the Excelen. He was near death and was baptized in his home village at Xasáuan, about 10 leagues (about ) southeast of the mission, in an area now named Cachagua, a close approximation of the Esselen name.