[p. 34, La Purisima Concepcion, 1908a, 1908d, p. 34]
[p. 34] La Purisima Concepcion.
December 8th, 1787, Father Lasuen founded the Mission of La Purisma Concepcion in honor of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. It is situated on the Santa Ynez river. The first church building was replaced by a new one of adobe with tile roof in 1795. Father Payeras, with the aid of interpreters, completed in 1810, a catechism and manual of confession in the Indian language. This was of greatest advantage to the neophytes in the study of religion. However, there remained at this time no more Indians than twenty-five or thirty leagues away, to be converted. In 1815 Fathere Payeras became president of the California missions, but he continued to reside at Purisima, instead of repairing to San Carlo del Carmelo.
Early in the morning of December 12, 1812, a violent earthquake shook the church walls out of plumb, a second shock about 11 o'clock destroyed the chapel completely, and nearly all of the mission buildings, besides about 100 of the neophyte houses. Rents in the earth from which black sand and water oozed, added to the peril. Huts of wood and grass were erected for temporary use. Later the mission was moved to a position farther up the river, The first church building erected here was destroyed by fire and another one erected and dedicated October 4th, 1825, the remains of which are to be seen today. It is a long, low structure, and had twenty-one rooms. There were twelve smaller buildings about it. The church ornaments were valued in 1834 at nearly $5000; the library at $655; there were five bells, worth $1000. In fact, the mission property, live-stock and ranchos were valued at over $60,000. In 1845 it was sold by the Governor to John Temple for $1,110; and La Purisma was abandoned by its rightful owers, the Indians and the Padres.
The location is about three miles from the town of Lompoc, in Santa Barbara county.
[p. 34] Santa Cruz, p. 34
Santa Cruz, the Mission of the Holy Cross, was formally established by Don Hermenegildo Sal, on Sunday, Septtember 25, 1791. The site had been selected and blessed by Father Lasuen, August 28, on the day of San Augustin. Near [p. 35] by was a fine stream in the Arroyo de Pedro Regalado, which is now known a Rio San Lorenzo. Huts were built by the Indians, land was prepared, and wheat sown. The founding of the mission was most favorable, as many of the Indians came and offered help with the work, while their chief, Sugert, presented himself, with a few of his followers, and promised to become the first Christian of his tribe, and Sal agreed to be godfather. In the history of the founding of the mission, it is an interesting fact tha frequently everything wherewith to establish a new mission was contributed as a loan by the other missions. In this instance Santa Clara contributed 64 head of cattle, 22 horses, 77 fanegas of grain, and 26 loaves of bread. San Francisco gave five yoke of oxen, 70 sheep and two bushels of barley. San Carlos gave eight horses and seven mules. The vestments and sacred vessels were loaned from other missions, also tools and implements, until those intended for Santa Cruz should arrive from Mexico, The mission was beautifully situated, near the waters of the Bay of Monterey, and as a background there was a dense forest. Although the founding was auspicious, the mission never beccame an important or even flourishing establishment, because of the close proximity of the penal station of Branciforte, which later became the town of Santa Cruz. At the present date, however, all of the unpleasant associations of the convict life have disappeared as wholly as have the old mission buildings, and the Santa Cruz of today is one of California's charming resorts. The corner-stone of the mission church was laid February 27, 1793. The building was 120 x 30 feet. The walls were of stone to the height of three feet, the front was of masonry, and the rest of adobe. In 1812, Father Andres Quintana was brutally murdered by nine or ten of the Mission Indians. Though sick himself, he left his rooms at night to call upon a man said to be dying. On the way home he was murdered. It was two years before the murderers were apprehended and punished. Their defense was that of cruelty on the part of the father; but the fact that he had left his sick bed to minister to a dying man belied the accusation, and the murderers were condemned to work in chains from two to ten years. Only one survived the punishment. When Santa Cruz was secularized, in 1835, ten thousand dollars of the church money was divided among the neophytes. In 1839 Hartnell found but seventy of the Indians remaining and all of the money gone. Of the mission itself there is now hardly a trace. The portion of a tile-covered shed in the rear of the present church is all that remains. A few relics, among them two mission books used by the Indians, may be seen in the church.