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Mission La Purisima
Mission La Purísima Concepción was founded in 1787 by Fr. Fermín Lasuén. The eleventh mission to be founded in the system, it was named "The Immaculate Conception of Mary the Most Pure", and was completed in 1791. After establishing flourishing crops, increasing herds, and increasing Chumash neophyte attendance, the Mission’s first buildings went to ruin due to their quick and simple construction, and were rebuilt by 1802 of adobe and tile. The Mission prospered until the earthquake of 1812, during which not only did almost all of the buildings fall, but a huge crack broke into the hillside at the back of the mission, flooding and destroying even the ruins. In the aftermath the padres had to feed, shelter, and clothe over a thousand homeless neophytes.
A new building site was selected four miles away, and temporary shelters were used while the mission was rebuilt. This time, the padres gave thought to earthquakes, and with the hard work of the natives the Mission was constructed with stone, adobe, timber, and four and a half foot thick walls. An elaborate water and irrigation system was also constructed consisting of clay pipes, reservoirs, dams, and a water filter made up of three feet of charcoal and sand.
After it’s third reconstruction, Mission La Purísima Concepción became self-sustainable, and enjoyed such prosperity that it’s herds were numbered in the tens of thousands, and the grounds included such buildings as large warehouses, a blacksmith’s shop, weaving rooms, a mill, and bakery, pottery, and carpentry shops. A small hospital was also constructed to care for the sick. Those were the best of times for La Purísima, but those times ended in 1816 when drought destroyed feed crops, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of sheep, and a fire in 1818 destroyed most all of the native neophyte’s homes.
In 1821, Mexico declared her independence from Spain, and the Mission was cut off and received no supplies or pay for the soldiers. In 1823, the death of Father Mariano Payéras, who had led the mission for nineteen years, left La Purísima without guidance, and the remaining neophytes had to thanklessly support the cruel soldiers, until in 1824, the natives revolted. Indians from Santa Inés, where the rebellion started, joined the Indians at La Purísima and took over the entire mission, adding fortifications and the two old mission cannons to defend themselves. The natives controlled the mission for almost a month, until Mexican soldiers sent by the governor ended the standoff in a three hour battle, resulting in seventeen dead (sixteen of which were natives) and many wounded. Seven Indians were also condemned to death after the battle as punishment, and many Indians were imprisoned as well.
After secularization in 1834, the Mission went to ruin until it was sold to the Don Juan Temple of Los Angeles in 1845. Returned to the church in 1874, La Purísima was nearly completely restored by the National Park Service and the C.C.C. in the 1930’s, and was turned over to the state as one of the most complete historic restorations in the West. The mission is located 19 miles west of Buellton.
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