The San Antonio de Pala Asistencia was founded on June 13, 1816 in what is today the Pala Indian Reservation located in San Diego County (some twenty miles inland) as an asistencia ("sub-mission") to Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, upstream from the mission on the San Luis Rey River. Its official title is now Mission San Antonio de Pala. Pala (a derivation of the native term Pale, meaning water) was essentially a small rancho surrounded by large fields and herds. The Pala site had been noted by Father Juan Mariner and Captain Juan Pablo Grijalva on an exploratory trip in 1795, when they went up the San Diego River, and then through Sycamore Canyon to the Santa Maria Valley (or Pamó Valley) and into what they named El Valle de San José, now known as Warner Springs. Once Mission San Luis Rey began to prosper, its existence attracted the attention of large number of mountain Indians, dubbed the Luiseños by the Spanish.
The site for the Pala Mission was selected because it served as a natural gathering place for the native tribesman. Father Peyrí oversaw the addition of a chapel and housing to the granary complex that was constructed at the spot in 1810. The chapel (whose interior wall surfaces featured paintings by native artists, and which today is the only mission facility still serving an Indian tribe) originally measured 144 by 27 feet. Workers went into the Palomar Mountains and cut down cedar trees for use as roof beams. Pala is unique among all of the Franciscan missions in that it boasts the only completely freestanding campanile, or "bell tower," in all of Alta California. By 1820, some 1,300 baptisms had been performed at the outpost. The Mexican Congress passed An Act for the Secularization of the Missions of California on August 17, 1833 (the Act was ratified in 1834). Father Buenaventura Fortuna surrendered Mission San Luis Rey and all its holdings, including Las Flores Estancia and the Pala Asistencia, to government comisianados (commissioners) Pío Pico and Pablo de la Portillà on August 22, 1835; the assessed value of "Rancho de Pala" was $15,363.25. Fearful of the impending "conquest" of California by the United States, Pico sold off all of the holdings (including Pala) to Antonio J. Cot and José A. Pico on May 18, 1846 for $2,000 in silver and $437.50 in wheat (the sale was later declared invalid by the U.S. Government). Through the years, priests from San Luis Rey continued to visit Pala and conduct baptisms, marriages, and worship services.
On Christmas Day, 1899 the San Jacinto Earthquake shook the Pala Valley, causing the rook over the church sanctuary to collapse. In 1902, a group calling itself the "Landmarks Club of Southern California" (under the direction of acclaimed American journalist, historian, and photographer Charles Fletcher Lummis) purchased Pala Mission. The following year, the Club returned ownership to the Catholic Church and "...saved the Chapel and a few rooms from complete ruin with a timely work of partial restoration...". Pala is alone among the California missions in that it that has ministered without interruption to the needs of the Indians for whom it was originally built since its inception. It is also the only sub-mission still intact. The traditional Corpus Christi Fiesta has been celebrated every year since its founding. Though it lacked a resident priest, Pala nonetheless served as the "mother" mission to chapels in Cahuilla, La Jolla, Pauma, Pichanga, Rincon, Santa Rosa, and Temecula. On August 9, 1942 MGM motion picture actress Ruth Hussey was wed at Pala Mission.
From 1948 to 1991 the Pala Mission was entrusted to the Comboni Fathers who in 1954 began an ambitious rebuilding program, with little money but much cooperation from the local parishioners and friends of the Mission. The effort received considerable publicity and attracted the help of individuals and groups from throughout Southern California, and by April of 1959, the structure was completed as it stands today
In May of 1991, the administration of the Mission was returned to the Diocese of San Diego. Then in June of 1993 the Franciscan Friars, OFM Conv. and the Franciscan Sisters of Philadelphia accepted the pastoral care of this very special Mission. As of June 1996 the Barnabite Fathers are in charge of the Pala Mission.
Mission San Antonio de Pala offers many unique Tourist Attractions. The original simple structure is a fine example of Mission Architecture. The long chapel, which displays Native American paintings on its walls and the original floor, offers the visitor a prayerful and reflective atmosphere. The bell tower, modeled after one in Juarez, Mexico, differs from all others in the 21 California Mission Chain in that it stands apart from the main structure. The old cemetery, the Mission Courtyard garden, and shrines have the strong appeal of peace and meditation and are reminiscent of the past.
History
1810. The first recorded mention of Rancho de Pala appeared in Padre Antonio Peyri's Mission San Luis Rey Mission annual report appeared. He recorded building a granary at that location. Six years later a chapel was built and...
18 June 1816. Padre Peyri dedicated the Pala Asistencia. It became prosperous and up to 1,300 converts were ministered to from dedication to the time the mission system went into decline.
1818. A town started to take shape around the Asistencia and after three years Padre Mariano Payeras noted that all that was lacking to make Pala a complete mission was a resident priest.
1827. The Asistencia was at a peak of prosperity. In a report José Maria Echeandía wrote that Mission San Luis Rey "has a station called San Antonio de Pala with a church, dwellings and granaries and with a few fields where wheat, corn, beans, garbanzos, and other leguminous plants are grown."
Late 1830s. The Asistencia underwent secularization. This started a time of decline for the property
14 November 1845. Pala, along with Mission San Luis Rey, was sold to Jose A. Cot and Jose A. Pico. That sale was later nullified but it started a process of sales of various mission properties. Fortunately, Pala was located away from the main lines of travel at the time so the Indians were able to keep the chapel and some of the grounds in repair.
1899. An earthquake damaged the chapel. It was repaired by the Indians with the help of the Landmarks Club. Likewise, when a flood damaged the campanile, it was rebuilt by the Indians.
1902. The U.S. Government decided to remove Indians from the Warner's Ranch area. Property near Pala was purchased and used for this move in the Spring of 1903.
1903. The Asistencia was returned to the Catholic Church through the Landmarks Club which has been able to purchase it from a private owner.
1954. Father Januarius Carillo started a restoration program where original bricks would be made and used to rebuild the original quadrangle. Cedar logs were brought from the Palomar Mountain for this reconstruction.
1959. The restoration of the original quadrangle was completed.
1992. The chapel underwent extensive restoration due to termite damage in the roof.
Location
Along Pala Mission Road (just North of California 76) in Pala, 23 miles from Interstate 5 along California 76. If coming from Oceanside turn left from Highway 76 just at the Pala Casino and proceed through the town to the Asistencia. GPS 33°21'40"N 117°04'45"W.
Pala Mission write up is here because you will pass this place as you go into the site of our reunion site, which is Pala Casino.
