Mission San Antonio de Pala

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**Mission San Antonio de Pala**
Location	San Diego County
The modern capilla (chapel) at Mission San Antonio De Pala.
Name as Founded	La Asistencia San Antonio de Pala
Founding Date	June 13, 1816^[1]
Founding Priest(s)	Father Antonio Peyrí
Military District	First
Native Tribe(s) Spanish Name(s)	Luiseño
Owner	Roman Catholic Church
Current Use	Parish Church / Museum
Coordinates	33°21′40″N, 117°04′45″W
California Historical Landmark	#243
Web Site	http://www.sanantoniodepala.com

Mission San Antonio de Pala (or 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. Pala (a derivation of the native term Pale, meaning water) was essentially a small rancho surrounded by large fields and herds. Once Mission San Luis Rey began to prosper, its existence attracted the attention of large number of mountain Indians, the 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, more than a thousand of whom had been baptized by 1819. Father Peyrí oversaw the addition of a chapel and housing to the granary complex that was constructed at the spot in 1810. The Mission 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.

Pala is unique among all of the Franciscan missions in that it boasts the only freestanding campanario, or "bell wall," in all of Alta California. Though completely destroyed by torrential rains in 1916, a precise replica was erected immediately thereafter and today stands in its place. The structure measures some 35 feet above the base (which itself is 15 feet off the ground) and supports two bells, each hanging from a rawhide tether. Folk tales about the mission all include mention of a prickly pear cactus that grew at the foot of the cross.

The traditional Corpus Christi Fiesta has been celebrated every year since the Mission's 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.^[2]

On August 9, 1942 MGM motion picture actress Ruth Hussey was wed at Pala Mission.

^ Leffingwell, p. 32
^ Carillo, p. 39

Pala Asistencia, with its original bell wall, circa 1875.

Carillo, Fr. J.M. (1959). The Story of Mission San Antonio de Pala. North County Printers, Oceanside, CA.
Leffingwell, Randy (2005). California Missions and Presidios: The History & Beauty of the Spanish Missions. Voyageur Press, Inc., Stillwater, MN. ISBN 0-89658-492-5.