The mission was founded in the 1730's. A German
Jesuit, Johann Jacobo Baegert, supervised the construction
of the stone church in the 1750's. About the native
Californians, Baegert wrote: "One might consider them
among the poorest and most pitiable of God's children,
yet... a native Californian sleeps as gently and as well on the
hard earth, under the open sky, as any European
in his soft feather bed."
Baegert's description of life at the mission seemed overly
romantic when I photographed the site. There were goats in
the chapel and squatters living in the adjoining hacienda
ruins. A dog announced my presence to all who would
listen, but held still for my 30 second exposure. |