Mexicans settlers designed and built La Purisima with their own hands. Back in the day adobe bricks were used a lot to build roofs. The settlers built warehouses to store food and other supplies. They decided to put their buildings in a straight line in case of a major emergency. La Purisima had very few windows and no lights because at night it gets really cold and there is no glass or anything to fill in the window. The acre vineyards help keep the settlers alive and healthy. Agriculture and livestock were important to the settlers.

Adobe bricks and tiles were first used in 1802 to make better roofs and walls. In 1812 after all their hard work, a major earthquake happened and destroyed all the buildings. After the earthquake they moved the mission northwest to a valley called "Canyon of the Wateress." In 1818, a big fire struck the mission and destroyed many native buildings. Then in 1824, a battle happened between the soldiers and the settlers and damaged many new buildings. After 50 more years the mission was finally sold because they got rundown. In 1934 the state of California began a renovation of La Purisima that took five years! In 1941, La Purisima became the largest and most complete Historical Park. Today the mission provides a complete experience of life in mission days.

The most interesting thing I learned about the mission were about the earthquake, the fire and the battle between the soldiers and the settlers. It's amazing to me that all that stuff happened just to La Purisima.

Just think, after all that hard work it was destroyed and had to be knocked down. Every time the settlers had to move they would have to build the mission all over again. Wouldn't you be mad if after all that hard work you had to start all over again?