After secularization, the entire mission complex completely deteriorated and, unlike other missions, the property apparently was never returned to the Church. It was deeded to the state of California in 1933, and reconstruction of the mission complex, under the auspices of the CCC, was begun in 1934. It was fortuitous that the work-relief programs of the Great Depression provided work for artists and historians too, for this allowed a faithful and complete rebuilding of the Mission to the historically accurate state that it is in today. Also rebuilt adjacent to the mission buildings is a large corral where sheep and cattle are kept, just as they work when the Mission was active. It was a long walk from the parking lot near the old Indian infirmary buildings across an open, grassy field and past the corral to get to the mission complex. In one place there was a small irrigation canal, probably one of many and no more than 6 inches wide, that was used to channel water to the growing fields surrounding the mission.

We had only a short amount of time to explore the site, so I focused on the Church and the traditional walled cemetery outside it, leaving the other main buildings and outbuildings for another visit. Since no photograph, sketch, or description of the campanile survived, during reconstruction its design was based on that of Mission Santa Ines, which lies only about 20 miles to the East. The Church, like the Sonoma Mission, is no longer used for religious services, and the resulting absence of pews from the nave to the back of the Church is faithful to the original furnishings in which the Indians sat or knelt on the floor. The pulpit is raised several feet off the floor and attached to the right wall outside the sanctuary. Inside the sanctuary rail and in front of the simple, beautifully restored altar is the tomb of Padre Mariano Payeras, who presided at the Mission for many years and was a successor of Father Serra as supervisor of all the Alta California missions.

Because of its remote location, there were only a few visitors to the Mission. However, I noticed an elderly, white-haired lady who walked very slowly, on the arm of someone who appeared to be her son. She stood by the sanctuary railing for quite some time, and I waited for her to move away so that I could get a clear photo of the altar. When she passed me on the way back, she asked, "Do you know someone who worked on the Mission?" I said that I didn't, and that I was here because I had only been in California for a couple of years and was trying to visit as many of the Missions as I could. "My husband worked on the rebuilding of this Church" she said with obvious pride but in a voice almost overcome with emotion. At the time I did not know when the rebuilding occurred, so I did not ask her about what he did or when it was, but having learned the story of the Depression-era project in the meantime, it is easy to surmise that 65 years ago her future husband worked here as a young man, not only helping to feed his family during one of the roughest times of the 20th century, but also creating a work of lasting beauty and historical importance that outlived him and probably all of us visiting there today.

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