There are two big years that affected all the southern missions in Ulta (upper) California. The first was 1812 when a major earthquake caused damage (some suffered minor and some major) to the missions. The second big date was 1832 when under the leadership of Mexico the process of "secularization" took place. The mission property and land was sold off to private owners to raise funds for the Mexican government. This lead to the collapse of the mission (the Cross and the Sword) system. 2010-07-30