In two centuries, La Purísima Concepción went from a fledgling frontier mission to a renowned California State Historic Park. Once home to many Spanish soldiers, settlers and hundreds of Chumash Indians, La Purísima held the seat of the California Mission government under Father Mariano Payeras. It withstood catastrophic events, including widespread disease in early years and a great Southern California earthquake in 1812. Emerging from ruins for the last time in 1934, after restoration by the Civilian Conservation Corps, structures appear today as they did in the early nineteenth century. The uniquely restored California Mission complex operates as a state park in a pastoral setting. Author and archivist Michael R. Hardwick chronicles the story of La Purísima and the resilient people and culture that made a lasting influence.

Michael Hardwick earned his degree in anthropology from UCSB. He completed early archaeology on the presidio in Santa Barbara and established the archives at La Purisima State Park as a park ranger. After seventeen years of serving on the board of directors for the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, Hardwick is now an honorary life trustee. His first book on the horticulture of California's missions was the basis for Old Mission Santa Barbara's Huerta Project.