This photo was taken looking down the church's nave toward the sanctuary. As described in Al-Kufrah, there are indeed paw prints & bird tracks in the floor tiles. Cut into one of the church's rear doors there is also the "Cat Door" to allow free access to the mouse-hungry feline members of the congregation.
The reredos & altar were painted in 1817 by Thomas Doak, a sailor from Boston, who had deserted the ship Albatross at Monterey. The job had 1st been assigned to a local Mexican artist, who had demanded the exhorbitant sum of 6 reales ($0.75) per day. The frugal padres chose instead to give the work to Doak, who was willing to work for room & board. Although not an artist, he devised colors so strong & durable that they exist today virtually unchanged. Doak later married the daughter of a local grandee & became the 1st Anglo-American settler in Alta California. (DLW, August 1998)
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