Once Mission San Luis Rey began to prosper, it attracted the attention of numerous mountain Native Americans in the area, who were called the Luiseño by the Spanish.

[6] Folk tales about the mission include mention of a prickly pear cactus, which became a local symbol of Christian victory, that grew up at the foot of the cross.

[11] In 1902, a group named the "Landmarks Club of Southern California", under the direction of American journalist, historian, and photographer Charles Fletcher Lummis, purchased Pala Mission.

The following year, the Club returned ownership to the Catholic Church and "saved the Chapel and a few rooms from complete ruin with a timely work of partial restoration.

Though it lacked a resident priest, Pala served as the "mother" mission to chapels in Cahuilla, La Jolla, Pauma, Pichanga, Rincon, Santa Rosa, and Temecula.

The bells were rung at mealtimes, to call the Mission residents to work, religious services, birth and funeral ceremonies, and to signal the approach of a ship or returning Spaniard, and other occasions.

American academician, architect, and author Rexford Newcomb published design studies of the original bell tower in his 1916 work The Franciscan Mission Architecture of Alta California.