“Beautiful for situation” was the spot selected for the only
Mission founded during the first decade of the nineteenth
century,—Santa Inés.
Governor Borica, who called California “the most peaceful and
quiet country on earth,” and under whose orders Padre Lasuen had
established the five Missions of 1796-1797, had himself made
explorations in the scenic mountainous regions of the coast, and
recommended the location afterwards determined upon, called by the
Indians Alajulapu, meaning rincon, or corner.
The native population was reported to number over a thousand,
and the fact that they were frequently engaged in petty hostilities
among themselves rendered it necessary to employ unusual care in
initiating the new enterprise. Presidente Tapis therefore asked the
governor for a larger guard than was generally assigned for
protecting the Missions, and a sergeant and nine men were ordered
for that purpose.
The distance from Santa Barbara was about thirty-five miles,
over a rough road, hardly more than a trail, winding in and out
among the foothills, and gradually climbing up into the mountains
in the midst of most charming and romantic scenery. The quaint
procession, consisting of Padre Presidente Tapis and three other
priests, Commandant Carrillo, and the soldiers, and a large number
of neophytes from Santa Barbara, slowly marched over this
mountainous road, into the woody recesses where nestled the future
home of the Mission of Santa Inés, and where the usual
ceremonies of foundation took place September 17, 1804. Padres
Calzada, Gutierrez, and Ciprès assisted Presidente Tapis,
and the two former remained as the missionaries in charge.
The first result of the founding of this Mission was the
immediate baptism of twenty-seven children, a scene worthy of the
canvas of a genius, could any modern painter conceive of the real
picture,—the group of dusky little ones with somber, wondering
eyes, and the long-gowned priests, with the soldiers on guard and
the watchful Indians in native costume in the background,—all in
the temple of nature’s creating.
The first church erected was not elaborate, but it was roofed
with tiles, and was ample in size for all needful purposes. In 1812
an earthquake caused a partial collapse of this structure. The
corner of the church fell, roofs were ruined, walls cracked, and
many buildings near the Mission were destroyed. This was a serious
calamity, but the padres never seemed daunted by adverse
circumstances. They held the usual services in a granary,
temporarily, and in 1817 completed the building of a new church
constructed of brick and adobe, which still remains. In 1829 the
Mission property was said to resemble that at Santa Barbara. On one
side were gardens and orchards, on the other houses and Indian
huts, and in front was a large enclosure, built of brick and used
for bathing and washing purposes.
When Governor Chico came up to assume his office in 1835 he
claimed to have been insulted by a poor reception from Padre Jimeno
at Santa Inés. The padre said he had had no notice of the
governor’s coming, and therefore did the best he could. But
Presidente Duran took the bold position of informing the governor,
in reply to a query, that the government had no claim whatever upon
the hospitality of unsecularized Missions. Chico reported the whole
matter to the assembly, who sided with the governor, rebuked the
presidente and the padres, and confirmed an order issued for the
immediate secularization of Santa Inés and San Buenaventura
(Duran’s own Mission). J.M. Ramirez was appointed comisionado at
Santa Inés. At this time the Mission was prosperous. The
inventory showed property valued at $46,186, besides the church and
its equipment. The general statistics from the foundation, 1804 to
1834, show 1372 baptisms, 409 marriages, and 1271 deaths. The
largest number of cattle was 7300 in 1831, 800 horses in 1816, and
6000 sheep in 1821. After secularization horses were taken for the
troops, and while, for a time, the cattle increased, it was not
long before decline set in.
In 1843 the management of the Mission was restored to the
friars, but the former conditions of prosperity had passed away
never to return. Two years later the estate was rented for $580 per
year, and was finally sold in 1846 for $1700, although in later
times the title was declared invalid. In the meantime an
ecclesiastical college was opened at Santa Inés in 1844. A
grant of land had been obtained from the government, and an
assignment of $500 per year to the seminary on the condition that
no Californian in search of a higher education should ever be
excluded from its doors; but the project met with only a temporary
success, and was abandoned after a brief existence of six
years.
In 1844 Presidente Duran reported 264 neophytes at Santa
Inés, with sufficient resources for their support. When
Pico’s order of 1845 was issued, the Mission was valued at $20,288.
This did not include the church, the curate’s house or rooms, and
the rooms needed for the court-house. This inventory was taken
without the co-operation of the padre, who refused to sign it.
He—the padre—remained in charge until 1850, when the Mission was
most probably abandoned.
At Santa Inés there were several workers in leather and
silver whose reputation still remains. In various parts of the
State are specimens of the saddles they made and carved and then
inlaid in silver that are worthy a place in any noteworthy
collection of artistic work.
Only ten arches remain at Santa Inés of the long line of
corridor arches that once graced this building. In the distance is
a pillar of one still standing alone. Between it and the last of
the ten, eight others used to be, and beyond it there are the clear
traces of three or four more.
The church floor is of red tiles. All the window arches are
plain semicircles. Plain, rounded, heavy mouldings about three feet
from the floor, and the same distance from the ceiling, extend
around the inside of the church, making a simple and effective
structural ornament.
The original altar is not now used. It is hidden behind the more
pretentious modern one. It is of cement, or plastered adobe, built
out, like a huge statue bracket, from the rear wall. The old
tabernacle, ornate and florid, is still in use, though showing its
century of service. There are also several interesting
candlesticks, two of which are pictured in the chapter on
woodwork.
Almost opposite the church entrance is a large reservoir, built
of brick, twenty-one feet long and eight feet wide. It is at the
bottom of a walled-in pit, with a sloping entrance to the reservoir
proper, walls and slope being of burnt brick. This “sunk enclosure”
is about sixty feet long and thirty feet across at the lower end,
and about six feet below the level to the edge of the reservoir.
Connected with this by a cement pipe or tunnel laid underground,
over 660 feet long, is another reservoir over forty feet long, and
eight feet wide, and nearly six feet deep. This was the reservoir
which supplied the Indian village with water. The upper reservoir
was for the use of the padres and also for bathing purposes.
MISSION SANTA INÉS.
MISSION SAN RAFAEL ARCÁNGEL.
From an old painting.
MISSION SAN FRANCISCO SOLANO, AT SONOMA.The water supply was brought from the mountains several miles
distant, flumed where necessary, and then conveyed underground in
cement pipes made and laid by the Indians under the direction of
the padres. The water-right is now lost to the Mission, being owned
by private parties.
The earthquake of 1906 caused considerable damage at Santa
Inés, and it has not yet been completely repaired, funds for
the purpose not having been forthcoming.
