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Mission Santa Inez
Mission Santa Inés was the nineteenth mission to be founded in the mission system, and was named after St. Agnes. Completing the chain between San Francisco and San Diego, the Mission was dedicated in 1804 by the Father-President Estévan Tápis. Construction was finished right before the earthquake of 1812 destroyed most of the church and damaged the buildings, and the church was rebuilt by 1817 and re-dedicated. A campanario ( bell tower ) of three bells was also erected. Although both of the churches as well as the water system were designed by Father Francisco Javier de Uría, another man; Joseph Chapman, also assisted in the mission’s second construction. Chapman, who had once served with the pirate Hipployte de Bouchard, was employed as a general handyman, and helped to plant vineyards and erect buildings.
Mission Santa Inés was known for it’s rich crops and large herds of cattle, as well as the memorable way the Mission greeted visitors. Being off of the highway and more difficult to access than other Missions, the inhabitants there were grateful for those willing to travel to the semi-secluded mission. When visitors were spotted, the bells of the Mission were rang, and everyone greeted the guests at the front door.
Prosperity ended for Mission Santa Inés in the 1820’s. After Mexico declared her independence from Spain in 1821, the Missions were cut off from supplies and pay for the soldiers, and the Missions had to sustain themselves as well as the military. This resulted in the Indians having to work hard and support the Missions themselves, all the while being abused by the soldiers and the Spaniards. On February 21st 1824, a guard flogged a neophyte corporal visiting from Mission La Purísima, and all of the Indians at the Santa Ines Mission rebelled. In the fight that followed, two Indians were killed, and most of the Mission was destroyed by fire. Although the Indians were rebelling, it is recorded that they rushed to put out the fires at the Mission during the struggle. Military reinforcements from Santa Barbara arrived, and the rebels fled to Mission La Purísima, where they fought severely with the Spaniards, and into the Sierra Madre Mountains, as far as the foothills of the Eastern Sierra Nevadas seeking refuge.
Repair of the Mission was finished in 1832, and secularization took place in 1834. Until 1843, the Mission was divided in half between the padres and the other residents, and an actual physical barrier; the "father’s wall", was erected between them. The Indians gradually left the mission, and between 1844 and 1846, the site was used as temporary quarters for the first educational institution in California: The College of Our Lady of Refuge of Sinners. In 1846, Mission Santa Inés was sold for $7,000 to Mexican business men, Carrillo and Covarrubias. In the same year California was seized by the United States, and all Mission transactions were suspended, until some of the property was later returned to the church.
The Mission was neglected until the new pastor of the Mission; Father Alexander Buckler, started the twenty-year restoration process in 1904. During the restoration process, the campanario was destroyed in 1911 by a storm, and rebuilt with concrete and four bell niches instead of three. This campanario was replaced again in 1948 by the original three bell design so as to look more original. The mission is located in the town of Solvang on State Highway 150, and holds one of the most important art collections in the Mission system.
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