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 Ines.
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 Ines and San
Buenaventura (Duran's own Mission). J.M. Ramirez was appointed
comisionado at Santa Ines. 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
Ines 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 Ines, 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