Santa Barbara County CA Archives History - Books .....Part I 1920
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Book Title: Santa Barbara And Montecito Past And Present

SANTA BARBARA AND MONTECITO
PAST AND PRESENT
By
JOHN R. SOUTHWORTH F. R. G. S.
Author of "The Mines of Mexico", "Yucatan" "Sonora", "Sinaloa", "Mexico", etc.
Drawings by H. H. Halliday

Orena Studios
29 E. De La Guerra Street, Santa Barbara, California
MCMXX

Copyright 1920
By John R. Southworth, F. R. G. S.

Press of
The Schauer Printing Studio
Santa Barbara, Cal., U. S. A.

Dedicated to the Memory of Alfred Simson, F. R. G. S.

FOREWORD

   The object of the present work is to narrate in a concise form, the principal
events in the history of Santa Barbara and Montecito, and to point out and
illustrate their natural attractions and beauties to those unacquainted with
them, who in many cases have neither time nor inclination to wade through the
many ponderous and learned volumes already written.
                                      J. R. S.
Orena Studios
Santa Barbara
December, 1920


PART I.

Expedition of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo—Customs and Religion of the Santa Barbara
Indians—Second Expedition under General Sebastien Vizcaino—Saint
Barbara—Foundation of Presidio by Padre Junipero Serra —Establishment of Santa
Barbara Mission by Padre Fermin F. de Lasuen.

ROMANCE should be accredited with inspiring the charming name given to
California. In the year 1510, a novel was published in Seville, Spain, in which
"California" was given as the name of a mythical isle rich in minerals and
precious stones, and said to be inhabited by a tribe of Amazons. This book,
entitled "Las Sergas de Esplandian" (The Exploits of Esplandian) was written by
Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo as a sequel to the famous novel "Amadas de Gaula" by
Lobeira, which he had translated. The two works were printed in the same volume,
and evidently were widely read in Spain. That their contents were familiar to
the early explorers of America is proved by the fact that Bernal Diaz, companion
of Cortez and recorder of the conquest of Mexico, often mentions the "Amadas" to
which the story of "Esplandian" was attached. The passage containing the famous
name is as follows:-

   Be it known unto you that at the right hand of the Indies there was an island
formed of the largest rocks known and called California, very near to the
terrestrial Paradise. This island was inhabited by robust dark women of great
strength and great warm hearts, who lived almost as Amazons, and no man lived
among them. Their weapons and the trappings of the wild beasts which they rode
after taming them were entirely of gold, and no other metal existed on the
island. The people lived in well hewn caves. They had many ships in which they
made excursions to other countries, where they caught men whom they carried away
and subsequently killed. During periods of peace with their neighbors they
commingled with them without restraint. When children were born the females were
preserved, but the males were killed at once, saving only those required to
guard against depopulation, so their domination over the land would be securely
maintained.

   "There were many griffins on the island, and they were a great torment. There
were also an infinite number of wild beasts which are found in no other part of
the world. When these animals had young the women went to fetch them and carried
them, covered with heavy skins, to their caves, and there bred them and fed them
with the men and male children. The women brought up these animals with such
skill that they knew them well and did them no harm, and they attacked and
killed any man who entered the island and ate him; and when their appetite was
sated they would take them up flying into the air and let them fall from great
heights, killing them instantly."

   The above extract, from a once well known book, is interesting, if only to
show what a Spaniard of the sixteenth century considered the attributes of women
with "great warm hearts."

   So, when the early explorers came upon this smiling land, which they mistook
for an island separated from the mainland by a long gulf, they named it in honor
of that imaginary isle "California."

   The Spaniard did not hold this land of gold quite long enough to see his
visions fulfilled, but California has developed far beyond his wildest dreams.

Expedition of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo

   The discovery of Santa Barbara dates from the expedition under Juan Rodriguez
Cabrillo, which sailed from Puerto de Navidad, Mexico, June 27, 1542, with two
vessels, the flagship "San Salvador" and "La Victoria." The object of this
expedition was the search for a shorter route, in a westerly direction, from
Mexico, between the north sea and the south sea. He relied on the supposed
existence of a strait which would enable him to sail on a direct voyage to Asia.

   The result of Cabrillo's investigations concerning the imaginary passage
impelled him to direct his course northward until he reached latitude 36
degrees, where he found himself in a channel which he supposed must lie between
two continents, but upon making explorations he found that the land to the west
consisted of a group of islands, which he subsequently navigated. It appears
from the record kept of this voyage that Cabrillo miscalculated the size of the
islands, but from the degree of latitude given and other particulars, there is
no doubt that the channel and islands mentioned are those that front Santa Barbara.

   The log of the voyage shows that on October 13, 1542, these adventurers
visited an uninhabited island, and mention is also made of an island fifteen
leagues in length; on the 14th and 15th they passed to the mainland, where a
lovely valley nestling in an amphitheatre of hills (Santa Barbara) met their
vision, and after exploring a mountain (Santa Ynez) with keen interest, they
retraced their steps. After noting their observations in the log, the expedition
resumed its course towards the north, but owing to Cabrillo sustaining a broken
arm, due to a fall, a lengthy stay was made at one of the islands (San Miguel),
where from the effects of unskilful surgery and exposure, the hardy navigator
passed away, on January 3, 1543. He is supposed to have been buried on the shore
of Cuyler's Harbor, San Miguel, but no trace of his grave has been found. His
companions named the island "Juan Rodriguez," but he has been deprived of even
this slight tribute to his memory. It would be a slight token of regard if the
State would name the island "Cabrillo"; San Miguel has been well remembered in
California, and could well spare an island.

   On his deathbed, Cabrillo urged his successor, the pilot Bartholome Ferrolo,
to continue the explorations, which he did with much courage and daring. About
the middle of February, 1543, he left the harbor and voyaged to the northward,
discovering the capes of Mendocino and Blanco (the latter in the southern part
of what is now the state of Oregon), but the weather became so cold and stormy
that he was obliged to turn back, and after suffering many hardships, reached
Navidad in April, 1543. In virtue of the discoveries made by Cabrillo and
Ferrolo the Spaniards claimed the territory on the Pacific coast of North
America up to the forty-second degree of latitude, a claim which they maintained
for nearly 300 years.

Customs and Religion of the Santa Barbara Indians

   At the time of the arrival of Cabrillo, the shore of the Santa Barbara
channel is said to have supported a larger native population than any other part
of California, and in his log the explorer states that he was well received and
hospitably treated by them.

   It has been proved by research into history that the Santa Barbara Indian was
by no means dull of intellect, and was in fact superior to the Indian of the
Atlantic seaboard, and of the Mississippi Valley. Cut off by the mountains from
the fierce tribes to the north and south, his life was peaceful, and his whole
happiness was bound up in his affections and in his immediate surroundings. The
use of arrows was at first hardly understood, his amusement consisting rather in
dancing to music that was anything but tuneful, than in active pursuits of an
athletic or military nature. He rarely went beyond the limits of his district,
but preferred to remain at home with his kinsfolk.

   It is authoritatively stated by several writers that not only were the native
houses skilfully erected, but the Indians showed ability in the manufacture of
all kinds of useful articles. Pots, mortars, and other kitchen utensils,
although not artistically finished, nevertheless portrayed that skilled hands
had fashioned them; their knives and grindstones were of flint, and their
musical instruments adapted from bones and shells.

   They generally ate seeds and fruits, varied by fish and locusts. There was
some hunting of the hare, rabbit, and deer, the meat of the latter, after being
cut in strips and hung to dry on trees, being one of the favorite articles of
diet; their principal triumph in this direction, however, was in the serving of
acorns, which were first ground, then placed in a sieve made from woven weeds,
rinsed several times, after which the paste was well stirred and then boiled.
Thus the bitter taste of the acorns was eliminated, and the Indians were able to
bake a very good substitute for our present day bread. They were also very fond
of wild plums, blackberries, prickly pears, and wild onions, as well as some
varieties of seeds, and though alcohol was not known, an exceedingly bitter
drink is affirmed to have been extracted from one kind of seed, the name of
which has unfortunately been lost. These ingenious natives are even known to
have dried and smoked a root called "Pispibata" in pipes, a good substitute for
our modern tobacco. They were also known to have employed certain herbs for
medicinal purposes, although no record is left as to the results of these.

   Contrary to the usual rule among savage peoples, the women usually remained
at home, the men going out to gather wood and obtain provisions; housekeeping,
however, does not appear to have been a serious problem, as large quantities of
necessaries were acquired and stored, and when these were used, the same program
was repeated.

   Long hair was considered a sign of beauty in both sexes, and this was
carefully tended and decorated with ferns, flowers, and rings of stone; their
necks were also decorated by strings of beads, some of them very beautiful,
consisting of shells carefully bored through the center. It has been said that
these shells took the place or money, but it is proved that their trade was
carried on by a system of barter of food and useful articles.

   There was no king in the land, each village or tribe governing itself, under
the patriarchal system, and as they were not at all warlike, and had nothing to
quarrel about, war was unknown.

   Their outstanding virtue was love for parents and relatives who were mourned
in some cases for years after death. Unlike many of the northern tribes, who
either practised cremation or did not bury their dead at all, the Santa Barbara
Indians had cemeteries which were the objects of particular care and devotion;
these burying places were enclosed by a brush and post fence, the bodies being
placed in the grave face downward and covered by the various possessions of the
deceased. In a succeeding paragraph it is shown that the Indians believed in a
future life, and that the articles used on this earth would also be needed there.

   Their religious beliefs were more rational than in the case of most savage
races. Chupu, the creator, was the deification of good; Nunaxus, their Satan,
the personification of evil. Long ago, Chupu had created Nunaxus, who rebelled
against his creator, and treacherously tried to overthrow him. Then Chupu, the
almighty, punished the rebel by creating man upon the earth, who, by devouring
the animal and vegetable products thereof, checked the physical growth of
Nunaxus, who had hoped by liberal feeding to become like unto a mountain. Foiled
in his ambition, Nunaxus ever afterwards hated mankind, and sought to injure him.

   To secure the protection of Chupu, offerings were made to him, and dances
instituted in his honor, flutes and other instruments being played to attract
his attention. When, however, Nunaxus brought calamity upon the Indians in the
shape of dry years, which caused dearth in the land, or sent sickness to afflict
them, their old men entreated Chupu to protect them, and to exorcise their Satan
they shot arrows and threw stones in the direction in which he was supposed to be.

  Their conception of Paradise was that death transferred the Indian to Chupu's
court at Alapa, and as, when he was buried, his brethren also interred -all his
possessions with him, he entered into the beautiful land equipped to hunt, fish,
and live in happiness. The evil Nunaxus had no power there and the wonderful
land overflowed with an abundance of all kinds of provisions.

   No form of idolatry was practised among the tribes inhabiting Santa Barbara,
and the only religious rite consisted of dancing to obtain the favor of Chupu.

   Paintings made by the Indians were always, curiously enough, of animals, due
to the fact that it was believed such pictures would take the attention of
Nunaxus from man, and that he would wreak his vengeance on the brute creation
instead.

   To those who are interested in the manual work of the Indians before Santa
Barbara was on the map, a visit to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History,
located at 930 Anacapa Street, open between the hours of 10 a. m., and 5 p. m.,
will be amply worth while.

   The exhibits consist of soapstone carvings of whales, seals and fishes, stone
mortars, cooking jars, ollas or water jars, bake stones, basket work, shell
ornaments and many rare articles too numerous to mention.

Second Expedition

   While there are evidences that other navigators, among them the redoubtable
Drake of Devon, later visited this shore, nothing of a definite character is
known concerning Santa Barbara until the record of the voyage of General Don
Sebastian Vizcaino in 1602. This was a notable expedition, the object being to
establish some station from the mainland that would shorten the long voyage
across the ocean from Mexico to the Philippine Islands. With this view, Vizcaino
sailed from Acapulco on May 5th, 1602, with three frigates, the flagship San
Diego, San Tomas, and Los Tres Reyes, together with a transport conveying the
necessary provisions of food and water. He was accompanied by a corps of
geographers and surveyors, at the head of whom was an able draftsman named
Antonio de la Asencion of the Carmelite Order, who also acted as chaplain of one
of the ships.

   This expedition entered the Santa Barbara Channel on December 4th 1602. It
was the custom of Padre Asencion to name new localities in honor of the saint on
whose festival day the discovery took place; consequently, the Channel received
the name of Saint Barbara, to whom the 4th day of December is sacred. Asencion's
maps and drawings were very complete, and the names affixed to the various
bodies of water and points of land have been officially recognized ever since.

   Vizcaino visited the mainland near Point Concepcion, where the Indian Chief
of a populous settlement offered each Spaniard who would become a resident of
his town ten wives, but this generous offer was rejected. Vizcaino then sailed
northward, and after encountering much bad weather and enduring many hardships,
returned to Acapulco March 21, 1603.

   A letter from Vizcaino to King Philip III of Spain, dated May 23, 1603,
appears to furnish the earliest known specimen of California "boom" literature.
An extract from this communication says:—"This land has a genial climate, its
waters are good, and its soil fertile judging from the variety and luxuriant
growth of trees and plants, and it is thickly settled with people, whom I found
to be of gentle disposition, peaceable and docile," and he was very anxious for
the king to consent to his founding a colony in this delightful land. After many
delays, Philip III in 1606 ordered the viceroy of New Spain to fit out
immediately an expedition for the occupation and settlement of parts of
California, but before this could be done, Vizcaino died, and his colonization
scheme perished with him.

Saint Barbara

   The biography of Saint Barbara, in whose honor the fair city of Santa Barbara
is named, appears in the Greek and Muscovite Sanctorals and the Roman Breviary,
from which the following brief summary is taken.

   Saint Barbara was born in Nicomedia, Asia Minor, A. D. 218. Her father,
Dioscorus, a Roman official under the Emperor Maximin, had been instructed to
exterminate all Christians in his territory. St. Barbara had been educated in
the Christian religion without the knowledge of her father, by the venerable
Origen, one of the early members of the faith. Observing how the Christians were
being martyred by her father, she pleaded with him to spare them; this so
enraged him that he had Barbara imprisoned in a tower, and in order to awaken
her passion, sent several dissolute young nobles to her, who were very
persistent in their advances with the object of seeking her hand in marriage.
Barbara had, however, previously dedicated herself to God, and nothing would
change her resolution to remain true to her vows. This so incensed her father
that he had her arraigned before the Judge Marcian, who assigned her to the
executioners for martyrdom. In the midst of her torture, she fainted, and
Dioscorus seeing that his daughter was not dead, as he had thought, drew his own
sword and decapitated her. On the consummation of this atrocious act, it is
stated that lightning and thunder burst forth with terrible intensity,
destroying Dioscorus in its fury.

   The head of Saint Barbara may be found preserved as a relic for veneration in
the temple of All Saints at Rome. She died on December 4th, A. D. 235.

   It may be added that besides being the patroness of Santa Barbara, she is
also claimed as the patron saint of artillery soldiers, and architects.

   All good Barbarenos will be glad to learn that their City does not derive its
name from a mythological source, but from an illustrious and invincible
Christian martyr whose name appears in the records of the Church.

Foundation of Presidio by Padre Junipero Serra

   It is somewhat remarkable that so attractive a country should have remained a
terra incognita for more than a century and a half after the voyage of Vizcaino,
but Spain had a vast amount of colonial territory at that time, and no gold or
silver had been discovered in California, which would account for her neglect.

   In 1767, however, the report that the Russians were coming down from the
north to take possession of Alta California, inspired the Spanish Government of
Carlos III to attempt at once the colonization of the country, and the
conversion and civilization of the Indians. The Jesuits had taken up the work in
Lower California, but the members of the Order having been expelled by the
king's decree from Spain and all her American colonies, the Franciscans were
selected, and by an agreement between the Spanish Viceroy and the Superior
General of the Franciscan Order, Padre Junipero Serra was appointed to have
charge of the work.

   Miguel Jose Serra, who may with propriety be called the Apostle of
California, was born of humble parents in the Island of Majorca in the
Mediterranean on Nov. 24, 1713. Like the prophet Samuel, he was dedicated to the
priesthood from infancy, and having finished his studies in the Convent of San
Bernardino, he wished to devote himself to the immediate service of God, and
went to Palma, the capital of the province, to acquire the higher learning
necessary for the priesthood. At his earnest request, he was received into the
Order of St. Francis, at the age of sixteen, taking the name "Junipero," after a
favorite disciple of St. Francis, and, at the end of one year's probation, made
his religious profession, Sept. 15, 1731. Having finished his studies in
philosophy and theology, he soon acquired a high repuation [sic] as a writer and
orator, and his services were sought in every direction; but while enjoying
these distinctions at home, his heart was set on his long-projected mission to
the heathen of the New World. He sailed from Cadiz for America August 28, 1749,
and landed at Vera Cruz, whence he went to the City of Mexico, joined the
College of San Fernando, and was made President of the Missions of Sierra Gorda
and San Saba.

   In 1767 he was made President of the Missions which had been established in
Lower California, on the expulsion of the Jesuits. On his appointment, he
immediately entered upon active duties, and proceeded to carry out his grand
design of the civilization of the Pacific Coast. Under instructions from the
Viceroy of Mexico, the vessels San Carlos, San Antonio and San Jose were fitted
out and despatched to California; of these, the San Jose was lost, the San
Antonio reached San Diego on the 11th of April 1769, and the San Carlos on May
1st, the crews having been well nigh exhausted by starvation, thirst, and scurvy.

   The plan for the occupation of the new territory contemplated forts at San
Diego and Monterey, as the extremities of the domain, with a settlement midway
between, as headquarters for the colony. In pursuance of this plan, Padre Serra
in July 1769 established a Presidio and Mission at San Diego, and then sailed
north to perform a similar duty at Monterey. He, however failed to locate the
place and returned to San Diego. After receiving some reinforcements, he again
made an effort to reach the site of Monterey, which was successful, and there
established the northern outpost of the colony. While selecting Monterey and San
Diego as the military outposts, Padre Serra had constantly in mind the
establishment of a central settlement, and for this purpose had selected Santa
Barbara for many reasons, among them being the gentle character of the natives,
the wonderful salubrity of the climate, the transcendent beauty of the location,
the fertility of the soil, and the safe harbor afforded by its sheltered
position on the Channel.

   Gomez, who was connected with one of Padre Serra's expeditions as a botanist
and meteorologist, writes that he here found an abundance of wild roses, and
termed the place a "delectable paradise."

   It was not until about the middle of April, 1782, that the indefatigable
Padre Serra was able to secure the assistance he desired in order to found the
Presidio of Santa Barbara. With fifty men commanded by Captain Jose Francisco
Ortega and accompanied by Governor Neve, he left San Buenaventura (now Ventura)
and traveled along the Indian coast trails, which were the only roads existing
then. A few Indian villages were passed, but when the pioneers crossed Rincon
Creek and entered the fertile valley of Carpinteria these villages were more
numerous. At last they reached the lagoon which formerly existed in the lower
part of this city, and here a spot was selected for the Presidio, on ground now
bounded by Canon Perdido, Garden, Figueroa, and Anacapa Streets, but every trace
of this early settlement has now been swept away.

   On the birthday of Saint Barbara, April 21st, 1782, under the direction of
Padre Serra, the simple ceremonies took place. The soldiers clad in leathern
waistcoats and leggings, their faces bronzed by exposure, were assembled, under
the command of Governor Neve and Captain Ortega, and from the many villages
throughout the valleys the Indians had come, impelled by curiosity and awe; and
it must have been with great interest that they watched the newcomers and
wondered at their purpose.

   Padre Junipero, clad in alb and stole, stood in a hastily constructed chapel
of brush before a roughly hewn table used as an altar. The soldiers, under the
command of Governor Neve and Captain Ortega, then formed in a square, and having
laid aside their shields and lances, knelt with bared heads while the reverend
padre with uplifted hands invoked the blessings of heaven upon the congregation
and their undertaking. After the dedication of the spot, the cross was raised,
mass was celebrated, and an impressive sermon preached. With these simple
ceremonies was founded the Presidio of Santa Barbara; and a record of the
events, in the handwriting of Junipero Serra and signed by him, is preserved
among archives of the parochial church. An enclosure about seventy-five yards
square was then made of palisades, in the form of a stockade, enclosed by a wall
of stone and adobe twelve or fourteen feet high, cannon being mounted at
strategical points for the defense of the Presidio, the heaviest in a position
commanding the harbor. Within were the barracks, store-house, a church for the
soldiers, and the comandante's residence. On the outside was a trench twelve
feet wide and six feet deep, the soil thrown out from the ditch serving as an
outwork. The Presidio was entered by two gates, open during the day and closed
at night. The buildings were well constructed of adobe and mortar, resting on
good foundations, the main entrance which faced the channel being twenty feet in
width.

   The plan will give a better idea of the construction than words, although it
must be remembered that straight lines were not followed as the plan would
imply, the buildings presenting a very irregular appearance, which added to the
picturesqueness of the Presidio, and was in keeping with the surroundings.

   The soldiers on guard wore, over their uniform, a suit of buckskin like a
coat of mail reaching almost to their feet, which was supposed to be impervious
to Indian arrows. The horses also were encased in leathern armor, like those of
the knights of old. If there was fighting to be done, a leathern buckler, worn
on the soldier's left arm, was added to ward off arrows or thrusts from a spear;
while defending themselves with sabre and lance, firearms were useless. In
addition to the duty of guarding the coast, four or five men, under a sergeant,
accompanied the padres when they went abroad on any business.

   The Indians were friendly, and through their chief, Yanonali, who controlled
thirteen rancherias (Indian villages or settlements) details of them were
secured to assist the soldiers in the work of building, the natives being paid
for their labor by gifts of food and clothing. Irrigation works were
constructed, consisting of a general reservoir made of sand and cement, and
arrangements made for conducting water to the Presidio. It has been said that
the soldiers were usually of an idle class, although some of them who had
families cultivated small gardens, which added to their support. After the
erection of buildings, the necessary attention to flocks and herds, and the
cultivation of the soil, the soldiers soon learned to employ the Indians for
every service except military duty.

   Captain Jose Ortega was in command of the Presidio for two years after its
founding, and was succeeded by Lieutenant Felipe de Goycoechea.

   Historians and others have located the center of the Presidio as having been
situated at the corner of Canon Perdido and Santa Barbara Streets.

Establishment of Santa Barbara Mission

  It was the expectation of Padre Serra, who was entirely absorbed in the
advancement of the Church, to found the Mission of Santa Barbara as soon as
temporary dwellings were provided for the soldiers, but he was unable to secure
the co-operation of the Governor, who felt that their position among unknown
tribes would be insecure until the fortifications and buildings of the Presidio
were at least partly completed. Finding, to his great disappointment, that
nothing could be done then towards carrying out his long-cherished plan to found
here his grandest Mission, Padre Serra left the garrison in charge of Padre
Dumetz, and started for the Mission of San Carlos at Monterey, on foot, as was
his custom, although he was at that time nearly seventy years of age. Arriving
there, he rested for a little while, and then began a visitation of all the
Missions that he had founded, confirming the Indians who had been instructed and
baptized.

   On the 18th of August, Padre Palou (recalled to Monterey from San Francisco,
found Serra suffering from trouble of the chest, and from a recurrence of his
old trouble of the leg. He found him distressed also by rumors of an impending
displacement of the Franciscans in Alta California by the Dominicans. On the
27th, fever supervened, and at the church, attended by Indians and cuirassed
men, the Father-President received the last Sacrament. On the 28th, the fever
increasing, he was visited in the morning by Captain Jose Canizares, whose ship
lay at anchor in the bay; and between one and two o'clock in the afternoon,
having drawn about him his cloak and composed himself on his bed of planks, he
resigned his spirit. His funeral, which took place on the 29th in the presence
of mariners, soldiers, and neophytes, was conducted with solemn pomp. The body,
covered with roses of Castille, and attended by guardsmen with lighted tapers,
was borne amid chanting about the plaza to the Mission of San Carlos. September
4, Padre Serra's garments were cut up, and distributed among the devout as amulets.

   His death further delayed the founding, as his successor Padre Palou, was
advanced in years, and also desired to visit Mexico in order to publish a
biography of Padre Serra. Consequently it was not until the appointment of Padre
Palou's successor in 1785 that anything was done.

   This successor was Padre Fermin F. de Lasuen, and he decided that his first
official act should be the carrying out of the cherished wish of Padre Serra.

   The Channel Missions, San Buenaventura and Santa Barbara, were intended by
the Government to be modeled after the Colorado pueblo Missions, that is, the
Indians were not to be taken from their rancherias, excepting a few at a time,
if they could be persuaded to live at the Missions, and the Padres were to
confine themselves solely to their religious and mental instruction. The reason
given for this was the small amount of land under cultivation in proportion to
the number of inhabitants, and the danger of uprising of the dense population in
case any attempt was made to break up or rearrange the distribution of it. This
plan, although a good one, meant the complete overthrow of the Mission system,
and the Padres had too much influence in Mexico and Spain to permit it to
succeed; the government of these two missions, therefore, differed in no respect
from all the rest.

   In October, 1786 all was ready and Governor Pedro Fages wrote Padre Lasuen
that the materials for the important event were on hand at Santa Barbara; the
latter replied that he felt he would more fully carry out the wishes of Padre
Serra if he waited until Saint Barbara's day, the 4th of December; Padre Serra
had been especially devoted to this virgin martyr, as he firmly believed it was
through her intercession that he had once been saved from immediate death by
shipwreck. Padre Lasuen was also desirous that the patroness of the new Mission
should be the fairest saint in all the calender.

   Padre Lasuen, with two other missionaries, started for Santa Barbara in
November 1786 arriving there on the 22nd of that month. They looked the ground
over thoroughly, and finally decided to erect the Mission on a plateau about a
mile north west of the Presidio. Comandante Goycoechea wanted the Mission
erected nearer the Presidio, and wrote Governor Fages to that effect, but Padre
Lasuen and his associates disregarded his wishes, as they had full authority to
please themselves as to site, and went on with their preparations. It is more
than likely that the main reason for building the mission some distance from the
Presidio was the desire of the Padres to keep their Indian converts free from
the influence of the soldiers, whose morals were not of a character to afford a
good example to the childlike and imitative native.

   The location finally selected had a plentiful supply of water from what is
now known as Mission Creek, but which was then called the "Arroyo Pedregosa." On
the site were a large number of boulders which led to the name "Taynayam" being
given it by the natives, and "El Pedregosa" by the Spaniards, both terms
signifying "stony ground" or "place of stones."

   Everything being in readiness for the foundation, Padre Lasuen and his
coadjutors consecrated the ground to its holy use.

   Governor Fages, on receiving the letter from the Comandante referred to
above, decided to visit Santa Barbara and personally inform himself on the
situation. He arrived ten days after the founding, and was so well satisfied
with the selection of the site that he at once ordered a hut to be built beside
the cross, in which mass was celebrated and a sermon preached by Padre Antonio
Paterna.

   The entry in the records of the parochial church relating to this event was
written and signed by Padre Lasuen, President, and reads:— "Commenced on the
appropriate day of the holy titular patroness, December 4th A. D. 1786. On the
afternoon of which day, no higher solemnity having been permitted, I, the
undersigned, Fr. Fermin Franco de Lasuen, President of the Missions of said and
by said College Apostolic, proceeded accompanied by three other missionaries,
from the Presidio to this place, blessed water and thereupon dedicated the land
to God, our Lord, and in like manner blessed a large cross which we raised and
venerated. We then recited the Litany of the Saints, chanting the Antiphone,
with a prayer to our holy patroness. His Excellency the Governor arrived on the
14th of the above named month and year and removed the restraining order imposed
upon us and concluded to remain and witness the founding already begun in this
place. On the 16th, after preparing a brush hut near the cross, I, in the
presence of the Governor, sang Mass first in this spot, in which the Rev. Fr.
Apostolic Antonio Paterna also officiated and likewise delivered a short address
on the subject. May it be for the higher honor and glory of God, the exaltation
of His most holy name and the good of souls."

   Owing to the lateness of the season no buildings were commenced until the
spring of 1787, when a house for the missionaries, about 15 by 45 feet in size
was erected; also a chapel about 15 by 40 feet, a servants' room, granary, house
for unmarried women and one for unmarried men. These buildings were of adobe
with walls about three feet thick, having roofs of heavy rafters to which were
tied long poles or canes. On these was spread soft clay covered with a thatch of
straw. These roofs were only temporary until tiles could be made, which was done
the following year.



Additional Comments:
Extraced from:

SANTA BARBARA AND MONTECITO
PAST AND PRESENT
By
JOHN R. SOUTHWORTH F. R. G. S.
(1920)

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/santabarbara/history/1920/santabar/parti455nms.txt

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