USA > California > Santa Barbara County > History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 7
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VITAL STATISTICS OF SANTA BARBARA, 1782-1870. (Compiled from the Records of the Mission.)
Year.
Births.
Deaths.
Marriages.
Year.
Births.
Deaths.
Marriages.
Year.
Births.
Deaths.
Marriages.
1782 to 1799.
194
74
41
1823
24
9
4
1847
70
20
5
1800
19
6
2
1824
27
11
6
1848
63
25
11
1801
22
15
3
1825
31
6
11
1849
64
43
9
1802
18
4
6
1826
38
2
5
1850
67
20
25
1803
20
12
2
1827
38
6
8
1851
67
28
21
1804
9
1
2
1828
23
4
1
1852
81
33
25
1805
17
4
3
1829
44
7
2
1853
108
35 24
1806
10
6
1
1830
33
14
6
1854
90
46
19
1807
4
2
1831
45
8
9
1855
106
47
21
1808
22
3
1
1832
32
11
10
1856
107
36
15
1809 13
9
7
1833
59
11
8
1857
60
31
13
1810
23
5
4
1834
63
12
9
1858
116
42
11
1811
10
8
1835
74
12
6
1859
94
57
19
1812
24
11
6
1836
60
9
5
1860
127
49
18
1813
6
1
1837
55
13
3
1861
94
68
12 16
1815
16
5
0
1839
59
19
7
1863
114
41
13
1816
23
12
4
1840
47
13
5
1864
105
54
10
22
5
5
1841
62
9
13
1865
78
40 13
1818
27
6
1
1842
50
14
11
1866
108
52
13
1819
11
3
3
1843
70
12
7
1867
105
41
17
1820
24
8
2
1844
56
20
3
1868
108
39
23
1821
20
10
6
1845
61
14
13
1869
117
70
32
1822
28
9
8
1846
72
16
19
1870
138
47
23
Total number of Births
3,817
"
Deaths.
1,520
Marriages
707
SAN BUENAVENTURA MISSION.
This was founded March 31, 1782, by Junipero Serra, President of all the missions in California, Fathers Benito and Cambon being the first in charge. The first mass was said in a shanty erected for that purpose near the southeastern corner of the old orchard. The church was first erected near the same place, but a freshet, a sudden rise in the Ventura River, washed the foundations of the walls, endan- gering the security of the structure. The new church was erected on an elevation above any such danger. Palms, walnuts, and other fruits were, as usual, planted in great abundance. Three palms, the larg-
est perhaps in California, were for many years a source of much pride to the citizens. They were some fifty feet or more in height. It is doubtful whether they ever bore, though tradition says so. A high wind a few years since felled one of them to the ground. When a heading was wanted for the illustrated paper published by Johnson, a view of the three palm trees, with the islands in the dis- tance, were chosen for that purpose.
The old fence included an area of about seventeen acres, and may be traced by the remains of the foundation for the wall. The Court House, with the grove of eighty-year-old olive trees, Ayers' Hotel, Palace Hotel, the Santa Clara House, and nearly half the stores on the main street, are on ground once included in the old garden. As in the case of all churches built in years subsequent to the great earthquake, which happened in December, 1811, the present church is built very massive, the walls being of brick six feet thick, though the upper portion, which is protected by the roof, is of adobe. An aqueduet six miles long conveyed water from the Ventura River, a clear and cool trout brook. The reservoir, fountains, and old mill are still objects of curiosity to the visitor. Some of the old olive trees are two feet in diameter, eighty to a hundred years old, and still bearing abundantly. The massive tim- bers for the roof were hauled with immense labor from the pine mountains fifty miles away.
The church was dedicated September 9, 1809. Four priests are interred within its walls, viz., Father Vicente de Santa Maria, who died July 16, 1806, whose remains were removed to the church the day it was dedicated; Father José Señan, who died August 24, 1823; Francisco Suñer, who died January 17, 1831; and one other, name not learned. This mission, like the others, had frequent trouble with the Indians. many of the tribes, especially those on Mupu and Piru Creeks, and those living in and above the Santa Paula Canon, being particularly warlike and dangerous. It is said that the soldiers stationed at the mission never dared to pursue them, when they made a raid on the stock, further than the Santa Paula Canon. There is a tradition that the Spanish soldiery exterminated a tribe on the Sulphur Mount- ain, leaving hundreds of skeletons to bleach in the winter rain, but the writer could trace it to no authentic source. Petty insurrections were frequent, but terminated usually in nothing serious. The habit of shutting up the Indian girls when they arrived at maturity was the cause of more trouble than any- thing else. The Indians used to plan to carry them off. One of these insurrections occurred as late as 1840, and was headed by an educated Indian named Jesus. The attack was made on a Sunday morning, when the Indians were at church. A man named Olivas, one of the rancheros near the Santa Clara River, was on guard, and struek the Indian with a knife in the neck, inflicting a severe, though not mortal, wound, which caused the Indians to retreat.
43
1814
23
8
3
1838
55
25
7
1862
120
1817
11
18
18
*This is the first intimation the writer has had that the cluster of buildings through which the canon road was cut was ever used for prison purposes .- EDITOR.
5
30
HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.
A niece of Luis Frank, the last of the Saticoy Indians, relates the story of an insurrection which occurred in 1834. A great number of hostile Indians gathered in the willows across the Ventura River, and threatened the existence of the mission. Some big guns on the hill were fired at them, but the magi- cian, or medicine man, made a rush on the guns and put a spell on them so they could not be fired. Ac- cording to the statement of "Con de lara Rivas," the relative of Luis Frank first mentioned, the medicine man also put the Indians under a spell, so that the balls of the smaller guns could not hit them. While things were in this condition, the domestic Indians, who had remained true, put on their war-paint and dresses and rushed into the fight. At first the people thought the mission Indians had rebelled too, but they fought the rebel Indians so effectively with clubs that they soon departed. None were killed, and but few wounded.
As it was the habit of the good fathers to avoid taking human life if possible, the firing of a cannon and muskets without shot only confirmed the Indians in the belief in the power of the medicine man.
In the earthquake of 1857 the tile roof of the church fell down, without damaging the walls of the church, however, and it was replaced by one of shingle.
The first marriage ceremony performed at the church was August 8, 1782, by Father Francisco Dumet, the parties being Alexander Sotomayor, of Fuerta, Mexico, and Maria Concepcion Martiel, of Alamos, Sonora, Mexico. The first baptism was that of José Crecencio Valdez, son of Eugenio Valdez Españal, April 27, 1782.
The number of persons buried in the little lot west of the church, about 100 feet square, is 3,850. But few were buried in coffins. Wrapped in mats or cloth, the bodies soon decayed and made room for more burials.
The massive building with walls six feet thick is well preserved, though most of the out-buildings, where the Indian women were taught to spin, weave, make dresses, and cook, are in ruins, as well as the mill and shops where the men worked. Father Rubio, an accomplished linguist and genial gentleman, takes much pleasure in showing visitors through the church and over the grounds. The records, intact from the beginning, written in a clear, beautiful hand, are well preserved. The old bells, which rang out for daily worship nearly a century ago, bear date as follows : Largest, 1825; smaller ones, 1812, 1781, 1781. They hang in the four lower arches, and are strapped to the cross-beams with rawhide. The bells in the upper arches are made of wood and are never rung, and consequently it is impossible to tell what the character of the tones may be. The metallic bells have a clear, pleasant sound.
In 1825 the mission owned 37,000 head of cattle, 600 head of horses, 200 yoke of working oxen, 500 mules, 30,000 sheep, 200 goats, a thrifty orchard,
$35,000 worth of foreign goods, and $25,000 in silver and gold coin. The church ornaments and clothing were valued at $61,000. Cattle at that time were worth about $5.00 per head, horses $10.00, and sheep $2.00. In 1831 the property, owing to the secular- ization, had shrunk enormously. The population, all told, was but 731. The productions were, wheat, 1,750 bushels; corn, 500; beans, 400; barley, 2,000; number of cattle, 4,000; horses, 300; mules, 60; sheep, 3,000, and no hogs.
MISSION OF LA PURISSIMA CONCEPCION (LOMPOC).
This mission was founded December 8, 1787, a few days more than a year later than that of Santa Bar- bara. Perhaps no more promising field for a suc- cessful mission could be found in California. The wide-spreading plain, covered with verdure, the rugged, timbered mountains in the rear, the fresh sea-breeze, which swept away every atom of mala- ria, and the convenience of the presence of great numbers of Indians, presented a favorable combina- tion of circumstances not often met with, and the fathers went to the work with high hopes. Select- ing a place sheltered from the ocean winds, contigu- ous to a splendid stream of water, and overlooking the plain for miles in every direction, it would seem that no disaster could overtake them. The mission works were laid out on a scale commensurate with the surroundings. The mountain stream was turned from its channel, and though seventy years have elapsed since its abandonment, so thoroughly was the work done that the water still bubbles into the light at the same place as it did near 100 years since. The grand square or quadrangle was about 400 feet each way. The church was about 200 feet long and sixty feet wide, the walls being thirty feet high; but here is a noted difference from the walls of other churches. Instead of being six or seven feet thick, as in almost every instance, they were barely three feet thick, though they were subsequently strengthened with extra walls and, in some instances, buttresses. The extra walls were evidently a subse- quent thought, as they were not in bond with the first, and were sometimes laid up against a wall that had previously been plastered and painted.
Large rooms, sometimes 100 feet in length and twenty-five in width, indicated extensive dining- rooms and work-shops. Some of the rooms were closed on all sides, as if for dungeons, though they might have been intended for store-houses. The quadrangle was also flanked by numerous buildings of adobe, probably intended as residences for the Indians, or other members of the mission with fami- lies.
DESTRUCTION OF THE MISSION.
On the morning of the 8th of December, 1811, on the anniversary of the founding of the mission, it being the feast of the purissima, the earth commenced shaking, and soon the church was in ruins, the tall, thin walls of adobe crumbling to pieces and falling
31
SPANISH MISSIONS.
on many of the worshippers; numbers were killed and injured. The simple-minded natives, whose in- stincts and education induced them to believe that every violence or phenomenon was the act of an angry God, left the place in terror, believing that God had caused it. The walls were repaired and the place put in condition for occupation, but the natives could never be induced to reside in it again, and the new Purissima, on the opposite side of the Santa Ynez River was erected. It may be mentioned here that the missions were not originally covered with tile, but with thatch; but this being easily set on fire (and was, in several instances, by hostile Indians), Father Junipero and others met in council and de- vised the tile covering, which subsequently became such a feature in the California residences. The San Luis Obispo Mission was the first to nse tile. The walls erected to repair and strengthen the old Puris- sima walls have numerous pieces of broken tile in them, thus showing the adoption of the tile roof as early, at least, as 1812.
The ruins of the mission give an ancient and rather romantic air to the town of Lompoc, which seems to be a modern outgrowth of the old establishment. The neutral tint of the adobe harmonizes well with the brown hills and Indian-summer atmosphere of California, and it is still an unsettled question, whether the adobe is not only the best, but the cheapest and most durable form of building. Those who have resided in them are united in pronouncing them the most comfortable, and as to fleas and other vermin which are said to abound in them, would not a house with wooden walls, kept in the same condition, be quite as subject to their presence ?
The adobe wall, when well constructed, will last much longer than a wooden wall, and has many ad- vantages. The walls of the mission, though sev- enty years exposed to the rains and winds, are still quite sound and firm. A buttress of adobe, eight feet square, is displaced so as to hang partially suspended on one corner, and still holds its shape as if made of brick or stone. It is quite probable that a return to the use of adobe for some of the purposes for which lumber is now nsed, such as barns, out-buildings and, more particularly, fences, which, from the dry, sun- baked condition of the earth many months in the year, are liable to destruction by fire, would be a wise economy.
THE NEW PURISSIMA.
This, as has been mentioned before, is on the oppo- site side of the Santa Ynez, some three miles from the old one, and though not as extensive as the old work, is a very imposing building, with its briek arches, wide verandas, and extensive façade. The walls, as a result of the earthquake experience, arc very massive, and bid fair to last as ruins many years after the timbers, which are now rotting and giving away, shall have ceased to exist. Many por- tions of the tile-covered roof have fallen in, but the
general design and uses of the building can be easily determined. The saeristy, with its earved doors, making pretentions to eleganee ; the pulpit, with its painted canopy; the organ loft, approached by n ladder with wide steps, where the half-eivilized, half-imbecile natives assayed, with violin, horn, drum, and voice, the solemn Gregorian chants, are in toler- able preservation. Standing in the rickety pulpit, which looks as though it might fall and tumble one on the rotten floor below, and recalling to mind the scenes of half a century since, when the floor was covered with the half-naked natives, saying their Pater Nosters and Ave Marias, we may well ask, " What of it ?"
The mind wanders back to the time of the discov- ery of this continent, to the myriads of human beings who crowded each other in the preservation and perpetuation of life, to their destruction by millions in consequence of the avarice and greed of the con- querors, to the efforts for their preservation and conversion to Christianity by Father Las Casas and others, and finally to the almost ntter annihilation of the native races, in spite of all efforts to benefit them, and we may ask " What of it" ? and feel over- whelmed with the review and its sequence. In our remarks on the Indian races, we have shown the probability of the existence of a former race in immense numbers, which had been swept away by the swarthy, fighting Indian who inhabited the land at the coming of the Americans or European raees. When and from whenee will be the next invasion ?
When the new churches were built at Lompoc, Guadalupe, and Santa Maria, through the efforts of Father McNally, the bells, vestures, and furniture were transferred to them.
The history of this mission in its later years dif- fers little from the others. The Indians rebelled at the same time the Santa Ynez and Santa Barbara Indians did. Three soldiers were killed in trying to quell them. There is a eross standing where they were buried. The names of the men were Dolores Sepulveda, Ramon Sotelo, and Simon Sepulveda. Seven of the Indians, according to Pedro Ortega, who lives in the Refurgio Canon, were shot by order of the Mexican Government. He thinks the date was about 1825.
SANTA YNEZ MISSION.
This was one of the last missions to be founded, having the date of September 17, 1804, the San Rafael and Sonoma Missions, only, bearing a later date. This is not entirely abandoned, as servico is occasionally held on the anniversary of its founda- tion, and perhaps on other occasions, as the burial ground shows many recent interments. The build- ing shows a similarity to the other mission buildings of the time. The quadrangle is about 400 feet square, the building or church with its offices occupying one corner of the square. The south façade includes the towers of the church and the longest front of the pile, the wing for dormitories, dining-room, and
32
HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY.
workshops resting on twenty brick columns, twelve feet high and twenty feet apart, with well-turned arches of brick. The wing has several entrances from the wide corridor formed by the arches. The entrance to the church is from within the quadrangle. There are still five bells hanging in the dilapidated towers. The capacity of the buildings for receiving members is less than that of the other missions, not having so many adobe huts for the residence of the Indian families, though these were erected, in most cases, as they might be required, from time to time. In 1831, perhaps its most prosperous period, the mission had under its charge 142 men, 136 women, 82 boys, and 96 girls, making a total of 456 souls. Tho fertile soil capable of producing every cereal in abundance, and the grassy hills, furnished an abundance of all that the mission required. As usual, a living stream was turned from its channel, and carried some miles in a brick-lined aqueduct, to supply a mill and irrigate the gardens and orchards. Portions of the fountain and mill are in a good state of preservation, though the orchard, if any there was, is nearly destroyed. There is a report that some very valuable old paintings are still existing in the church, among the rest a genuine Murillo, worth many thousand dollars. Others, who are well in- formed, say that the paintings are of the ordinary type in the mission churches, and of little value. Father McNally, now of Oakland, who resided some years at Santa Ynez, is of the opinion that the paint- ings are rare and valuable as works of art, though fast falling into decay in consequence of the damp- ness of the place. All authorities agree, however, in the fact of a once valuable and extensive library, which has been scattered or perhaps distributed to other churches. The paintings and library indicate the work of an accomplished scholar, who abandoned the libraries and art collections of the Old World to give his life to the welfare of the savages of the new continent.
Father Lynch has charge of the mission and col- lege at present. Father Basso, who died in October, 1876, resided seventeen years at the mission. The college, which will be referred to again under the head of education, was organized to educate mission- aries for the conversion of the Indians, and was never advanced beyond a rudimentary school in its educational course.
THE INSURRECTION.
There was always manifest a tendency among the natives to break away from the restraints of the church, and take to the woods. After having helped to build the missions, rear the cattle, and raise the grain, they considered themselves part owners at least, and when they wished to have their share like the prodigal son and depart, they could not see the jus- tice of a refusal. They were incited to acts of insub- ordination by the Tulare and Mohave Indians, who would make raids on the ranches and missions, driv-
ing off the horses, using them for food; in fact the old missionaries between defending themselves from the attacks of wild Indians and pacify- ing the discontented of the domestic ones, had quite enough to do. According to Father Rubio of the Ventura Mission, the colonists sometimes fomented disturbances among the Indians. The most serious difficulty occurred in the year 1822. Whether any- thing unusual had irritated the natives does not appear. According to the best accounts the hostile body numbered a thousand, made up of disaffected domestic or tame Indians, and the wild ones from Tulare and Mohave. They surrounded the mission buildings, set fire to them, shut up the priests, wound- ing one of them, and also killing several of the ser- vants and domestics. The outbreak occurred on Saturday morning. Those inside succeeded in keep- ing the fire down, and prevented the general destruc- tion and robbery of the place, more by acting on the fears and superstition of the Indians than by any show of strength, as they had few or no fire-arms. A member of the mission, Francisco Bermuda, man- aged to evade the siege, though he received a severe wound in the affair, and succeeded in reaching Santa Barbara, when Captain Noriega dispatched fifty men, under Anastacio Carrillo, to the assistance of the beleaguered people. By making haste they arrived the same evening. Carrillo and his party were in want of ammunition, and in order to get at a small quantity in the sacristy, they were obliged to cut their way through several walls. The natives were finally conquered; but a few refusing to surrender shut themselves up in an adobe house with thatched roof, which was set on fire and all inside perished. The bulk of the Indians engaged in this affair fled to the Tulare, where they stayed for two years or more; they were induced to come back by a visit from the priest, the promises of the soldiers that they should be kindly treated not being heeded.
The next day (Sunday) at Santa Barbara the Indians refused to go into the church, and showed other signs of rebellion. Captain Noriega sent some men to quell them, upon which they fied also to the Tulare Valley, where they stayed until the return of the others from the Santa Ynez.
Stephen C. Foster, one of the oldest American set- tlers, who resided for a long time at Los Angeles, and perhaps, as well acquainted with the circum- stances as any man living, writes of the Santa Ynez Mission as follows :-
"The sight of the old mission of Santa Ynez re- called to mind an incident that occurred there at the time of the outbreak in 1822. When the Indians rose there were two Spanish priests in the mission. One of them fell into the hands of the Indians, and was put to death under circumstances of the most atrocious cruelty. The other, a powerful man, suc- ceeded in breaking away, and escaped to the guard- house, where, as in all missions, a guard of four soldiers, commanded by a corporal, was always kept as a sort of police force. The Indians were destitute
RESIDENCE OF JOSEPH SEXTON GOLETA SANTA BARBARA CO.CAL.
33
SECULARIZATION OF THE MISSIONS.
of fire-arms, but their overwhelming numbers and the showers of arrows they directed against the port holes, had quite demoralized the garrison when the priest appeared and took command. It must have been a singular scene. The burly friar with shaven crown and sandalled, elad in the gray gown. girt with the eord of St Francis, wielding carnal weapons; now encouraging the little garrison, now shouting defiance to the swarming assailants.
"' Ho, father,' cried a young Indian acolyte, 'is that the way to say mass ?'
" 'Yes, I am saying mass. my son. Here (holding up his cartridge box) is the chalice; here (holding up his carbine) is the erncifix, and here goes my bene- diction to you, you , using one of the foulest epithets the Spanish language could supply, as he leveled his carbine and laid the scoffer low.
"A large force was finally collected from the differ- ent towns; the Indian converts were followed into the Tulare Valley and captured; the ring-leaders were shot, and the others were brought back to the mis- sions. When my informant had occasion to go to Mon- terey, and on his way, having occasion to call at San Luis Obispo, he found there the hero of the Santa Ynez. "' Welcome, countryman," was his greeting. 'The same to you, father,' was the reply; ' but, father, they tell me you are in trouble.' ' Yes, my son, the Presi- dent of the missions has suspended me from the exercise of clerical functions for one year, on account of the unclerical language I used at that affair at the Santa Ynez. The old fool! He knew I was a soldier before I became a priest, and when those accursed Indians drove me back to my old trade, how could I help using my old language ?' Then taking a couple of decanters out of the cupboard he continued, ' Here, countryman, help yourself. Here is wine; here is aguadiente. The old fool thinks he is punishing me. Behold I have no mass to say for a year, and nothing whatever to do but eat, drink, and sleep.'"
CHAPTER VII. SECULARIZATION OF THE MISSIONS.
Secularization of the Missions-Colonists against the Missions -Provincial Regulation for the Secularization of the Mis- sions of Upper California-Distribution of Property and Lands-Political Government of the Villages-Restrictions -General Regulations-Provisional Regulation for the Sec- ularization of the Missions-Pious Fund-The Hijar Col- ony-Santa Ana's Revolution-Land Grants-Secularization Completed-Death of Governor Figueroa.
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