Santa Barbara County History Transcribed by Peggy Hooper This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter. All persons donating to this site retain the rights to their own work. Source: A Memorial and Biographical History of the Counties of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura, California by Yda Addis Storke Published in 1891 in Chicago by the Lewis Publishing Co. DESCRIPTION. In describing the topography of California, the following comparisons have been frequently and very appositely instituted to give an idea of the general characteristics: The coast of the State is some 750 miles long, in the latitude corresponding to that on the Atlantic coast of a strip extending from northern New Jersey to the seaboard of Georgia. This distance may be divided into three fairly equal parts, the first point from the northward down marking the situation of San Francisco, and the next toward the south falling at the spot where the coast makes a sharp eastward turn and thence has a general direction almost due east and west for a distance of about seventy miles. This knee-like bend contains the county of Santa Barbara, the aforesaid east and west line forming the county's southern coast line and boundary. This trend it is, too, in a great measure, that insures to Santa Barbara her delightful peculiarities of climate. This county has the shape of an irregular parallelogram, extending from this corner or knee of land bending in the Pacific to where the coast line resumes its general southeasterly direction below Ventura. The county is about seventy miles long by forty-five wide, and it comprises about 2,000,000 acres, of which about one-third is arable land. Most of its fertile valleys contain prosperous towns, and are rapidly settling up. This development has been greatly assisted by the branch line of the Southern Pacific Railway, which, connecting with the main line at Newhall, continues up the coast and affords facilities for travel and shipments. The arable land of Santa Barbara is for the most part composed of either alluvial soil or adobe. The alluvial, which is found mostly in the lower levels, is very deep and fertile. When underlaid with clay, it possesses great powers of resisting or enduring drouth, the clay acting as a hard pan to retain the moisture instead of allowing perco- lation, as is the case with a gravel substratum. This soil produces in rich abundance all the year around all manner of garden vegetables and deciduous and citrus fruits. Patches of this soil are found on the mesa and hillside lands which are especially adapted to the growth of the olive and grape. The adobe soil is generally black, and of considerable fertility, albeit hard to work, on account of its clay-like consistency. To produce the best results this soil needs intelli- gent cultivation and irrigation. It is best adapted to wheat, barley or flax. This county contains no arid, sandy or desert tracts. The valleys are threaded with streams from the canons; several of these water-courses, such as the Santa Maria, the Santa Ynez, and the San Antonio, being of sufficient importance to take the name of rivers. The timber supply of this section is somewhat deficient. The live oak grows rather abundantly, furnishing pleasant parks on the high lands, and in the thicker growth in the low lands and canons valuable supplies of wood for fuel. The mountain sides are clothed with a dense growth of chapparal (low brush) consisting of buckeye, sumach and a number of bushes peculiar to this country. Redwood also is found, and some say mesquite, although the present writer believes that this mimosa is not found on the hither side of the Colorado River. The summits of the San Rafael Range, in the eastern part of the county, and- the northern part of Ventura, is clothed in patches, sometimes covering 100 or 200 acres, with a fairly thick growth of fir, pine and cedar, the latter species, which grows lower down than the pine, being a scrub cedar, particularly valuable for posts and ties. The Santa Maria and Santa Ynez are the principal rivers, the former being the longer and carrying the greater volume of water. It rises in the Sierra Madre del Sur, and the San Rafael mountains, draining by its branch the Cuyama, the southern slope of the former, and by the Sisquoc the northern slope of the latter, and it flows into the Pacific about seven miles north of Point Sal. The Tepusque, Los Encitos, Canoncito, Agua Sacado, and Potrero are small tributaries. The railroad bridge across the Santa Maria River is 1,982 feet in length. The Santa Ynez rises in the Santa Ynez mountains, in Ventura County, and flows westerly, draining the south slope of the San Rafael and the north slope of the Santa Ynez range, and reaching the ocean five miles south of Purisima. Its feeders are the Sal Si Puedes, Zaca, Alisal, Alamo Pintado, Santa Cruz, Caballada, Los Laureles, Indio, Mono, Agua Caliente, and a few others. The southern slope of the coast mountains waters the valley below through the Rincon, Carpenteria, Santa Monica, Paderon, Toro, Ficay, Hot Springs, Cold Stream, Mission Creek, Maria Ygnacia, San Jose, San Pedro, Carneros, Tecolote, Armitas, Tecolotito, Dos Pueblos, Las Varas, El Capitan, Refugio, Hondo, Costa, Molinos, Las Cruces, Agua Caliente, Santa Anita, San Augastin, Rodeo, Canada Honda and the San Antonio and Cosinalia creeks. Of these mountain streams the Rincon, Carpenteria, Mission, El Capi- tan and Dos Pueblos are the most important, flowing into the sea in ordinary years, while most of the others shortly after leaving the foot-hills partially or wholly disappear during the dry season. There are in the county several small lakes and lagoons, the Guadalupe and the Zaca being the largest. Over the Santa Ynez mountains run several horseback trails and two good wagon roads, through the Santa Ynez and Gaviota passes. The greatest elevation of the San Marcos Pass is 2,240 feet. It is reached by following up the San Jose, descending the mountains on the north side, along the Los Laureles by what is known as the Fremont trail. The Gaviota Pass lies along the Las Cruces, crossing the mountain on the old Spanish grant of that name at an altitude of 1,500 feet. One horseback trail starts from the foot of Montecito Valley, follows up the Ficay to its head, and then bears a little northeast to the Najalayegua Canon. Another crosses the mountain by Cold Stream Cafion, near the head of this valley. A good trail also ascends the Pedregosa, the east branch of Mission Creek, to near its source, where it divides into two forks. Much of Santa Barbara County is hilly or mountainous; the Santa Ynez, a low range of mountains, follows the trend of the coast across the southern part of the county, and the Sierra de San Rafael, a higher range, strikes through the center of the county, and extends almost to its northern limits. These mountains, with the foothills and spurs, impart to the whole country a rugged and diversified aspect. Separated by these ranges are the four large valleys of the county, from which branch out a number of smaller and tributary valleys. These four main valleys, be- ginning at the south, are: Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez, Los Alamos and Santa Maria. Between the Santa Ynez and the sea lies the unparalleled valley of Santa Barbara proper, forty-five miles in length, with an average width of perhaps three miles, and an area of 86,400 acres. Although this is the smallest in acreage of the four chief valleys into which the county is divided by the configuration of its surface, yet it is the most important, by reason of its natural characteristics, which have attracted the largest population. For its rare advantages of climate and its wonderful fertility, it has become famous all over the world. This valley extends from the Rincon to Point Concepcion, and it com- prises the Carpenteria Valley, from the Rincon to a small spur of the Santa Ynez, called Ortega Hill, a distance of nine miles; the Montecito, from Ortega Hill to the city limits; the city of Santa Barbara, spreading beyond its two miles square; and eight miles beyond, on the Patera, the village of Goleta. Still following the same broad avenue, are found the great ranchos of Dos Pueblos, Nuestra Senora del Refugio, and those owned by Hollister and Cooper; then comes the Gaviota Pass, and a few miles past it. Point Concepcion, where the Santa Ynez range runs boldly into the Pacific, forming the terminal wall of this valley. Beyond the Santa Ynez range, and between it and the San Rafael, opens the lonely Santa Ynez Valley. The Santa Ynez River here runs almost due west from its mountain source, watering a vast extent of farming lands and passing through the broad Lompoc Valley before it empties into the sea, between Point Concepcion and Point Purisima. This valley contains the towns of Santa Ynez and Lompoc.