The Mountain Passes Issue

If,(I ward Borein

The Mountain Passes Issue

VOL X, NO. 2

SPRING, 1964

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Henry Clinpman Ford Indran Rock—Gaviota Pass.

N€TICIA5 QUARTERLY BULLETIN OF THE SANTA BARBARA HISTORICAL SOCIETY MAILING ADDRESS: OLD MISSION, SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA

Introduction Mountain ranges ever have been obstacles, sometimes an all but im passable barrier, to man and beast as they have moved about over the surface of the earth; and even the birds in their annual migrations have flown up and down the valleys and along the coastal plains, wherever pos sible, rather than face the hard, aerial climbs to altitudes sufficiently high to allow them to pass over the range crests. This certainly has been true of our Santa Ynez Mountains which, though not of imposing height, never theless have made difficult travel from the coastal lowlands to the oakstudded flats of the Santa Ynez Valley. Here, as in all other parts of the world, the passes, Gaviola, Refugio, San Marcos, and even Conejo, well to the east and in a different range, have been of the utmost importance, especially in the carreta and horse and saddle days, as men have sought to move into and out from Santa Barbara.

The first land-traveling white men who passed through the Channel Area used the coastal route, that is, they kept within sight of the sea, as they moved northward from San Diego toward Monterey Bay. General Portola came to what is now Santa Barbara by way of the Rincon; and he departed to the westward by way of Concepcion and Arguella Points. Later, after the Spaniards had become better acquainted with the region, the trails through the four passes, which for milleniums had been used by the Indians, came into general use by the white men; and, for a century, almost every land traveler, whether on foot or on horseback, passed over one or another of these steep and difficult traces.

After 1850, when mule and horse drawn stages were coming into general use up and down California, the narrow, sinuous trails through the passes were widened into roads. These were not necessarily good roads—the creeks were unbridged, the grades in places were very steep, and some of the curves were very sharp—but, in pleasant-traveling weather, they were good enough to allow the stages to pass over them without too much inconvenience to the passengers. With use, these widened trails became improved, dirt-surfaced highways. In wet weather, however, they were impassable to vehicular travel.

There is the story, for example, of the bridegroom and his party who set out from Ventura for Santa Barbara, where he was to meet his bride and to be married. When this party reached the bank of the Ventura River, they found the water running high and strong. They were young men, however, and ardent; and so they attempted the crossing. They were swept down stream by the current and, at last, after much effort and some danger, they managed one by one to reach safety. It was the eastern bank of the river, however.

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and not the western on which they came out of the water. The wedding in Santa Barbara, after this discouraging fiasco, was postponed some six weeks, or until the flood subsided and the ford again was passable.

When the railroad came to Santa Barbara, it is interesting to note, the surveyors found the passes over the range too steep and high for the socalled iron horse; and so they ran their lines almost exactly over the route that General Portola had traversed a century earlier.

When the automobilist first came to Santa Barbara, of necessity he used the dirt roads over the passes that horse drawn vehicles still were usin because the motor cars could not propel themselves over, or through, the soft sands of the coastal route. Coming from the south, they made their difficult ways over Conejo and Casitas Passes; and, continuing on to the north, they went by way of Las Cruses and Gaviota Pass. A few daring enthusiasts on occasion ventured up and down the narrow and steep grades and zig-zags of San Marcos Road; but the great majority of drivers held that this road required more than ordinary competence of the motorists who ventured upon it; and so, in the first years of motor travel, it was used only occasional ly. There were many accidents, of course, on all of these mountain roads.

To avoid the hazards of the Casitas Pass, which route proved to be especially dangerous to motorists unused to mountain driving, a way was opened at sea level along the Rincon. Much of this road was built on the narrow coastal shelf, but in those places where at high tide the waves broke against the bases of the cliffs, some of it was raised on piles. These long causeways, with their planked surfaces, resembled in construction the wharves that had been run out into the sea here and there along the coast. By no stretch of the imagination could they be considered as speedways. This road eventually became so heavily traveled that the State, at great expense, abandoned the causeways and constructed a modern highway on filled land behind a heavy wall of riprap. This is the present day 101 Highway.

Today, so easy and smooth has automobile travel become on the paved roads leading in and out of Santa Barbara that the passes over the moun tain wall as they used to be are all but forgotten; yet there still are men and women in our community who remember their trips over Gaviota, San Marcos, and Casitas Passes on horseback or in horse-drawn carriages. It is hoped that these good people will find especial interest in the accounts of the five Passes that follow this brief introduction. And perhaps the members of the younger generation also will find pleasure in reading of the days when the horse was the essential element in travel between the Coast and the Valley.

Editor s Note: Unless otherwise indicated the small in set drawings in this issue of Noticias arc the work of Campbell Grant.

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The Vegetation of the Passes

By Clifton Smith Mountain passes are not only of great interest to the historian but also to the botanist. This is especially true of Gaviota, Re fugio, San Marcos and Casitas, those well-traveled routes in the Santa Ynez range.

Briefly, these passes had their origins in mostly ocean deposited sedi ments which have been folded and uplifted since the late Pliocene, several million years ago, a process that is still continuing. During the latter part of this orogeny, climatic changes have taken place, resulting in a migration of floras. In warmer times, some plants extended their range to the north, while in the cooler Ice Ages, other plants were shifted south; thus today’s assemblage in our passes is a fascinating mixture of these northern and southern floras.

Another important change has taken place in our vegetation since the coming of Portola in 1769. Tliis is man’s introduction of weeds, those non native plants, mostly annuals such as Mustard and Wildcats that have largely replaced much of the native grassland and once-colorful flower fields.

There are many other factors that affect the local distribution of plants into zone-like bands on the mountains but most important of these are pre cipitation, temperature and types of soil. Of significance to the pass localities is the fact that fogs funnel through these areas, leaving that extra bit of moisture, even where drying winds are legendary, and enabling many plants to survive in this drier region.

The passes in general have many species in common so a trip over Refugio would offer an example of typical pass vegetation. We shall then start at the beach, where the old original trail probably turned north into Refugio Canyon.

On the upper sand dunes, we see the strand vegetation of Beach Bur, Sand Verbena and Primrose. There is even a small salt marsh at the mouth of Refugio Creek. But in a short distance appear the deeper alluvial soils of grassland which now are mostly covered with weedy plants that have replaced the native grasses and wildflowers. Here we find such colorful flowers as Lupine, Fiddleneck, Owlsclover, Brodiaea, Popcorn Flower and California Poppy. Scattered about the grassland area are Coast Live Oaks that add a note of pastoral charm to the landscape.

Along the creek are Willow, Poplar and Sycamore with Mistletoe, a tree first collected at Santa Barbara by Thomas Nuttall in 1836, a passenger with Richard Henry Dana. As the creek becomes more rocky and the canyon narrower, Alder and Bay trees are evident.

On the steeper soils in the foothills, on the ocean bluffs or on the marginal areas of grassland grows the Coastal Sage Scrub. This is a plant community characterized by several true sages, Artemisia, Bush Sunflower, Buckwheat, Golden Yarrow and numerous other low shrubs.

As we labor up the abrupt mountain side, the well-drained soils become thin, rocky or shaly. Here the winter rainfall is high. This is the home of Chaparral, a mixture of shrubs forming nearly impenetrable thickets, one 3

reason why the California vaqueros wore chaps. This Chaparral has evolved in response to repeated fires and thus returns in abundance after a burn with many fire-following plants such as Dicentra and Wind Poppy. Plants characteristic of the Chaparral community are Ceanothus, Chamise, Manzanila, Scrub Oak, Yucca, Woolly Blue Curls and Bush Poppy.

Near the summit, we encounter woodland with Coastal Live Oak and the striking evergreen Madrone tree, with glossy leathery leaves, terra cotta bark and crimson berries.

But as we wander down the cool north side, we see a definite change in vegetation to the cooler elements of Chaparral and woodland, more like the stream side association on the south side. This difference is the result of increased rainfall and retention of moisture on the north slopes. Here are relicts of a flora characteristic of more northern latitudes such as Straw berry, Osoberry, Maple, Fritillary, Aralia and Honeysuckle.

At the base of the north side, huge Valley Oaks draped with a hanging lichen, incorrectly called Spanish Moss, are scattered about the park-like grassland and soon we end our journey at the Santa Ynez River.

Other interesting plants occur at San Marcos Pass. Here is a stand of the northern Tanbark Oak near the old toll station in Kinevan Canyon, Chaparral Pea on the drier hillsides, another plant first collected at Santa Barbara by Thomas Nuttall, and also Barberry, Storax and Huckleberry in cooler situations. These species are probably in the Refugio Pass area if a careful search is made.

The pines and other conifers in the passes are thought to have been planted long ago, although this is in need of study to verify with certainty if any species are native.

At Casitas Pass, in a drier portion of the Santa Ynez Mountains, the vegetation is mainly Chaparral-woodland but one tree is found here that is absent from the other passes. Southern California Black Walnut, a re mainder of an earlier warmer migration, grows along the creeks and on the north slopes.

Gaviota Pass, including the Nojoqui Grade, is similar to Refugio.

Needless to say, much botanical exploration remains to be done in these passes and possibly some sensational discoveries are still to be made, especially on the north slopes in the Refugio-Gaviota area.

Some Observations on Santa Barbara County's Early Roads

By Rev. Maynard Geiger, O.F.M.

Despite an abundance of documents, there is little material in the Santa Barbara Mission Archives concerning roads in Mission Davs. What does exist is piecemeal, and then often, the evidence is inconclusive with regard to details.

Before the founding of Mission Santa Ines in September, 1804, El Camino Real through present Santa Barbara County was the same as that 4

taken by Caspar cle Portola on his expeditions of 1769 and 1770, namely the coastal road, the same covered today by the tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad. In his report to Governor Arrillaga, June 30, 1803, Father Estevan Tapis of Mission Santa Barbara wrote that when Santa Ines Mission would be established, it would become less frequented than the other mis sions because it would be located off the Camino Real. To reach it one would have to cross either “the pass running through the Sierra de Mescaltitan or through the Rancho of the Ortegas, both of which are difficult and incon venient passages when compared with the coastal road to Monterey.” ^ Here we have clear evidence of the existence of two passes by which Mission Santa Ines could be reached from Santa Barbara. In 1794, Jose Francisco Ortega settled on his rancho ■ in what became known as Refugio Pass and, no doubt, after that the pass into the valley became more frequently used. The Ortegas, according to Father Tapis, had a grain field in the Santa Ines Valley in 1798 not far from where the mission stands today. ^ The most direct route to that field was over Refugio Pass.

Already in 1795 Felipe Maria de Ortega, sergeant of the Santa Barbara Company, with three soldiers, made a reconnaisance of the Santa Ines Val ley, at the orders of Captain Felipe de Goycoachea. The trip was made be tween June 17 and 20th. ‘ The route he took is not indicated. However on the return trip Ortega arrived at a place “where the horseherd was kept at Dos Pueblos.” Since this place is located considerably west of San Marcos, one may assume that the sergeant returned to the coast by way of Refugio.

On October 23, 1798, Father Tapis reported to Father President Lasuen concerning a recent reconnaissance he had made of the Santa Ines Valley together with Goycoechea and some soldiers. The trip took four days (Oc tober 17-20). He said the cavalcade ascended the mountains “by way of the Sierra de Mescalitan.”'' The latter was the name of the Goleta Indian vil lages. Furthermore, the first native village reached on the other side of the ridge was Tegueps which was in the area of present Lake Cachuma. Evidently the group took the San Marcos Pass route.

On October 30, 1800, when Tapis wrote the finest report of his career, deliniating the full details of the mission system as it obtained at Santa Barbara, he twice mentioned a road that led beyond the first range of moun tains. He was interested in obtaining sufficient pine beams in order to com plete the houses of the Christian Indian village at the mission. The local Indians volunteered to seek out a stand of pine and found it at a distance of a little more than fourteen leagues from Santa Barbara (about forty miles away). This fits in very well with the distance of Little Pine Mountain beyond the Santa Ines River, in the second range. Tapis mentioned the fact that he would have liked to build ampler houses but could not because of the short lengths of the pine beams. These were hauled “over a bad road,” by means of oxen.

Further on in the same document, Tapis states that from thirty to forty Indians with one of their own overseers were sent out and for eight weeks off and one, fashioned a road to the stand of pine in order that it could be properly hauled. This road, states Tapis, was so apt for the purpose, ’’that the fathers who passed over it afterwards to visit the sick pagans and Christians in the. rancherias of the sierra, as well as the soldiers who accomjjanied the fathers, were struck with admiration on seeing what sheer 5

Indians and accomplished.” No doubt the road used in this case was the San Marcos Pass. Incidentally, this is the first record of any purposeful roadbuilding in this county.

In the summer of 1806, Father Jose Maria Zalvidea with soldiers started out from Mission Santa Barbara on an exploring expedition that took them as far inland as the Cuyama Valley and eastward to Mission San Gabriel.

The terseness of Zalvidea’s initial sentence does not admit of much inter pretation: “We left Santa Barbara on the morning of July 19, and in the afternoon we arrived at Mission Santa Ines.” ^ That was good riding over either pass! However, the distance by San Marcos was about ten miles shorter than the Refugio route.

The San Marcos Pass w'as so named only after the San Marcos Rancho was established during the incumbency of Fray Marcos Amestoy at Santa Barbara in the years 1804-1813. The Santa Inez Range ® as well as the river received their names only after the mission had been founded in 1804. ® The name Refugio, was, no dobut, applied shortly after 1794, by the Or tegas.

During the Bouchard invasion of the California coast in 1818, the people of Santa Barbara and the padres of the mission with their church valuables, left the pueblo and mission, at goverment orders for the interior valley of Santa Ines. Anguslias de la Guerra y Ord, daughter of the commander, ”n states that Jose Antonio de la Guerra y Noriega, in her “Occurencuis some of the Barbarenos went to Santa Ines by way of Refugio Pass while others went by way of San Marcos. She was among those who traveled by way of San Marcos. With her company was Padre Antonio Ripoll. Father Francisco Suner likewise traveled the same way though he remained at San Marcos Rancho in custody of the church goods which were retained there.

In the Register of Baptisms he states that owing to the invasion, the rancho was temporarily “the church of the mission”, and there he baptized two Indians. 12 When the Chumash Revolt broke out in 1824, the Santa Ines Indian who came over the mountains to inform his cousins at Santa Barbara about what had happened at Santa Ines and Purisima, came over the San Marcos Pass during the night, arriving at Mission Santa Barbara early on i.'i a Sunday morning. Padre Ripoll memtions San Marcos explicitly.

These are the few historic occasions in which the two passes are mentioned or suggested. It appears that both passes were available from the coast to the valley, though there is no record of a padre using Refugio Pass on any definite occasion. This is as much as can be said owing to the limited information in the sources at the mission.

It should be added here that the establishment of a mission at Santa Ines, instead of isolating it as Father Tapis had predicted, caused the route of El Camino Real to be changed. On January 1, 1811, Father Mariano Payeras of Purisima Mission stated in his annual report “two roads have been opened through the mountain of this river, one league apart and each forty paces wide.” The reference here is not to the roads of the passes. The two roads were opened to facilitate travel for mail couriers and travelers and to shorten the road between Santa Ines and Purisima. 14 When after the earthquake of 1812, the site of Mission Purisima was changed to its present site at Los Berros, it was located directly along the 6

main existing Camino Real according to Payeras in his letter to Governor Arrillaga of March 11, 1813. “It is a highway which is used by all the herds and horses of the officials on their journeys, which all travel without touching Purisima (la Vieja)”.

It is interesting to note that an exact measurement of the road running between Mission Santa Ines and that of Purisima was made in 1816, the first instance of such a survey in this area.

Payeras states that the road was six leagues and three quarters, and 619 10 varas in length.

Concerning Gaviota Pass though known to the military in Hispanic times, it appears it was not open to regular travel until the early American period. Angustias de la Guerra states that in the Bouchard invasion, sergeant Carlos Antonio Carrillo fought the invaders at Refugio.

This reinforce ment sent up from Santa Barbara had gone to Santa Ines, no doubt over the San Marcos Pass, then through Gaviota from the north where they kept rendezvous at Las Cruces. From there they made their way stealthily to VJ Refugio along the coast.

When William H. Brewer traveled through Santa Barbara on his scientific expedition in 1861, he noted all the observable physical features of the ter rain as well as what human ingenuity had accomplished in the territory.

He stated that until 1861 Santa Barbara had been fairly isolated by the rug ged mountains of its hinterland. A good wagon road was being put through from San Luis Obispo to Los Angeles. He traveled over the section from Santa Barbara to Santa Ines through Gaviota Pass and he could report that the first Overland stage rode over it and arrived at the seaport on April 1.

This was the opening of a new era. Concerning Gaviota, Brewer wrote: “A horrible trail ran through this formerly, but now the road is good.”

Today the “horrible trail” has become State Highway 101, “El Camino Real” Freeway, with San Marcos Road as an alternative county road. Refugio is un improved and little used. Portola’s Camino Real, and the road of the padres up until 1804 at least, between Gaviota and Guadalupe, is the domain of the Southern Pacific.

REFERENCES 1. Document No. 427 in the California Mission Section, SBMA. 2. Document No. 460, Calif. Miss. Section, SB.MA. 3. Document No. 427, Calif. Miss. Section, SBM.A. 4. Provincial State Papers, Vol. 12, Bancroft Librarj-.

5. Document No. 331, Calif. Miss. Section, SBMA. 6. Document No. 368, Calif. Miss. Section, SBMA. 7. Diary No. 8, Section of Diaries, SBM.\.

8. The mountain range, the river and the valley follow the corrupted spelling, Inez, while the mission alone retains the proper Spanish form, Ines.

9. Before 1804, the Santa Inez River was known as the Santa Rosa, so named by members of the Portola expedition.

10. The word, Refugio, is a shortened form of Nuestra Sefiora del Refugio.

11. Price, Francis, and Ellison, Wm. H. (Ir.) Occurrences in Hispanic California, 5-6.

12. Baptismal Register of the Indians of Mission Santa Barbara, SBM.A., entnes 4084 and 4085 together with the “Nola” on reverse side of folio 256.

13. Document 1599 entitled “Levantamiento”, Archbishop's Archives, San Francisco.

See also Engelhard!, Zephyrin, Mission Santa Barbara, 121, 131 (note).

14. Annual Report, Mission Purisima, SBMA. Also in Engelhardt, Mission Purisima, 19-20.

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15. Payeras to Arrillaga, Doucument No. 396, Archbishop’s Archives, San Francisco, cited in Engelhard!, op. cit., 32.

16. Engelhard!, op. cit., 41. citing Payeras’ “Libro de Patentes."

17. So called by members of the Portola expedition. The soldiers did not go over the pass. They merely named the area along the beach, Gaviota.

18. Occurrences in Hispanic California, 6.

19. Bancroft, H. H., History of California, II, 236.

20. Brewer, Wm. H., Up and Down California, 1860-1864, 73-75.

21. Ibid., 75.

The Gaviota Pass

By Dibblee Poett

The Gaviota Pass consists of a splendid gorge in the Santa Ynez Mountains, where the range tapers down towards its western end. The defile is about one hundred feet wide at the base, and the canyon walls rise almost perpen dicularly to a height of about seven hundred feet. It was caused mainly by water erosion on the coarse sandstone as the upheaval of the moun tain range occurred.

The first road through the pass crossed the creek at about four places, as there was a switch-back in the creek below the gorge. One wonders how these crossings were accomplished when the creek was in flood, or even after, as huge boulders often were carried along by the swiftly moving stream.

There was not much traffic through the pass before 1861, and practically no vehicular traffic, as the road was scarcely passable. Most of the traffic up and down the state followed El Camino Real, which paralleled the coastline past Points Conception and Arguello; and there was no particular reason to go through the Gaviota Pass until the development, in the early 1860s, of the San Julian, Santa Anita, and Santa Rosa ranches by Colonel Hollister, Mr. William Cooper, and the Dibblee brothers. With the development of these ranches, a certain amount of commerce was generated in the area, and the Gaviota Pass was opened to vehicular traffic.

In 18/5, the Dibblees and Colonel Hollister constructed a wharf at Gaviota to facilitate the shipment of large amounts of wool, most of which w’ent to Boston. This wharf accommodated ships of large draft and opened an outlet for products of the Santa Ynez Valley and surrounding area, which were hauled through the pass in large freight wagons to be shipped by steamer, until the narrow gauge railroad came to Los Olivos in 1889.

In 1909, the County Board of Supervisors (Deadrick, Doulton, Conover, Rucker and Oakley), anticipating that floods might impede traffic through the pass, authorized the construction of a bridge at the gorge. It was esti mated that the cost of the bridge might be in excess of $300! In 1913. the State Division of Highways took over the coastal road and shortly there after a steel suspension bridge was built in place of the wooden bridge.

Later a concrete bridge took its place.

One of my earliest recollections of the Gaviota Pass is that of partici pating in a runaway through the pass in a spring wagon with “Uncle 8

Charlie” Edwards. We traveled the distance from the upper bridge to the hill near the station in record time, meeting not a single vehicle, and a cloud of dust enshrouded us as we tore pell-mell down the road, hoping to land in a soft spot. Needless to say, we were in ample time for the train.

The reason for the runaway being that the previous driver of the team had a bad temper, and was in the habit of whipping the horses when either of them stumbled. As the current driver was unaware of this habit, he was not prepared for the occurrence, when one of the horses stumbled in a chuck hole with the driver holding loosely to the reins, thus being unable to hold the horses back in time to prevent the runaway.

Cattle from Rancho San Julian, from the Hollister’s Las Cruces ranch and from the Alisal-Nojoqui area were frequently driven through the pass to the railroad corrals at Gaviota for shipment to market by rail. The Hollisters also drove cattle back and forth between their coastal ranches and the Las Cruces Ranch.

We usually left Rancho San Julian in the early morning, arriving at Las Cruces about noon, when the cattle would rest and water there for about an hour; and then go on down the pass. There were usually four or five riders in the lead to warn ajjproaching drivers or to prevent the lead cattle from straying into the creek or the nearby hills.

These vaqueros often carried red bandanas to warn oncoming motorists, but generally a wave of the hand and the sight of a herd of cattle emerging from a cloud of dust, was sufficient to stop or slow the occasional driver, who seemed glad enough to pull off to the side to allow the herd to pass.

Or if he (she seldom drove in those days) was in too much of a hurry to wait, a rider would go back, or down through the herd, as the case may have been, making way for the oncoming or passing car. ■ The drove often extended for half a mile or more, as the lead cattle frequently would trot along at a good pace leaving the others trailing far

behind.

On one occasion, as we were driving a fairly large number of fat cows, steers and some bulls to Gaviota, the driver of a Pickwick (later Greyhound) stage, proceeded heedless of the warning of the riders, and ran head-on into a large horned Shorthorn bull, which had challenged his right to pass. The ensuing crash killed the bull, injured a woman passenger and severely damaged the bus. Both the woman and the bus comj)any brought suit for damages, but could not prove negligence on the part of the ranchers, who had various witnesses to prove their case. That was our only serious incident involving motor vehicles and cattle droves in many years of moving cattle through the pass.

We discontinued driving cattle to Gaviota in the early ’20s, but the Hollisters continued to move cattle through the pass to market and to and from their Las Cruces ranch until shortly after the last war, when the traf fic problem became acute, and it was necessary to have the highway patrol along to reduce the hazard to the motoring public as well as the cattle and riders.

Severe fires have swept through the pass from time to time, and I remember fighting a large fire there in the early ’40s, when many of the neighboring ranchers came to assist in controlling it. It burned on both 9

sides of the creek for several days and there was little that could be done on the steep and rocky hillsides, except to warn motorists of the large bould ers which, loosened by the burned trees or brush, came tumbling down with a shower of sparks behind.

Tlie seemingly placid Gaviota creek sometimes becomes a raging torrent fed by several thousand acres of watershed, and one can sometimes hear the huge boulders crunching their way along toward the sea.

There is a story that a large diesel truck overturned in the creek, losing it’s engine. The driver was rescued and the truck recovered, but ’tis said that the engine was never seen again—perhaps ground to bits by the huge boulders.

The late James J. Hollister loved the nat. ral beauty of the pass and would not allow telephone or power lines to despoil the gorge. So the tele phone line to Las Cruces traversed the mr intain to the west far out of sight, and power poles were not seen there until lights were installed in the recently constructed tunnel.

A thermal trough is created in the pass when hot air from the Santa Ynez Valley makes its way to the sea on many hot, summer evenings, and it has been reported that winds of 70 miles per hour have been clocked near the tunnel.

Much has changed of Gaviota and the Pass that I once knew. The old Southern Pacific station and cattle corrals are gone, and nearby is a gas reduction plant and a heliport. The old wharf has been superseded by a large pleasure pier, and the narrow dirt road is now widened and paved.

Gone also are the cattle droves (and runaways) through the Pass. Now a tunnel and separate road take northbound traffic on the east bank of the creek all the way past Las Cruces, and huge trucks now haul our cattle, where once we drove them slowly down.

Still the splendid gorge remains, still the summer winds sweep to the sea, and still the old Indian watches over the gorge, a reminder of olden times.

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One of the Last Cattle Drives ?f

Over Refugio Pass

By Hakold H. Davis

No one thing has had more effect on the livestock business in our part of the world than the advent of the automobile and truck. Originally it was necessary to move all animals on their own feet, either when on the way to market or when in search of feed. Sometimes when drought conditions were severe the animals got so weak that it was a major decision whether to try and force them to move or merely pray for rain.

Then came the railroads and the problem narrowed to that of reaching a shipping point, or hauling feed from that point to the ranch. From the Santa Ynez Valley one could go by narrow gauge from Los Olivos to San 10

Luis Obispo, then transfer to the Southern Pacific, but this was a costly and roundabout method and added some two hundred miles of travel to the Los Angeles markets. The eaiser way was to use the passes, and by that method reach the main line of the railroad along the coast.

Although Gaviota was used for trailing hogs and some cattle until about the time of World War I, that pass and the San Marcos became major highways and it was not long until cattle and horses were relegated to the steeper but seldom traveled road over the Refugio.

One of the last of the sizable cattle drives over the latter took place in the early summer of 1929. A representative of a Los Angeles packing firm contracted to buy some three hundred steers from Edmund T. Fields and myself and it was decided to trail them to the railroad. I'ields was then operating the Sand Spring Ranch in Zaca Canyon which adjoined our Rancho Corral de Quati and the day before the drive was to begin he brought his steers to our place, where they were held for the night.

Early the next morning the cattle were weighed over our scales, in spected as to brands, and full payment was made by the buyer. From then on the drive was his responsibility, although we had agreed to supply men and horses from our ranches to help him get the cattle to the railroad.

As we left the corrals Eddie Fields took the lead on his widely known sorrel stallion Diamond. His foreman Steve Quintano and three or four men from our ranch completed the group of riders that started the cattle on the Foxen Canyon Road towards Los Olivos some five miles away.

There were no buildings along the road, the fences were good on both sides, and after a short two mile rise to a ridge the rest of the way was an easy downhill slope so we had anticipated no problems on this part of the trip. But one soon developed. The bulk of the cattle were well conditioned two and three year old Mexican steers from a bunch that Fields and I had bought in Arizona the previous year. These animals were active, fast walkers and soon outdistanced the shorter legged, fatter native steers that made up the rest of the bunch. While it was an unusually hot morning and we did not want to crowd the cattle too closely on account of the heat, neither did Ave want to let them straggle along too widely separated. Eddie and Diamond had hard job cut out for them in keeping the fast leaders under control while the rest of the herd poked along behind.

When we reached Mattel’s dairy at the corner of the San Marcos Pass and Foxen Canyon roads, the cattle were put in corrals for a short rest.

There we were joined by Alonzo Crahb and four mounted riders from the Sanja Cota Indian reservation in Santa Ynez.

“Lonny” Crabb was a well known local character—a fine, big figure of a man with a booming voice, he Avas the perennially elected constable of the Valley and in addition worked as an itinerant cowboy at round-ups, gathers, and other such occasions. He was always able to supply men and horses when needed and one of his major jobs Avas to help in such situations as ours. In this particular case he had been emjiloyed by the cattle buyer to supply sufficient riders for the drive over the Refugio.

After a short rest Ave started again, skirting Los Olivos on the West and turning South on Refugio Road. It Avas noAv approaching noon and the thermometer seemed bent on heading for a record. We kept our supply truck running back and forth from the Nielsen and Petersen store in Sol-

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Vang with ice, soft drinks, and the ever welcome watermelons. These were well appreciated by a number of boys and other amateurs who had got on their horses and were out to help us across the floor of the valley. And they were a help, because we passed a number of dwellings, small ranches, and un fenced fields into which the cattle could have strayed with attendant damage.

Early in the afternoon we reached the Santa Yne/ River, crossed it, and followed Mahoney Creek for a mile and a half to the “water gap”, a fenced off spot of some forty acres that lay partially on the Alisal and par tially on the Juan y LoHta ranches. As there was practically no traffic on this part of the Refugio, wooden panels were placed across the road at each end of the gap, horses were unsaddled, and they and the cattle allowed to drink, eat, and rest while the men established camp. It had been a good day‘s drive of some fourteen miles.

Late that afternoon other riders, wives, children and friends began to arrive at the camp ground. Among the visitors were Emmett Edwards of the Alisal, Harvey McDonald of the Juan y Lolita, B. K. Beckwith, a well known writer and authority on horses, Harold Buell, and several others. There was a fine barbecue, guitar music, singing, and a certain amount of the good local “Grappo” in spite of prohibition days. The party broke up soon after dark, and the men settled down for a good night’s sleep.

At daybreak—about 4:30 A.M.—the drive got under way again. The first five miles to the summit of the pass were over a narrow, winding, steep road with heavy brush on both sides and little fencing. In order to keep the cattle from straying off the road into the brush they were divided into groups of about twenty head with a drover behind each bunch, and this practice eliminated the danger of too much crowding and pushing each other off the road. By that time we had about fifteen riders available so were able to work this plan well.

After reaching the summit there were some five miles more of steep, descending road on the ocean side of the mountains, then as Refugio Creek was reached the terrain levelled off and the last four miles wandered down through beautiful Refugio canyon. That day’s drive was also about fourteen miles.

At the foot of the grade lay one of the hazards of the trip. After passing Saralegui’s small store there was a stone quarry on the John Alcgria place.

This quarry, developed in 1926 to supply stone for the lovely Santa Barbara County Courthouse, remained in operation some five years. It was pretty close to the road and naturally was an active, busy spot to pass with the cattle. In addition they had a donkey engine that could make more noises than any wild burro in the desert, and in many cases the cattle went flying into the brush in every direction. and about 10 A.M. Luck was with us that day—no animal “spooked we passed under the highway and railroad track near the present Refugio Beach Park site. Then turning East it was only a few hundred yards more to the Orella corrals and loading point on the Southern Pacific, located on the ocean side of the tracks.

Here Lonny Crabb and his riders from Santa Ynez left us and started home. Only the group from the two ranches remained to see that the cattle were loaded on the cars.

But the expected train didn’t come and didn’t come, while in the after noon a cold gray fog came swirling in from the ocean. Our truck took the 12

men in relays to the little restaurant at Las Cruces for hot meals, but the night that followed was long, cold and uncomfortable at best.

Early the next morning the freight train with its empty cattle cars finally arrived, and in a short time the steers were loaded and on their way to Los Angeles. It was with a sigh of relief that our riders turned North for the long ride home of some twenty-eight miles.

About that year our local livestock truckers, Ed Towne of Santa Bar bara and S. K. McMurray of Buellton, replaced the solid rubber tires on their equipment with pneumatic ones, and the days of driving the passes were about over. It wasn’t long before the livestock business began to move on wheels.

San Marcos Pass

By Edward A. Gilbert

A few days ago I drove over the San Marcos Pass Road, now High way 154, the easterly entrance to the upper Santa Ynez Valley. I had an appointment in the little town of Santa Ynez, which I had put off a few days until the big bridge over Cold Spring Canyon and the new alignments of the road to the east and west were completed. In other words, as a fre quent user of the Pass for over 60 years, I wanted the impact of the recent change to hit me all at once. It did!

Suddenly, as I approached the summit from the south, which is at an elevation of approximately 2,225 feet, I found myself on a four-lane high way that would do credit to upper State Street. As I crossed the top and started the descent of the north side, I looked vainlv for t^he old landmarks.

I thought I caught a glimpse of the well-known Deer Lodge, but I will have to go back again to make sure.

In a few minutes, I was on the bridge—400 feet above Cold Spring Canyon. The bridge, a wonderful piece of engineering, is, I l)elieve, one of the longest single spans in the country. Unfortunately, signs prohibit stopping, so I was unable to get a look at the lovely canyon and former road below.

West of the bridge, the road cuts to the south, high above the former road, a portion of which had been relocated at the time the Cachuma Dam was built. For the most part, the new alignment runs through a portion of the famous San Marcos Ranch, an original Spanish grant of some 48,000 acres, from which the Pass lakes its name.

Returning home later in the day, I turned off part way down the south side of the mountain and cut into the old road that lies to the west of Maria Ygnacio Creek and comes out on Cathedral Oaks Road a short distance to the west of Tucker’s Grove. This road includes the famous hairpin turns that, in llie old days of motoring spoiled the trip to the Valley for many an eastern motorist unaccustomed to mountain driving.

So much for the new—let’s take a glimpse of the old.

13

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■

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L' I

/

Kobo Rock.

The original way over the Pass was, of course, an Indian trail.

This route has been w'ell worked out and located. It started on the north side of the mountain at a point on the Paradise Road at the upper or eastern end of the Santa Ynez Valley, not far from a lovely flat known as China Camp, a short distance east of the junction of Paradise Road with the old San Marcos Road, I might note here that the name China Camp” is derived from the fact that this was the place where the Chinese laborers camped when they built the first stagecoach road over the Pass in the early sixties.

From there, it w'ound its way up the mountain to the east of Los Laureles Creek (the present road lies to the west of this creek) to El Camino Cielo at the summit, thence westerly, crossing the present San Marcos Road, where it turned south and followed San Jose Creek. It entered the Goleta Valley at about the present location of Patterson Avenue.

In this issue of Nolicias, the Reverened Maynard Gieger, O.F.M., in his interesting article, tells of the first road over the Pass built by Indians to haul lo"s to the Santa Barbara Mission. This was about 18(X). For the greater part, this road probably follow'ed the Indian trail. This is the route taken

by Fremont on Christmas Day, 1846, when he led his troops over the Pass to Santa Barbara. This road led over the famous Slippery Rock, which, at a later time, was grooved so the the mules and horses pulling the stage coaches could get footing for the tough haul. Slippery Rock was well down on the south side of the mountains. It still can be seen a short distance north of Rancho del Ciervo and to the west of Patterson Avenue.

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In 1901, the connecting link in the railroad between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara was completed, which spelled the end of the colorful Stagecoach Era. The road over the San Marcos Pass has seen a good many changes during the years, the most drastic being the re-location to the east of Maria Ygnacio Canyon, on the south side, in about 1934. This avoided the hairpin turns and created a straighter, wider and faster route to the summit. Sad to relate, a later change destroyed Hobo rock, a well known landmark, which had received its name from the tramps who, on their way north, used the area around the clear spring at the base of the Rock for their camp. The latest change is the four-lane highway mentioned at the beginning of the article.

On the north side of the Pass the road held pretty much to its old route until the bridge and the new alignment through the San Marcos Ranch by-passed the famous Cold Spring Tavern belonging at one time to the Doulton family, original owners of the Miramar Hotel on the beach in Montecito. At the time of the Doulton ownership, there were several canvas cottages with wooden floors for overnight stay. This was a favorite spot for some of us youngsters, who used to ride over the Pass for an outing in the mountains of a day or so and for fishing in the creek. Bob Doulton told me, a few days ago, that his father used to haul water from the beautiful spring, from which the Canyon took its name, to be used for drinking pur poses for the guests of Miramar Hotel.

Although many now call the San Marcos Pass Area home, the earlier settlers were few and far between. One of the first was Pat Kinevan, who

Slippery Rock.

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homesteaded his ranch on the south side just below the summit. This later became a stagecoach stop where horses were changed after the long pull up the north side. The Kinevan Ranch still is in the Kinevan family and the old house still stands, although the barn, where the stage horses were changed, was bulldozed down at the time of the big fire in the fifties, which burned thousands of acres to the north and west of the Pass.

About the time of Pat Kinevan’s arrival, another Irishman settled on the north side. This was Mike Fineran, who homesteaded his ranch where Deer Lodge now is located. Unfortunately, these neighbors did not get along well together, to say the least; and, it is said, they threatened to eliminate each other, although no shooting occurred and they both died natural deaths.

At the foot of the old grade on the north side, near the junction with Paradise Road, two brothers, Samuel and Joseph Kelley, homesteaded their ranch in the seventies. Here, for many years, they operated a honey industry, the bees thriving on the mountain range. Later, they transported some highly bred goats and this herd became well known, although the bees undoubtedly were the more profitable investment. In the early days of the automobile, the Kelley Brothers purchased two Metz cars. However, these were run only a very few miles and then they were put to rest in one of the barns. In 1931, I stopped at the Kelley’s ranch to purchase a couple of goats and I saw one of these cars with a hen nesting comfortably on the seat.

The road over the Pass undoubtedly will undergo other changes in the future, but, to the oldtimer, never can it again regain the charm of the old days of Slippery Rock, the Hairpin Turns, and the winding road along the River through the San Marcos Ranch.

Casitas Pass

By Selden Sfaui.dinc

The eastern Casitas Pass differs from the three western passes in the Santa Ynez Range in that it has two summits and not one only; and so, in reality, it is two passes. Perhaps it would be better to call it a double pass. At any rate, there are two pairs of grades and two summits that, a half century age, went by the names of “Big Casitas” and “Little Casitas” respectively. Neither of these two sum mits is high when compared with the Refugio Summit.

The first Europeans to enter the Santa Barbara region by land, know ing nothing about the Casitas Saddle, did so by the Rincon Route. They used the hard, wet sand of the beach at low tide as a roadway through those places where, at high tide, the waves broke with violence against the Rincon cliffs. These narrow places, or “Narrows”, lying as they did about half way between San Diego and Monterey, soon came to be recognized as the dividing point between Northern and Southern California. (This point is not to be confused with the boundary line a few miles south of San Diego that set Alta California apart from Baja California.) During the numerous 18

revolts and uprisings and “wars” that were so prominent a feature of the history of California during the “Mexican Period”, it was here that one or the other side often planned to make its stand. Later, when Colonel Fre mont planned his march from Monterey to Los Angeles, it was here that Montgomery, on the “Portsmouth”, agreed to rendezvous with him so that, should the Californios offer resistance iji this difficult place, the naval guns could support Fremont’s efforts to force a passage. A few years later, when Fremont and Jesus Pico made their famous ride from Los Angeles to Monterey and back again, they so timed their schedule that they arrived here when the tide was out: and so they were able to pass the Narrows with out delay by riding along the beach.

In the records of all this there is no mention of the Casitas Pass, that low place, or saddle, between the rough, tumbled mountains and the rounded, outjutting Rincon, that is so conspicuous a part of our coastal view east ward. The first, dirt road over this saddle was constructed in 1878 by Ven tura County officials. Once built, it became immediately the main artery of travel between Carpinteria and Ventura, and so between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. In 1900 (selecting a date almost at random) Santa Barbara boys who were students at the Thacher School near the community of Nordhoff (a name later changed to “Ojai”) were accustomed to ride back and forth over the Pass at the beginning and again at the end of each school term. These forty-five or fifty miles were held by the boys to be a rather easy day’s ride. It was the pleasant custom of parties from Ojai Valley, and from other parts of Ventura County, too, to ride or drive over the Pass to Shepard’s Inn, have lunch there, and return over the Pass in the late after noon. At this lime, there was no thought thal it was a dangerous road for horseman or for horse-drawn vehicles.

A few years after the turn of the century, however, when the first tour ing automobiles began to use the Pass, there were many accidents on the grades, some of them resulting in fatalities; and so, in a short time, the road became widely known as a dangerous one. It was the only route avail able to those motorists who wished to travel north from Ventura, or to those who wished to travel south from Santa Barbara, however; and so, in spite of its bad reputation, the amount of traffic on it increased steadily in volume until the causeways were built at the Rincon Narrows and that sea level route was opened.

1910 is a somewhat memorable dale because in this year a group of automobile enthusiasts came together in Santa Barbara for the purpose of driving to Ventura to lake part in the Bean Festival that was being held there. It was a large group and there were many cars of many makes in the procession that set out from Santa Barbara. The journev Avas made with out untoward incident or accident with but a single exception: on the Casitas Pass, a one-cylinder Cadillac overturned and had to be lifted back onto its Avheels before the undiminished procession could continue on its way to the Bean Festival. This successful journey went far toward sub stantiating the local belief that, for those motorists w’ho had become accustorned to the use of low gear and who kept their brakes in good repair, the roads through our passes presented few problems.

Casitas Pass, running as it does throughout its length well below the “Manzanita Belt,” ever has been famous for its great natural beauty. This 19

was, and still is, especially true of the Pass in the Spring, when the wild flowers were in bloom all along the way. Then, the lilac (ceanothus) display on the hillsides was all but breath-taking; and all the little flowers, mariposa lilies, paint brushes, broedaeas, sage, lupine, poppies, and the rest, were abundant in colonies at the roadside. At this time of year, many people made their ways slowly up and down the grades and over the two summits for no other purpose than to enjoy a beautiful Spring day in the out-of-doors.

And at all times of year, except in days of heavy storm, because this is the shortest route to the Lower and Upper Ojai from Santa Barbara, motorists have traveled this road.

In the old days, the road left the ocean at Carpinteria and, skirting the toes of Rincon Mountain, crossed Rincon Creek not far from Shepard’s Inn and, almost at once, began the climb to the first summit. Before the big dam was built and the large “lake was impounded behind it, the road forked at the eastern foot of the second summit. The right hand, or southern, fork ran through Foster Park (which, in the Spring, was a place famous for its massed colonies of fairy lanterns) to the Ventura River and thence southward to the City of Ventura.

The left hand fork ran sinuously across a rolling country until it, too, reached and crossed the Ventura River, at a place not far south of the mouth of Malilija Creek. From this point it continued on to the town of Ojai. Con tinuing eastward from Ojai, it passed through the Upper Ojai Valley and then down Santa Paula Canyon to the city of that name. In the fall of the year, when the broad-leaved trees were turning from green to bright yellow and rich brown, this was, and still is, one of the most beautiful drives to be found anywhere in the Channel Area.

Today, all of these roads are wide and well paved, and the grades are moderate: and so the Santa Barbara motorist easily and in comfort can make this circuit, coming back from Ventura by way of the Rincon, if he wishes to do so, in a few hours. Almost certainly, he will do this with no thought whatever of the far away days when the same journey, with a horse and buggy, required at least two full days, with the intervening night spent at some conveniently located country hotel along the way.

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The Conejo Grade

By J. H. Russell

There were two grades, that is two grades leading east, out of the Conejo Valley into the Santa Clara Valley. At first they were known as the Short Grade and the Long Grade. I say two grades but there was another grade which led into the Santa Rosa Valley. This was known as the Butterfield Grade. This Butterfield Grade was never traveled by anyone within the living memory of man, but the scar on the side of the mountain made bv it is still there. We all assumed that this was part of the route where the Butterfield Stage went: however, when I wrote that this — was so in an article for the Ventura Historical Society, our very able and accurate historian, Charles Outland, said that the Butter field stages had never come through the Conejo. Inasmuch as I had nothing but hearsay to go on, I knew he must be correct. The other day, I saw Charlie and he said then that, digging into the records, he had found that a man named Butterfield lived near the foot of the grade in the Santa Rosa IS nowValley at one time. So I presume that the mystery of that grade i: cleared up.

Coming back to the two grades which led into the Santa Clara Valley, the Long Grade was the one that was traveled mostly because it w’as really a grade and led directly to Hueneme. We went over the rocky pass and through the Portrero Valley and on over the Portrero Grade to the Long Grade and into Hueneme, approximately 25 miles away. We always had to go there for doctors, and we also hauled our produce there. We would stop at Round Mountain for water for our horses, where there was a big spring.

The Short Grade, as it was always known, until someone named it the Conejo Grade, was as I remember it, no grade at all. I am corroborated in this by Casper Borchard, who has lived at the top of the grade practically all his life and who is just a little older than I am. We would drive to the top of the hill and then go down the canyon until we came to the Santa Clara Valley. We were then on comparatively level ground and needed no road. This grade was so steep that, when we traveled it, to take a shortcut to Ventura, we did so only with a light rig, and we always had to walk up the hill if we came home that way.

When I was a very small boy, my father took a two horse cart, which had no brakes, and his harness had no britchings with which to hold back the horses: but he took an axe and a chain and put them into the cart and then said I could go with him to Ventura. I was consumed with curiosity to know what he would do with the axe and chain. When we got to the top of the hill, I found out what he wanted with the axe and the chain: he took the axe, cut down a small tree, and fastened the tree with the chain to the axle of the cart, to use it as a drag. Otherwise, the cart would have gone down the hill faster than the horses.

Inasmuch as there was no shipping point this side of Ventura for the Conejo until the Southern Pacific Railroad came through in approximately 1900, there was no particular reason for a new and better grade here. How ever, when the railroad came through and there was a stop in Camarillo,

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there was quite a lot of agitation for a new grade. In those days, most every dry farmer was a rugged individualist and believed in “doing it yourself.”

Still, we did go to the County and ask for some help to build the grade. With several thousand dollars, we looked around for a contractor who was willing to do this job for the money we had. However, we lost about SloOO on it: but the residents of the Conejo Valley raised almost that much money to pay off this loss. Thus, the first real Conejo Grade was born. We used it for a great many years and there were some accidents on it. I remember one very vividly because in 1908 I was about to be married. The lumber for my house was shipped from Los Angeles to Camarillo, and was then hauled back over the Conejo Grade. For some reason, the M'agon tipped over and spilled the lumber down the side of the mountain, and it was quite a job to pick it up. We used that dirt surfaced grade until about 1915 and then the auto mobile came into existence and we had a paved road. There was a great celebration when this paved road was finished, and our Congressman, who was a resident of Bakersfield, came down to the opening and cut the ribbon.

I remember thinking at that time that, although the opening of the grade was very well advertised, it did not mean as much to the residents of the Valley as the first grade had done.

I recall an incident when I was a boy: Mike, who was a blacksmith for the whole community, got a little overcome by liquor and got into the path of one of our teams going down. This must have been before the first grade was l)uilt, because the Keeley Cure was going very strong then and my father was very keen about it and sent several men to take the Keeley Cure.

Mike, who was pretty battered up, was one of the candidates. Mr. Thomas Gormely took him to Riverside and I went with him. Mike had a jug from which he drank rather freely, and he either inadvertently put the cork in too tight, or Mr. Gormely, seeing that Mike was drinking to much, put his foot on the cork and shoved it into the jug really tight. Mike couldn’t get the cork out and he begged Mr. Gormely for a knife. Mr. Gormely wouldn’t let him have one. When we drove up to the Six Mile House for lunch, Louis Blandeau, who was a son of the proprietor, came running out to get our orders. When he said to Mike, “What will you have?” Mike said. “I want a corkscrew”.

There were one or two people killed on the grade in automobile acci dents even in those days. I remember one of our local residents in his PopeHartford auto and a neighbor riding with him had an accident. The grade must have been rather sidling because the passenger was standing on the side of the car to keep it from tipping over. The driver escaped when the car did tip over, but the passenger was found with a broken neck down the side of the mountain. At first, no one could figure out why he was killed as he could have very easily jumped when the car started to tip. It was finally decided that an iron projection had caught his belt and had taken him along when the car tippped over.

When the grade was first built, it went around on the north side of the mountain at the foot of the hill near the Calleguas Creek. In the winter, the creek overflowed and the water was quite deep over it. One night, in the middle of a very wet winter, we had occasion to have a doctor come from Oxnard to see my Mother, who was quite sick. We had a telephone line of sorts owned by the farmers in the Conejo Valley, so we tried to call Oxnard; 22

but we could not get a direct connection there. We always had a great deal of trouble getting Oxnard, mostly because a storekeeper who was central for our lines would sit out on his front porch and listen to it ring until it stopped or until his spirit moved him to answer the phone. Anyway, he nearly always had to repeat the messages for us. But this night he answered the phone almost at once, for a change. However the connection was so poor we couldn’t talk with the doctor directly and the storekeeper had to repeat our conversations. So when the doctor said something about coming in an automobile, and, to say the least about automobiles in those days, they were very un reliable even on good roads, the storekeeper said, “there’s almost a flood of water going through the Calleguas. It is covering the road several feet deep, and you’ll need a good strong team of horses.” Several hours later the doctor drove up to our house in a livery rig. After tending to my Mother, he had a cup of coffee at the breakfast table with the hired men and then left. We would think it was pretty rough having to get a doctor under such circumstances in these days! But, at that, it was better than driving a horse and buggy to Hueneme for one.

Well, after the paved road was finished down the Short Grade, it was only two lanes wide and when, after a time, traffic increased so much, it was almost impossible to get over it with a passenger car. The trucks were so slow traveling with their hard rubber tires that the old style cars would get behind one and because of opposite traffic could not pass and they would get so hot that it would be difficult to get over the hill. However, when the Roosevelt Highway was built up the coast, traffic conditions on Highway 101 improved noticeably. Most all of the heavy trucks, rather than make the haul up and down the Grade, went over the new highway into Oxnard and up the coast.

But that is all past; we have now a highway with three lanes on each side, with provision for another lane on each side at a cost of about 5 million dollars, which I imagine is far more than the whole assessed valuation of the Conejo at the time the first road was built. Times do change, and al though you hear peopple say they would like to go back, I personally never want to go back far enough to eat the dust we used to have coming through the Santa Clara Valley on our return trip from Ventura.

A

Edward Bnrein

Director's Report OUR NEW HOME The new adobe home of The Santa Barbara Historical Society Museum and Library at De la Guerra and Santa Barbara Streets will delight those who love old historic adobes, for it has captured the true spirit of the hacienda. The roof and flood tiles were made in Mexico in the manner and size used by the Old Missions. The outside walls are painted, using earth as a pigment. The museum is nearing completion. The inside walls are being plastered and painted, tile floors laid, and our members have many surprises awaiting them. Certainly no historic musem of this size and scope has been built like this structure, with two walls of adobe with a center core of con crete and steel.

There still is an opportunity for a donor to furnish one of the many rooms in the new home as a memorial. The Santa Barbara Historical Society will welcome gifts of artifacts, paintings, antiques, books, and manuscripts from Santa Barbara and California families, and especially large Spanish tables. Your Society will need these for its exhibitions, library, and archives.

They can be appraised for income tax purposes.

SALE OF NEWS-PRESS Of national interest is the announcement made on March 3, 1964, of the sale of the Santa Barbara Nejvs-Press and Radio Station KTMS by Thomas More Storke to Robert McLean, publisher of the Philculelpkui Bul letin. The new Editor will be Stuart S. Taylor, the present Vice-President of the Bulletin. Both come from an historic city, where billions have been spent on the restoration and preservation of that community’s heritage.

Ugly factory buildings, which have for countless years obstructed the view of Philadelphia’s shrines and landmarks, now have been demolished and cleared away, revealing for the first time in years the historic core or heart of one of America’s most historic cities for the enjoyment of the city’s visitors and citizens.

The sale of the News-Press by Mr. Storke marks the close of a 50-year period in which this remarkable man was the outstanding personality in Santa Barbara’s history, just as Col. W. W. Hollister was in our Victorian years from 1860 to 1880. Very little happened in the last 50 years without T.M.S. being a potent factor, either for or against it. He, more than any one, is responsible for Santa Barbara as it exists today.

There is a reason and a definite background why he should be in terested in the preservation of Santa Barbara’s historic atmosphere, in El Pueblo Viejo, and in the restoration of the Presidio of Santa Barbara.

Thomas M. Storke is a descendant of Jose Francisco Ortega, who, with Father Serra and Felipe De Neve, founded the Royal Presidio of Santa Barbara on April 21, 1782. The Historical Society has in its possession the translation of a manuscript of 19 pages written on March 6, 1782, from Co\ernor Fages to Lieutenant-Commander Ortega, giving him instructions 24

in detail regarding the building of the Presidio, the management of the military, the treatment of the Indians, and advice on the intricate duties of every officer and soldier and on the care of their weapons and horses.

The Santa Barbara Historical Storke and his Neivs-Press interest preserving the history of our county in the financing of our new adobe

Society is deeply appreciative of Mr. in the Society’s work of recording and and city and of his advice and guidance home.

The Santa Barbara Historical Society welcomes Robert McLean and Stuart S. Taylor and their families to Santa Barbara and to the dedicated stewardship of their News-Press in the preservation of Santa Barbara’s his toric charm and atmosphere.

CONFERENCES Mrs. Gledhill and I attended the Symposium of the Conference of California Historical Societies at Bakersfield, arriving there Thursday, Feb ruary 6 at noon. The afternoon was spent in a meeting with the Exhibit Committee of the California History Commission appointed by Governor Brown. Attending were Dr. Elliott Evans, Chairman, Les Merrell, and myself.

Dr. Evans made a report to the State History Commission on Friday.

On the morning of February 7 an unofficial meeting was held by the Com mission members, and at 2 o’clock the Commission convened, and the Teports of the 11 different committees present were presented.

The report of the No. 10 Committee, designated as the Exhibit Com mittee, was concerned with the listing of significant exhibition material, paintings, artifacts, and manuscripts, and the placing of such a list from different museums, libraries, and private collections in a central depository, such as the California State I.ibrary at Sacramento. There has existed for many years in dead storage in different state institutions and universities valuable historic material. This should bbe inventoried, and encouragement should be given to exhibit this material.

At Bakersfield I met with Walter C. Frame, Chairman of the Legislative Committee of the Conference of California Historical Societies, and ob tained the approval of his Committee, of which I am a member, for the restoration of the Chapel of the Royal Presidio of Santa Barbara as a State project. This will be submitted for a resolution of approval at the Conference’s Annual Meeting in San Diego in June.

This Symposium at Bakersfield was of historic importance because of its association with the State of California Historic Commission. Governor Brown is to be commended for the creation of this Commission, which has in effect brought many uncooperative groups of historic society organizations together and welded them into an harmonious, effective power for the preser vation of history.

The first Southwestern Regional Conference for Preservation and Res toration was held at San Diego on March 13, 14, and 15, 1964. Its aim was to focus attention on historic structures in the southwest, particularly on San Diego’s Old Town, and to discuss methods of community action for the preservation and restoration of the old pueblo.

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Attending were Mrs. Henry Griffiths, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Forbes, your Museum Director and Mrs. Gledhill, Miss Pearl Chase, Dr. Aubrey Neasham, and Mrs. Thaddeus Suski.

This Conference, sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preserva tion, the San Diego Historical Society, and the Junior League of San Diego, was interesting, brilliant, and informative. There were talks given and discussions led by the following: Ed Ainsworth, author and feature writer for the Los Angeles Times Charles de Turk, Director, Department of Parks and Recreation, The Resources Agency of California Dr. William J. Murtagh, Director, Department of Education, The National Trust for Historical Preservation, Washington, D.C. Dr. Aubrey Neasham, President, Western Heritage, Inc., Sacramento Merton E. Hinshaw, President, Western Museums League; President, Orange Coun ty Historical Society; Director, Bowers Memorial Museum Dr. Elliot Evans, Curator, Society of California Pioneers, San Francisco Mrs. John Mason Durrill, representing The Junior League of San Diego Richard F. Pourade, historian; Editor Emeritus, The San Diego Union; Executive Committee, The San Diego Historical Society Robert R. Garvey. Jr., Executive Director, The National Trust for Historical Preser vation, Washington, D. C.

GIFTS Many recent gifts to the Society have been received. Space will allow us to mention only a few here: Mr. Harold Chase has very generously given to the Society the entire edition of his book, “Hope Ranch, A Rambling Record”.

Mrs. Frederick Kroll (Frances Cooper) donated to the Society the entire edition of her new book, “Memories of Early Santa Barbara and a Forgotten Rancho”.

The proceeds from the sale of these two books of local historic interest will be added to a fund which Mr. E. Selden Spaulding has created for the publication of other local source material.

Dr. Frederick Kroll has given a Peter Moran etching of the Santa Barbara Mission.

Mr. Teofilo Arrellanes, whose ancestors once owned Rancho Jesus Maria, has given the Society a deed of 1853, showing the transfer from the original Mexican grantees to Arrellanes’ ancestors.

Mr. Moses Jones: Two valuable collectors items for researchers—^“Adventures in ir.

Americana, 1492-1926”, two volumes; and “Check List of the Library of H. V. Jones, 1473-1926”, one volume.

Mr. and Mrs. Russell Ruiz: Four water colors of the Presidio of Santa Barbara as it appeared circa 1800 from Presidio records.

Mrs. Lawrence W. More presented the Society with one of the first issues of a colt revolver, with holster and shots, and a rifle used by Lawrence W. More in the 1850’s on his trip across the plains to California.

Miss Maria Lorcnza Trussell: A blue party dress with rose point lace collar and at wrists, worn by Lucinda Trussell De la Torre and given in her memory.

Mrs. John Frederic Murphy: Valuable books on Spanish-Colonial architecture and many records of her husband’s important work in the designing of Spanish and SpanishColonial buildings in the Santa Barbara area.

Mr. John A. Berger: Gift of his biography of Fernand Lungren, Santa Barbara artist, together with a Lungren wild flower painting.

Mr. Ross Holland, Chief Park Historian, United States Department of the In terior: Tape recording of True H. Maxfield regarding his grandmother, Mrs. Julia F. Williams, Lighthouse Keeper on the Santa Barbara Mesa for 50 years.

Additional gifts have been received from the following: 26

Mr. Hal .\!lnian Mr. Thfo .\rrellanes Mr. John A. Berger Mr. J. Harvey Bliss Dr. J. N. Bowman Dr. Charles L. Camp Mrs. Ben Disitmke Mr. Robert Easton Mr. Bert M. Fireman Miss Lillian Fish Mrs. William Forbes Mr. Yale B. Griffith Mr. Charles Hague Mrs. MacKinley Helm Mr. Ross Holland Mrs. Hadley Johnson Mr. Moses Jones Mr. .Albert Juarez Mr. and Mrs. Lawton Kennedy Dr. Frederick Kroll Miss Lorraine Lawton Dr. John Merritt

Mr. Stewart Meigs Mrs. Roy Miller -Mr. More Mrs. Lawrence More .Mrs. John Frederic Alurphy Miss Ynez Orena -Mrs. William L. Otle Mr. and Mrs. Peter Palsch Miss Litli Paulding Miss Ethel Phelps Mr. Andy Rosenberger Mr. Russell Ruiz Mr. ClifT Smith Tierra de Oro, Parlor No. 304 .Mrs. Edward Toporeck Miss Maria L. Trussell Mr. Harold van der Voort -Mr. Hugh Weldon Dr. and Mrs. Kent Wilson

Mrs. J. W. Wyllie Mr. Max Richter

Activity Report—Women's Projects Board On the afternoon of February 25, 1964, the Women’s Projects Board met at the Fernald House to hear annual committee reports, elect new oflicers and welcome new members to the board and to associate membership. Mrs. Raymond H. Paine, retiring chairman, extended a cordial welcome to all, including special guests Museum Director W. Edwin Gledhill and Mrs. Henry Griffiths, treasurer of the Society’s board of directors.

Mrs. Paine introduced her co-workers on the Steering Committee, thank ing them for their enthusiasm and cooperation during the past year, ex pressing the hope that the coming year would see even greater accomplish ments achieved.

Miss Mary Chrisman, retiring treasurer, summarized the fund raising events held in 1963, reporting that we were closing the year with a balance.

These events were: an exhibit of private collections of dolls, held in May in the Fernald House; the Casa Tour held annually on the Sunday prior to Old Spanish Days “Fiesta” in August; several evening soirees held in mem bers homes, for members, associates and friends, and the Open House tours for the public held each Sunday afternoon at the Trussell-Winchester Adobe and Fernald House. Proceeds from these events are used in the maintenance of the two historic homes. The most popular event, and one that we hope will become an annual affair, was the Author’s Autograph party held De cember 4. 1963, which was reported in the Winter issue of iWoticias.

Before turning the gavel over to chairman-elect Mrs. Alex Funke, Mrs. Paine was presented with a gift by the Steering committee for her use on the trip that she and Mr. Paine are planning to the Orient this coming summer.

Mrs. Funke named her officers and committee chairman for 1964 upon her acceptance of the leadership of the board. They are Mmes. Edward 27

Bouton, first vice-chairman (ways and means); Charles P. Harper, second vice-chairman (acquisitions); George H. Finley, recording secretary (edu cation); Vincent Grocott, corresponding secretary; Gilbert Loustalot, treas urer. Other committee chairmen are Mmes. Robert I. Hoyt, librarian, as sisted by Ernest Menzies; Leo T. McMahon, house; Elmer Awl. memory garden, assisted by Kent Wilson; Stephan White, stalling of hostesses for Sunday tours, assisted by Abel Maldenado; Charles Stevens, Jr., associate membership; Clarke Gaines, historian; and Richard Nelson, press.

Mrs. Bouton presented new board members Mmes. Awl, Sidney Barton, John Hall, Ruth Mayer, Nelson, Richard Praul, Louis Rezzonico, Wilson, White, and John C. Vesey.

Mr. Gledhill spoke briefly on the progress of the new museum headquar ters building which is not yet completed, saying that it should be ready for occupancy^ in about two months, at which time volunteer help will be very welcome. However, he added, it will be many months before the new head quarters are ready for public viewing, and all of the exhibits now at the Old Mission are transferred.

Mrs. Wilson Forbes, a director of the Historical Society board, added that there will be a need for more donors, and that an adobe brick costs S5; contributions can be made as a memorial gift, if desired; .§323,000 has been raised to date, by the community, but our goal is $350,000 or more.

Among the honored guests who enjoyed the tea and refreshments served in the Victorian dining room by Mrs. Frederick Brossy and Mrs. John H. Locklin and their committee, were the Misses Maria Lorenza Trussell and Jenny Kimberly. Pouring were Mrs. Forbes who served as chairman of a woman’s board from 1957 until formal organization in January, 1960, and Mrs. Arnott J. Nall, first elected chairman, 1960 to 1961.

WiLBERTA M. Finley

IN MEMORIAM Mrs. Margaret K. Trip Mr. William Gunlemiann Miss S. Adele Voorliees Mr. Claude F. Harmon Dr. V. L. Vander Hoof

28

SANTA BARBARA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

OFFICERS President First Vice President Second Vice President.

●Dr. Hilmar 0. Koefod Hugh J. Weldon Mrs. Wilson Forbes Paul G. Sweetser

Secretary Treasurer.

Past President

Mrs. Henry Griffiths .Thomas J. McDermott

DIRECTORS Mrs. Charles H. Cannon Rev. Virgil Cordano John D. Gill Mrs. W. Edwin Gledhill Yale B. Griffith John Jordano, Jr. Mrs. Godwin Pelissero Edward S. Spaulding

Lockwood Tower Garrett Van Home Elmer H. Whittaker Dr. Irving N. Wills John Galvin* Thomas M. Slorke* ● Honorary Directors .Museum Director Curator Editor-in-Chief

W. Edwin Gledhill Mrs. W. Edwin Gledhill Edward Selden

Spaulding.

NEW MEMBERS ACTIVE

STUDENT MEMBERS

Col. A. S. Boyd Mr. and Mrs. William H. Bluhm Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Cornelius Mrs. Lydia Giberseon Deane Miss Lucile Guiglia Mr. and Mrs. Hermann Hagadorn Dr. Winifred Higgins Mrs. Lee A. Metcalf Miss Madeline Miedema Mr. and Mrs. Ralph B. Ortel Mr. D. J. Ridenour Mrs. Leonora Reed Santa Barbara County Schools Library Miss Esther E. Sweeney Mr. and Mrs. Roy Vogel Mrs. Monsen Wilkinson

Mr. William Spanne Mr. .Anthony Wilkinson Miss Sally Kristina Wilkinson SUSTAINING Mr. Henry H. Clifford Miss Anne Dalponte Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Gates Mr. Robert Gilcrest Mr. and Mrs. Albert Gregersen Mrs. A. .M. Powers Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Starbuck, Jr. Mr. Robert J. Woods PATRON Dr. and Mrs. D. R. Dickson Dr. and Mrs. Edward H. Kirschbaum Mrs. Margaret McGann

HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP Classes of membership: Benefactor, $100; Patron, $25; Contributing, $15; Sustaining, $10; Active, $7.50; Student, $5. Dues are tax deductible.

MAILING

ADDRKSS;

OLD

MISSION,

SANTA

BARBARA,

CALIFORNIA

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