The Ortega Family's Rancho Nuestra Señora del Refugio: Part II

NOTICIAS Quarterly Magaz!ne Of The Santa Barbara Historical Society Vol. XXXVI, No. 4

Winter 1990

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."he Ortega Family’s Rancho Nuestra Sehora del Refugio; Part I.

Epndio B^ugio ran along the Pac^coastjrom Canada del Cojo eastward to Canada del Bf^vgio ?4ap by David F.Myrick

Part Two ofEric HvolbelVs The Property Qod Has Qiven Me,”traces the history ofPpncho Nuestra Senora del Refugiofrom the annexation ofCalijor^ via by the Americans in the late 1840s to the eventual loss ofthe rancho by the Ortega family. The cover photograph by William B. Dewey shows Arroyo Hondo as it looks today. Brands on backcoverwere among several used by the Ortegafamily over the years.

Michael Redmon,Editor Judy Sutcliffe, Designer

© 1990 The Santa Barbara Historical Society 136 E. De la Guerra Street, Santa Barbara, California 93101 Single copies $4.00

Under we Umte

MC'S

Part II: A Brief History of the Ortega Family’s Rancho Nuestra Sehora del Refugio

-L_r I oT-L Eric P. Hvolbol Eric P. Hvolboll completed this study inigySasa student in the Stanford University Department ofHistory.An eighth-eeneration Santa Barbaran,his interest in the Or tegas’P^fUgio rancho develo^d ashe grew up on a ranch at Canada del Venadito(a portion ofKancho Canada del Corral immediately east ofliefiipo)which hisfamily first settled in 1866. He is a partner at the Santa Barbara lawfirm ofPrice,Postel& Parma and served on the Society’s Board ofTrusteesfrom ig8/f. to iggo.

I "he United States long "had its

Marcos Pass into Santa Barbara on a

eye” on California. For several

rainy Christmas Day of 1846. The men

. years prior to annexation, Thomas O. Larkin acted as a secret advisor to

lost nearly 100 horses crossing the muddy Santa Ynez range. Two days

officials in Washington,D.C., from his

later Fremont marched into Santa Bar-

post in the capital at Monterey. Con-

bara and "took” the town—while most

quest by the United States was hastened by John Charles Fremont, who

of the citizens were at church. During the skirmish George Nidever, on his

arrived in California late in 1845 with an army of 60 men ostensibly on a

way to meet Fremont, was "determined to shoot the first Californian who should come in sight, and take his horse.” While near Dos Pueblos, the

scientific expedition. After participat ing in the paltry Bear Flag "revolt” at Sonoma in 1846, Fremont assisted in

first horseman to appear was "Vicente

the formal American conquest of California in 1847 Fremont's battalion crossed San

65

Ortega, one of the best Californians and men in those times,” according to Nidever, who did not have the heart

66 to shoot Ortega. Several months later, on his return trip from Los Angeles, Fremont and his staff slept at Ygnacio Ortega’s Canada del Corral rancho.

On February 2, 1848, the United States formally acquired California un der the terms of the Treaty of Guada lupe Hidalgo. Nine days earlier, far to the north of Refugio in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, a man named Mar shall discovered some gold flakes in a mill belonging to a Mr. John Sutter.

The discovery of gold eventually led to the end of Mexican society in northern California as it had existed for many years. Down south, howev er, and at Refugio, no immediate changes were evident and life on the ranch continued along its regular pat tern for another 20 years. Soon after annexation, Americans began to slow ly move into southern California.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo assured the Mexicans living in Califor nia that the United States would honor their land titles. Later, however, the United States Congress passed a law that challenged every land title in Cali fornia. After two preliminary reports on existing titles in California, both supportive of Mexican claims, the Land Act of 1851 was enacted. This law placed the burden of proof of ownership on every landholding Cali fornio, in spite of the Treaty of Gua dalupe Hidalgo which promised full and complete protection of property rights. The bill provided for a Board of Commissioners to settle all private land claims in California and allowed for an appeal, either by the government or landholder, to the courts.

NOTICIAS Californios found it difficult to meet the requirements of the Ameri can system. They were unfamiliar with the concept and even the lan guage of the Americans and their court system. Many were forced to mortgage and sell parts of their prop erty simply to pay exorbitant interest rates and legal fees.

After the Board’s decision on a land claim, the United States Government ordered an appeal to U. S. District Court in every case where the Com missioners confirmed the owner’s claim. This extended the time period and fees for Californios. If the claims were upheld by the court, as they of ten were, an official survey of the property was completed by the State Surveyor and a patent issued by the President. This process often took over 15 years after the Court’s ruling.

Considering the enormous and unfa miliar obstacles the Californios had overcome, it is somewhat amazing they retained any part of their proper ty through this process. John S. Hittell, writing in i860, spoke in defense of the California claimants; The government has thus not simply refused to confirm the land titles granted by JAexico, but makes bitter and unceasing war upon than, and has compelled the claimants to bear the expense of the warfare. These claimants have had to sufferfrom the assaults ofother and still more danger ous vexatious enemies, the squatters.

The squatters took the land, occupied it, drove away the owner’s cattle, cut down his trees,fenced in his springs, paid him no rent, paid no taxes, and

NUESTRA SEr^ORA DEL REFUGIO by their influenceforced him to pay the taxes on the land they were occupy ing,and assessed the taxes at most ex orbitant rates...

Many problems beset the Californi os as they watched their society change.

The Ortegas, however, were some what luckier than many of their peers.

Antonio Maria and his aunt Magdale na Cota filed a claim for Refugio on January 19,1853. Their claim was con firmed by the Board on March 14, 1854. The government's appeal was dismissed on March 4, 1858. On July 28, 1866, the President of the United States patented the claim of the Orte gas to their 26,529.3-acre Rancho Nuestra Senora del Refugio.

67 throughout the 1850s. In 1854 Antonio Maria paid tax on three square leagues of Refugio and also on the Tajiguas rancho, which were together valued at $2,500. Magdalena Cota de Ortega owned, in addition to half of the Refu gio rancho, two lots in the city of San ta Barbara and personal property and real estate improvements valued at $6,450. On the neighboring rancho, Canada del Corral, the heir of Jose Dolores, his son Ygnacio, had more fi nancial problems and was forced to take a mortgage on his ranch. Charles Huse charged Ygnacio 3% interest per month on the claim. Ygnacio was able to repay this, however, and kept the Corral rancho until 1866.

The Final Decade: 1850-1860

During the early 1850s cattle were a thriving business in southern California as the meat was needed for the

During the 1850s the Ortegas re mained on their Refugio rancho. The 1850 census of Santa Barbara lists An tonio Maria Ortega and his son Jose Manuel both as rancheros. Antonio

burgeoning population in the north.

Many cattle from southern California grazing lands were driven north in cattle drives. By 1855, however, the demand for southern California beef

Maria’s aunt, Magdalena, is listed as a "housekeeper,” but had property val ued at $10,000. By the time of the i860 census, Magdalena still held one undivided half of the Refugio rancho and her real estate was valued at

declined. The year 1856 marks the close of the golden age of the cattle business which had prevailed for so long in southern California.

At Refugio, however, meat was not the only product sold. Liquor was also traded. Immediately after the turn of the century, the Ortegas were known for their still at Refugio. Katherine Bell, an Ortega descendant, reported that Jose Maria Ortega’s original vine yards at Refugio produced fabulous wines. One was known as VinoAporto del I{efugio, manufactured by Antonio Maria and his son, Jose Manuel, until the latter’s death in 1865.

$27,000. Jose Manuel, who had inher ited a large portion of his father’s lands upon Antonio Maria’s death in 1856, had property valued at $12,000. Pedro, Jose Manuel’s first cousin and brotherin-law, owned the Arroyo Hondo ran cho valued at $2,500. Pedro is often referred to as a farmer at Arroyo Hon do into the late 1880s.

The Ortegas operated successfully

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NUESTRA SESJORA DEL REFUGIO Visitors to Refugio give the best de scription of what it was like during the 1850s. John Rockwell, a member of a Coast Survey team, spent two nights at Canada del Corral in 1850 and com plained of "the bed of rawhide stretched between poles,” which he concluded was "a trifle harder than a white oak plank...” Rockwell noted that Santa Barbara in the year 1850 was the last representative of the style of life which prevailed in Mexican Cal ifornia before the American conquest.

Rockwell mentioned the numerous cattle buyers on Santa Barbara streets in 1851 and 1852.

A decade later, another American.

William Brewer, remarked on the de cline of Santa Barbara. From the two Americans’ descriptions, scarcely more than a decade apart, one can sense the physical and social decline of Mexican Santa Barbara during the 1850s. Early in the 1860s, Brewer described Santa Barbara, suffering through flood and drought damage, as; A village ofabout 1200 inhabitants. I have never before seen in America, ex cept at Panama,such extensive ruins.

It was with afeeling ofmuch sadness that I rode through the old town. Here were whole streets ofbuildings, built of adobe, their roofs gone, their walls tumbling, squirrels burrowing in them—all now desolate, ruined, de serted...the palm trees are dead, and the olive and fig trees are dilapidated and broken...

Facing page: The Ortegas were more forturuxte man many Californiofamilies in that, although it took 13 years, their claim to Ranefto E^fiigio was confirmed by the V. S. government.

69

One of the best descriptions we have of the Ortegas and the Refugio area in particular during the 1850s is from the Narrative of Edward M.cQ ow an, published in 1857.

McGowan was a fugitive from the Vigilance Committee in San Francisco, and was thought to be a confederate in the murder of one James King, editor of the San Francisco Bulletin. After es caping from San Francisco, McGowan first hid at the Arroyo Hondo and Re fugio ranchos of the Ortegas in 1856.

He later hid at the Den ranch at Dos Pueblos.

McGowan first arrived at the Refu gio hacienda on July 3, 1856, and de scribed the rancho as consisting of three main adobe buildings surrounded by several outbuildings of the same construction. At that time there were between 40 and 50 members of the Ortega family residing there.

McGowan described the Ortegas as "well-known and generally respecta ble." Remarking on the 1818 privateer raid of Refugio, McGowan noted, "on looking around on the countenances of some of its residents and frequenters, I could not help thinking that the free booters had left their mark behind them; for many of them looked the freebooter still."

McGowan noted the drinking abili ty of the Ortega men. On the Fourth of July, Miguel Cota (son-in-law to Antonio Maria) and McGowan drank in honor of the holiday. The next day Pedro Ortega arrived from Arroyo Hondo to join McGowan. The Orte gas sold brandy at Refugio for one dollar a bottle.

70

NOTICIAS

NAKRATIAT.

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j) room which might have exist; ed under a roof.

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EDWARD

Me GO WAN, l !

McGowan returned m Refugio after a short time in Santa Bar-

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bara. He spent one night sleep ing in an outbuilding on the Refugio knoll, the roommate of another wanted man from Santa Barbara. McGowan

IXCLVDIKG A rru. xi.cnvsr OKI in:

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made a friend in Jack Powers, a \ noted "outlaw” of the time : A who was also a friend of the I :\ i/ ji '

C Author’s Adventures and Perils, while persecuted by the j San Francisco Vigilance Committee of 1856.

Judge Edward McGowan enjoyed the hospitality of the i^egas while a mgitivefirm the Second Vigilance Committee o/Sun Francisco. He later returned to northern California and was acquitted ofall charges.

McGowan commented that another branch of the Ortega family lived in the center adobe, but remarked that he (McGowan) always had to sleep out side while at the Ortegas. Apparently all family members had a right to sleep indoors, but under no circumstances were non-relatives allowed to sleep in side, regardless of the amount of extra

Ortegas. The Ortegas respected Powers, although McGowan felt they would have slit his own throat at any time for money.

McGowan hid for some days at Arroyo Hondo and gave a valuable description of life there in 1856. The adobe at Arroyo Hondo he described as “situated in a very wild and romantic spot at the bottom of the canon, and within the sound of the ocean surf." Be low the house was a small hut and an orchard and vineyard, remnants of the vines the pa dres from Mission Santa Ines had raised there half a century earlier. An old Indian named

Konoya lived in the small hut.

McGowan slept either out in the open canyon, or at times in the Ortega home. He preferred sleeping outside due to the numerous fleas in the beds which “ate him up.” McGowan finally had to flee Arroyo Hondo as Pedro appeared more interested in securing some of McGowan’s cash than in hid-

NUESTRA SESIORA DEL REFUGIO ing him from the men who were seek ing him, after the large reward offered for McGowan's capture.

After moving to Dos Pueblos, McGowan tells stories of lassoing bears and other delights of the rancheros, including buying brandy for the Indians from Ygnacio Ortega at Canada del Corral every Saturday. He described the Ortega rancho in Refu gio Canyon as "a public drinkingplace, and general rendezvous for all the idlers, newsmongers, and rascals of the neighborhood." Even at this late date most of the people of the neigh borhood were related to the Ortegas in some manner.

Pedro Ortega was the Ortega with the longest tenure on the Refugio ran cho. Dario Oreha remembered that he had the first trucking contract in the area. He used trained oxen, which sur vived the drought in the early 1860s, to haul wire, lumber, barley, and wool.

This included trips as far away as Cuyama, at a time when there were few roads. Pedro's grandson, Vicente, lived in the Arroyo Hondo over a cen tury later. The adobe is relatively un changed from the days when it was new and served as a hideout for McGowan.

The first division of Refugio lands occurred during the 1850s as well. In 1854, 60 years after initial settlement, Antonio Maria and Magdalena Cota Ortega divided the ranch in half. Mag dalena had inherited a one-half interest from her late husband, Jose Francisco Maria, who had died in 1832. Antonio Maria had inherited his one-half inter est from his father, Jose Maria, who

71 had died in 1824. The deed of parti tion, executed on April 25. 1854, di vided the rancho on the ridge to the east of Canada Agua Caliente. Mag dalena received title to chat land from Cojo CO the new boundary line and Antonio Maria received lands from chat line east to the ridge at La Vigia, east of Refugio. Grazing rights were mutual, both parties being allowed grazing rights on the entire rancho.

Apparently Magdalena no longer lived in her home at Refugio, but she re ceived title CO her house and orchard there, along with any wood and water necessary to the maintenance of her Refugio Canyon home. This small al lowance clouded the title to part of Refugio Canyon 20 years later.

Only two years later Antonio Maria died, in February of 1856. In Jan uary, Antonio Maria had sold Arroyo Hondo to Diego Olivera. In October of the next year, Olivera deeded Ar royo Hondo back to its resident, Maria Luisa Gonzaga Ortega, a niece of Olivera's and daughter of Antonio Maria. She was married to Pedro Orte ga. Olivera gave the property out of "love and affection" for her "mainte nance and support" as a gift. He had paid a nominal one peso for it the year before and it is not clear why these ar rangements were made in this way. In any case, the property at Arroyo Hondo was consistently occupied and operated by Pedro and his wife, as this was the time when McGowan stayed there.

On January 28,1856, Antonio Maria wrote his will in anticipation of death, which occurred several weeks later.

72

NOTICIAS

The ranch house at Arroyo Hondo.At right is the schoolhouse builtfor the children ofranch hands.

Photo: Courtesy ofCarmeUta Ortega Leyva.

No claims were made against the estate, which consisted of one undivid ed half of the Refugio rancho. Al though four of his children had already died, he left 13 living offspring. Two, Jose Maria and Luis Antonio Maria, were the sons of his second wife, Maria Adelaida Pico. Antonio Maria left that portion of the ranch known as the Tajiguas rancho to his second wife and their two young sons. This includ ed the canyon proper as well as the adobe hacienda there which Antonio Maria used as his chief residence. He also had a home in Santa Barbara.

Antonio Maria left the remaining portions of his ranch to his son Jose

Manuel on the condition that Jose Ma nuel repay all of his father’s debts, fu neral costs and other title or incidental costs in regard to the ranch. Jose Ma nuel also became responsible for costs borne by his stepmother and his two half-brothers at Tajiguas. Jose Manuel and Agustin Janssens were appointed administrators of the estate. After the death, the Refugio rancho was owned by four Ortegas. Land from Cojo on the west to Agua Caliente was still in possession of Magdalena Cota. Jose Manuel owned the land from Agua Caliente to Arroyo Hondo. Arroyo Hondo was under the ownership of Pe dro and Maria Gonzaga Ortega. La

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NUESTRA SEI^ORA DEL REFUGIO

adobe is k,noum to exist. Photo courtesy ofBrie HvoibeLL. Below: The schoolhouse builtjfor dren ofranch hands at Arroyo Hondo. Photofrom collection ofCarmelita Ortega Leyva.

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74

NOTICIAS

DATE

12/23/65

9/15/66

12/27/65

6/19/65

AMOUNT

$1000

$1500

$1500

$1300

PURCHASER

Thomas Sprague

Thomas Dibblee

Jose Lobero

Thomas Sprag

SELLER

Dolores Ortega de Carrillo

Manuel Ortega de Canillo

Jose Vicente Estefano Ortega

Refugio Orteg de Carrillo

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Santa Anita el Bulito

San Augustin el Cojo

PROCESS OF LAND LOSS 1858-1889 How the Ortegas lost Rancho Nuestra Senora del Refugio. Property line divisions are only roughly sketched in on this map to give the reader a general view.

Quemada was owned by Jose Manuel.

Jose Vicente Estefano. In September

Tajiguas was owned by Maria Adelai

he received title to all the sowing

da Pico de Ortega, and Refugio Can

grounds there which he had been using every year. In addition, he received

yon by Jose Manuel Ortega, with the exception of Magdalena's interest in her home and orchards there.

title to a "vineyard in ruinous condi

In 1858 Magdalena Cota deeded her

tion," 88 yards by 75 yards in extent.

In December, Magdalena gave her son

interest in Refugio Canyon to her son.

title to the adobe house in Refugio

Agua Cal

75

NUESTRA SEr^ORA DEL REFUGIO

1/11/58

1/25/89

8/7/63

2/5/68

$2500

$1500

$500

ue

Andrea Coca Olivera

E. Cordero

Auguste Mougard

$2500 [with Refugio] Miguel Bu^e

a

Jose Manuel Ortega

Pedro Ortega

Jose Manuel Ortega

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Pacifico Si Josefa Ortega (heirs of Jose Manuel)

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i Gavioca

ence

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Rancho Canada

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del Corral

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Quemada Arroyo Hondo Tajiguas

Refugio

DATE

1/6/70

2/5/68

10/17/72

AMOUNT

$2700

$3500

PURCHASER

A. Lincoln & F. Young

[see above, sold with easterly half of Quemada]

SELLER

Sheriff’s auction (for Jose Marla and Luis Antonio Maria)

Bruno Orella

Jose Vicente Escefano Ortega

Map by Eric Hvolh0ll

Canyon, which measured i8 varas by i8 varas by i8 varas. Magdalena had se cured title CO these small areas at the main hacienda at Refugio under her deed of partition of 1854. She also owned property in Santa Barbara and

Almost exactly two years after the death of Antonio Maria, the first sale of Rancho Nuestra Sen ora del Refugio lands to a non-family member oc curred. On January 11, 1858, Jose Ma

lived there at the time, while Jose Vi

nuel Ortega and his wife sold the Gav ioca ranch to Andrea Coca de Olivera

cente Estefano lived at Refugio.

for $2,500. This property stretched

NOTICIAS

76 from Arroyo Hondo on the east to the lands of Magdalena Cota on the west.

At the close of the 1850s, the Orte ga family still possessed most of its original lands. Many also had homes in Santa Barbara. Magdalena had three daughters who married members of the prominent Carrillo family of Santa Barbara. The decade of the 1860s, however, would see the erosion of the Ortegas’ ownership of Rancho Nuestra Sehora del Refugio.

Refugio Lost The early years of the 1860s brought tragedy for cattle ranches in southern California. The cattle indus try was becoming increasingly less productive. Pedro Carrillo of Santa Barbara wrote in June of 1861 that "everybody in this town is broke...cattle can be bought at any price, real estate is not worth any thing.” Carrillo was a brother-in-law of Maria Catarina Manuela Ortega, sister of Antonio Maria. Weather pat terns caused, in Robert Cleland's words, "a major economic revolution and a new southern California.”

The unusual weather started in the winter of 1861-1862. After heavy rains in November of 1861, a rainstorm start ed on December 24 that lasted for one month. In Los Angeles an editor re marked; "on Tuesday last the sun made its appearance. The phenomenon lasted several minutes and was wit nessed by a great number of persons.”

On January 27, 1862, a reconnaissance of Santa Barbara revealed losses of $10,000 to $12,000 in drowned stock.

broken fences and damage to orchards and adobe buildings.

The wettest year known to south ern California was then followed by the driest. After the abundant feed, a result of the exuberant rains of 1862, had given out, cattle found little to eat for the next two years. Rainfall was negligible. The years of disastrous drought, 1862-1864, practical purposes wiped out the cattle industry in southern California, where an esti mated three million cattle died. In San ta Barbara County alone approximate ly 300,000 cattle died. In April of 1864 rancheros in Santa Barbara auctioned off cattle at 3716 cents a head, the low est price ever. During the drought many of the coast live oaks were cut down by rancheros desperate to find cattle feed. Local legend has it that this is a reason for so many bare hills along the coastal shelf.

The acute lack of precipitation con tinued during the winter of 1863-1864.

A ranchero later remarked that this second year of drought caused "a per fect devastation—such a thing was never before known in California."

The winter of 1864-1865 brought rain, but only after many cattle owners were economically ruined. For many ranching families, 1864 meant the end of their cattle business and their ranch es were soon sold. Robert Cleland de scribed the tragedy in romantic terms: The thousands ofhead ofblcu:k.cattle and beasts ofburden which once carried thefamiliar brands ofthe proudest ofCaliforniafamilies disappearedfor ever from the plains and valleys and

NUESTRA SEf^^ORA DEL REFUGIO rolling hills. lieduced to the unroman tic realism ofassessment lists and tax returns, the story ofthe passing ofthe old rancheros is written in the longforgotten, dust-covered records ofevery southern CaUfomia county. Out ofthe drastic losses inflicted by the Qreat Drought came a new economic order.

Forbidding heaps of bones and skeletoTis, everywhere bleaching in the sun, symbolized the ruin ofthe universal industry ofsouthern California. Thereaf ter, the "cow counties” lost their dis tinctive appellation. The day of the unfenced ranchos,ofenormous herds of half-wild cattle, of manorial estates, and pleasure'loving paisanos came to its inevitable close.

The only sale of Ortega land at the Refugio rancho during the drought was of a small piece to Auguste Eliopoli Mougard on August 7, 1863. Ac chat time Mougard purchased from Jose Ma nuel Ortega and his wife, Maria Josefa Lugo de Ortega, the westerly half of La Quemada for $500.

In the midst of the upheaval caused by irregular weather patterns, the larg est landholding member of the Ortega family died. On October 12. 1862, Magdalena Coca de Ortega died in Santa Barbara and left an undivided one-half of Rancho Nuestra Senora del Refugio which her lace husband had settled 70 years earlier. In addition, she owned a house and lot in Santa Barba

77 Refugio CO her children Dolores Orte ga de Carrillo, Refugio Ortega de Car rillo, Manuela Ortega de Carrillo and Jose Vicente Estefano Ortega, her only son. Another daughter, Francisca, shared only in personal property. In addition, Manuela received her moth er’s city property and Jose Vicente Es tefano already owned his mother's house and gardens in Refugio Canyon by prior deed. There was a $520.45 claim filed on the estate, and personal property was sold to realize this sum.

Ac Refugio, the four Ortega offspring each received equal properties, Dolores the property at El Cojo, Manuela the property to the east at San Agustin, Jose Vicente Estefano the Santa Anita rancho, and Refugio [Carrillo] the property to the east of Jose Vicente Es tefano's, as far as can be reconstructed.

Only three years later, the second most powerful landholding Ortega, Jose Manuel, also died. Jose Manuel left property at Refugio stretching from La Vigia on the east to La Quemada on the west, with the exception of Jose Vicente Estefano’s house in Re fugio Canyon and the lands belonging to Jose Manuel’s stepmother at Tajiguas. Jose Manuel left six surviving children; Manuela, Refugio, Francisca, Anselmo, Eduardo and Alejandro. In January of 1866 his property was val ued at $1,500. In addition, he left two debts, both overdue, in the amounts of

ra where she lived. Magdalena ap pointed two of her sons-in-law, Raymundo and Guillermo Carrillo, executors of her estate, which was val

$474 with an interest rate of 2% per month from July 5,1864, payable to F. J. Maguire and one of $610.35 interest rate of 2^2% per month payable CO Pedro P. Masini. Masini’s loan was

ued at $14,172. She left 13,265 acres at

secured by a mortgage on all of Jose

78 Manuel's ranch property and dated from July 7,1864.

In order to pay Jose Manuel’s debts, as well as the charges involved in the administration of the estate, in 1866 the Court ordered that Jose Manuel’s prop erty be sold by the county sheriff at auction. On April 17, 1867, Pedro P. Masini filed a complaint in the District Court at Santa Barbara asking for fore closure on his mortgage on the Refu gio property. Charles Huse, attorney for the heirs of Jose Manuel, argued that Jose Manuel’s wife and children had not participated in the execution of the loan, and asked that the Court dismiss Masini’s claim and set aside the remaining Refugio lands for the main tenance of Jose Manuel’s widow and minor children. In June of 1867 the Court decided in Masini’s favor, as the Ortega debt had risen to $1,235 time due to the interest rate.

On August 7, 1867, Azra Porter, County Sheriff, auctioned off Jose Ma nuel’s property at Refugio to Juan Camarillo for $2,100 cash gold. After expenses and debts were paid, the Or tega heirs received $757.26 of this sum. Pacifico Ortega, administrator of the will of Jose Manuel, later sold the right of redemption to the foreclosed property to Miguel Burke on February 5, 1868. With this final legality, the heirs of Jose Manuel Ortega never again realized the benefits of owning any part of the Refugio rancho.

After decades in the ownership of one family, shortly after Refugio lands were sold by the Ortegas, ownership changed frequently. Miguel Burke sold the eastern half of La Quemada to Au-

NOTICIAS gusce Mougard for $600 on September 3,1868. Mougard had bought the west ern half of La Quemada from Jose Ma nuel Ortega in 1863. On September 11, 1868, Burke sold his other parcel of for mer Ortega property to Bruno Orella for $2,100. This extended from Tajiguas Canyon, which was still owned

by Antonio Maria’s widow and two sons, to the boundary line at La Vigia.

Orella's property included the origi nal Ortega hacienda. On June 12,1869, Orella commenced action against Vi cente Ortega (Jose Vicente Estefano) in District Court. Jose Vicente Estefano was a resident of Refugio under the right conveyed to him in 1858 by his mother, Magdalena Cota. Magdalena had preserved title to her house and gar dens at Refugio in the original deed of partition of 1854. Orella believed that he had purchased Refugio Canyon in full. Ortega asked that Orella's suit be removed, and after Ortega presented evidence in the form of the 1854 deed and the 1858 conveyance, the Court de cided in favor of Ortega on November 4,1869, Orella losing his suit.

Three years later, Jose Vicente Es tefano decided to leave Refugio and sold his right to property in Refugio Canyon to Bruno Orella for $3,500 on October 17, 1872. In 1870 Orella had purchased all of La Quemada from Auguste Mougard for $6,000, but two years later resold it to Pedro Baron for $7,000, in 1872. Baron had an adobe house near the beach which still stands today. La Quemada remained in the Baron family for many decades.

Orella kept the Refugio Canyon properties and also owned the wester-

79

NUESTRA SEr^ORA DEL REFUGIO

i.

.

v<!^;

:X. V -

was heairily remoddcd in the 1930s.Photo by William B. Dewey,iggo.

■

-»«

NOTICIAS

Tamm

NUESTRA SEr^ORA DEL REFUGIO ly half of Rancho Canada del Corral, adjacent to Refugio Canyon.

Ortega property in the western half of the Refugio rancho also changed ownership during the late i86os. After the terrible drought in 1864, three of Magdalena Cota de Ortega’s children sold their shares of Refugio in 1865.

On June 19, 1865, Refugio Ortega and

: 81

blee. In addition to acquiring Manuela Ortega’s parcel and Sprague's two par cels, Dibblee also purchased from Jose Lobero all of the Ortega property Lo bero had bought. In 1865 Lobero had purchased the Santa Anita rancho from Jose Vicente Estefano and also the Gaviota rancho from the Oliveras.

her husband, Luis Carrillo, sold her ap

Only four months later, on April 30, 1866, Lobero sold the Gaviota and Santa

proximate one-eighth of the original

Anita ranchos to Dibblee for $4,000,

grant to Thomas Sprague for $1,300.

making a $500 profit in four months.

In December Sprague bought another

By September of 1866, Thomas

one-eighth of the original grant from

Bloodgood Dibblee owned approxi

Dolores Ortega and her husband Raymundo Carrillo for $1,000. On Decem

Nuestra Sehora del Refugio. In addi

mately three-quarters of Rancho

ber 27 Jose Lobero purchased Jose Vi cente Estefano’s Santa Anita rancho

tion to the sales of Refugio, Ygnacio

for $1,500. Only five days earlier, Jose

Canada del Corral sold it to Juan Cam

Lobero had purchased the Gaviota ran cho for $2000 from the Olivera fami

arillo on January 6,1866, for $3,000.

ly, who had originally purchased it

when Santa Barbara's Ortegas sold

from Jose Manuel Ortega in 1858.

their land to the incoming Americans.

On September 15, 1866, Manuela

Ortega of the neighboring Rancho

The 1860s are the pivotal decade

A process that had occurred in north

Ortega and her husband, Guillermo

ern California 20 years earlier finally

Carrillo, sold Manuela’s portion of Re

transpired in Santa Barbara County af

fugio to Thomas Bloodgood Dibblee

ter the great drought. At the close of

for $1,500. This sale marked the final

the decade only two small portions of

release of the westerly half of Refugio

the once vast Ortega rancho were left

by an Ortega. Dibblee also purchased

in the family. Ac Arroyo Hondo, An

from Thomas Sprague on August 29

tonio Maria's daughter lived with her husband Pedro. Two canyons to the

the two former Ortega properties that Sprague had purchased in 1865. Al though Sprague had owned the two

east, at Tajiguas, Antonio Maria’s

parcels for less than one year, he made

there. The adobe and barley fields at

a profit of $700 upon his sale to Dib¬

Tajuguas, however, were shortly sold

heirs still held their homes and gardens

at auction in January of 1870 by the sheriff for the minors, Jose Maria Or tega and Luis Antonio Ortega, to A. Facing page:the stagecoach stop at Anvyo Hondo on trie LompocSanta Barbara run where meals were offered to weary travellers.

Lincoln and F. C. Young. The new owners built a new house at Tajiguas in 1872, and resold Tajiguas in 1884.

NOTICIAS

82

Vicente Ortega, afifth-generation descendant ofJose Francisco Ortega, was the last ofthefamily to live on Fancho I^efugio. This igyophoto by Elizaheth Hvolboll was taken on the porch ofhis Arroyo Hondo adobe, which, according to him, was built by his grandfather, Pedro Ortega.

NUESTRA SEr^ORA DEL REFUGIO As the Ortegas sold their lands, many appear to have stayed on the property. In 1869 the Qreat Register of Santa Barbara County lists 19 Ortegas.

Of these, nine listed themselves as “la borers," six as "rancheros.” two as "vaqueros,” and two as “farmers." Six lived in Santa Barbara, five in Ventura and the other eight at various ranches along the Santa Barbara coast, including San ta Anita, Refugio and Arroyo Hondo.

In 1875 Ortega is listed as a ranchero on former Refugio lands. Pe dro Ortega of Arroyo Hondo remained there until 1889. Arroyo Hondo was used as a stagecoach stop and an ele mentary school was later established there. On January 25, 1889, Ortega sold Arroyo Hondo to E. Cordero.With the sale of Arroyo Hondo in 1889 the transformation was complete.

Conclusion After the advent of the Americans in 1846, Mexican society in northern California was soon eclipsed. In south ern California, however, Mexican soci ety remained intact for over a decade or longer. The gold rush had little ef fect on Santa Barbara except for the short boom in cattle prices. Squatters were a relatively minor problem. Santa Barbara remained “the most unspoilt place in the cow counties” throughout the 1850s. The 1860s, however, marked the dissolution of many southern Cali fornia ranchos.

The decline of the rancheros is illus trated appropriately in the story of the Ortegas and Refugio rancho. In i860 most of Refugio was intact, but by the

83 end of 1870 only one small canyon re mained in the Ortega family. The drought was the “last straw." Most of the property was sold within four years of the catastrophic weather. Old own ership patterns disintegrated in the 1870s. By 1873 Americans outnumbered native Californios in Santa Barbara, a community which retained its Mexican heritage longer than most others.

Benjamin Hayes, remarking on the demise of the Californios, unsympa thetically suggested that “the finger of providence seems to mark the decay of the old California families.” Major Ho race Bell answered his own question, “How did it happen that these Califor nians lost their vast possessions? ’’ The opinion so often expressed...is that through gambling, profligacy and idleness theseformer grandees became impoverished. This is not true.

Yet it is afact that the majority ofthem did bse their possessions and were re duced topoverty. Why and how? With but afew notable exceptions, they all became the meat ofthe Shylocks, after the American occupation.

The real estate and tourist boom of the 1870s and 1880s sealed forever the fate of Mexican California. Mexican Santa Barbara was changed in every way—economically, socially, cultural ly, educationally, racially and politi cally. The days of the Ortega vaqueros and a multitude of canyons running along the coast in which to settle for succeeding generations of large Ortega families were gone. The men took jobs as vaqueros for new ranch owners or moved into town to become laborers.

NOTICIAS

84

7.I.J;

rnnfA-irirn

CALI^

6295

-w .

This pastoral mew ofthe California coastline at Refugio Bay isfriom a _ .izabeth delicately colored postcard circa ig^o from the collection ofEliza issue Hvolholi La Vigia ridge is on the left.

All other photogrt^hs Hvolboli lift. photogr^hs in this isr arefrom the collection ofthe Santa Barbara Historical S^ociety unless otherwise indicated.

Postlude Nearly 200 years have passed since Don Jose Francisco first settled at Re fugio. The canyon presents a some what different appearance today. No longer do wolves, bears and lions often creep onto the hacienda knoll at night.

The natives at nearby Casil are long gone—their village site probably under U.S. 101. A paved road leads over Re fugio Pass to the Santa Ynez Valley.

Surfers dot the gentle Pacific breakers in the frequent coastal coves. The free way, endlessly alive, does not allow many to stop and reflect. Yet, the green hills of April still offer abundant wildflowers and occasional springs of-

fer respite to thirsty cattle and wan dering humans. An adventurous hiker may still find pond turtles in some creeks and Chumash pictographs on hidden sandstone walls.

Rancho Nuestra Senora del Refugio lies between the unchangeable Santa Ynez and the gray Pacific—a thousand hills, still dotted with green live oaks, presenting much the same appearance today as they did in 1769 when Don Jose Francisco led that first expedition along them. He would probably yet recognize most of the rancho’s hills and arroyos.

SANTA BARBARA HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF TRUSTEES Mrs. Jean Goodrich . .

Mr. David Glaihill .. .

President

Mr. David F. Myrick .

. . First Vice President Second Vice President

Mrs. Susan B. Simpson Mr. Michael Rodrigue

Secretary Treasurer

Mr. Fred Allen Mrs. Helene Beaver

Mr.J. James Hollister, III Dr. C. Seybert Kinsell Dr. John Merritt Mrs. Delfina R. Mott

Mrs. Jean CaUanan Mr. Leland Crawford Mr. Oswald J, Da Ros

Mr. Donn Tognazzini Mrs. Julie Villa Mr. William G. Troiano, Jr. Mr. William F. Luton, Jr., Executive Director

Mr. C. John Douglas, III

LIFE MEMBERS Mr.Stephen A. Acronico Mr. and Mrs. J.W.Beaver Mr. and Mrs. Danily Bell Mr. Marvin J. Branch

Mr. Richard C. Harpham Mrs. Natalie B. Clark-Harpham Mr. and Mrs. Glenn D. Hillebrand

Dr. and Mrs. Ashleigh Brilliant Mr. H. R. de la Cuesta Burkhart

Dr. C. Seybert Kinsell Mr. and Mrs. William F. Luton, Jr. Mrs. Jane Rich Mueller

Mrs. Virginia Castagnola-Hunter Mr. and Mrs. Pierre P. Claeyssens Mr. and Mrs. Charles Qeek Mrs. M. C. Conkey Mrs. Rorence Corder-Witter Mr. J. V. Crawford Mr. Richard G. Croft, Jr. Marla Daily Mrs. R. E. Danielson, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Oswald J. Da Ros Mrs. Albert de L'Arbre Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Fish Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Forbes Mr. Donald R. Foyer Mrs. Helen W.Foyer Master John Galvin Mr. Michael Galvin Miss Sally Gane Mr. and I^s. Keith Gledhill

Mr. Eric P. Hvolboll

Mr. Spencer L. Murfey,Jr. Mr. William W. Murfey Mr. David F. Myrick Mr. and Mrs. Godwin J. Pelissero Miss Frederica D. Poett Mrs. Rena Redmon Mrs. Alma R. Ritchie Mr. and Mrs. Wade Rubottom Mrs. Russell A. Ruiz Mrs. Melville Sahyun Mr. Peter J. Samuelson Mrs. Nina Sandrich Mr. and Mrs.J. Terry Schwartz Mrs. David Shoudy Mr. Walter G. Silva Mr. and Mrs. Burke H.Simpson Mr. Ivano Paolo Vit Mr. and Mrs. John C. Woodward

BENEFACTORS: Santa Cruz Island Foundation, Northern Trust of California, Jon Douglas Company and Two Anonymous Categories of membersh^; Life/Bcnefactor, $5,000 or more; President’s Circle, $i,ooo; Patron, $500; Associate, $250; Sustaining, $100; Supporting, $50; Regular, $30.

Contributions to the Society are tax-exempt.

Museum and Library: 136 East De la Guerra Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Telephone: 805/966-1601

-L_r I oT-L

NOTICIAS Quarterly Magazine of the Santa Barbara Historical Society P.O. Box 578 Santa Barbara, California 93102-0578

Address Correction Requested Forwarding Postage Guaranteed

CONTENTS: Pg. 65: A brief history of the Ortega family’s Rancho Nuestra Sehora del Refugio: Parc II

Non-Profit Organization U-S. Postage PAID Santa Barbara Caiifornia Permit No.534