Page 39 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SPRING 2021 REDISCOVERING CALIFORNIA'S CENTRAL COAST

SANTA BARBARA HISTORYINANUTSHELL

ortuguese explorer Juan Cabrillo gave Half a century later, Santa Barbara had volved
Santa Barbara its name during his voyage into the pre-Hollywood capital of the silent-film
of discovery up the California coast in era, the back lot by the sea where more than 1,200
P 1542. When Spanish Franciscan monks ar- movies, mostly Westerns, were produced during a
rived in the 18th century on their mission building 10-year period. After such legendary film stars as
journey through Alta (Upper) California, they en- Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Mary Pickford and Charlie
countered no one but the Chumash Indians, who Chaplin made Santa Barbara their playground, the
had settled the area some 13,000 years prior. The coastal hamlet became a haven for wealthy East-
Chumash lived in simple huts, cruised coastal wa- erners and a hot spot for health-seekers lured by
ters in plank canoes and sustained themselves the area’s mineral baths. Rockefellers, Vander-
well by catching fish, gathering shellfish, hunting bilts, Carnegies and Duponts arrived via luxury
marine and land mammals, grinding acorns into a rail car. In their wake came painters, poets and au-
staple meal and collecting edible berries and thors who took the first steps
greens. toward making Santa Barbara the art colony it is
The Franciscans built 21 missions in California, today. With only 91,000 residents, this small city
including Old Mission Santa Barbara, known as exudes the warmth and friendliness of its size
the “Queen of the Missions.” After coming under while offering the kind of major attractions and
Mexican rule for 24 years, Santa Barbara became world-class accommodations usually reserved for
a U.S. territory in 1846, two years before Califor- a major metropolis.
nia was added to the Union. History Courtesy Visit Santa Barbara

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