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105. Santa Barbara:
      The Queen of the Spanish Missions

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By Miguel Pérez

​
When you arrive, you feel like you've entered a photographer's paradise. Everywhere you look, you feel like you should take a picture!

Established by Spanish Franciscans in 1786 and having undergone several reconstructions, Mission Santa Barbara is still recognized as The Queen of the Missions, "because of her majestic beauty." And the title is appropriate.

​This Mission features a "Sacred Garden," a church, a cemetery and a museum  displaying original objects and art treasures from the Early California Mission Era. And it's all beautiful. You don't want to leave!

Dedicated on the Feast of Saint Barbara on December 4, 1786, this mission shares the distinction (along with the 1782 Presidio Real de Santa Barbara) of being considered the birthplace the city and county now called Santa Barbara, California.

The mission was dedicated by Padre Fermín Lasuén, who had succeeded Padre Junípeo Serra as president of the Franciscan Missions of California after Serra died in 1784. 


Serra established the first nine California missions, and he was there to bless the foundation of the Santa Barbara Presidio in 1782. Lasuén established the following nine missions, starting with Mission Santa Barbara, which is the tenth of the 21 California Missions founded by the Franciscans. Padres Antonio Paterna and Cristóbal Oramas were the first two Franciscan missionaries assigned by Lasuén to build the Santa Barbara Mission community.

Four different Mission Chapels, each larger than the previous one, were built here between 1787 and 1820. The third one was destroyed by an earthquake in 1812 and the towers of the fourth one were considerably damaged by another earthquake in 1925 and rebuilt in 1927. However, the interior of the church remains the same since 1820!

As you tour this mission, you learn that it was not only the missionaries who taught and trained the California natives,  but highly trained artisans who were brought in temporarily, just to teach them skills and crafts that would change their lives. You learn that much of the growth of the Santa Barbara Mission is attributed to some 20 artisans who came as visiting contract workers and trainers between 1792 and 1795.

According to exhibits at the Mission museum, Father Lasuén "emphasized training baptized native peoples at missions such as this one in Santa Barbara to be carpenters, blacksmiths, stonecutters, masons, weavers, tailors and millers, which allowed the missions to be more independent of the presidios and towns. He invited artisans from New Spain to temporarily migrate to the California missions where they taught baptized native peoples their craft or skill, and in turn the newly trained would pass on their skills to others."

The exhibit explains that, "the growth of an artisan class at the missions had an impact on the individuals as well as the missions. Baptized native peoples had acquired skills that were highly desired throughout colonial society, and these newly developed skills gave the artisans a higher status."

Another way to gain social status was by joining a mission choir. Natives who were talented singers and those who learned how to build and play musical instruments usually acquired status is the social hierarchy of the community.

"Native peoples in the choir often possessed a greater familiarity with the Spanish language than other native peoples at the missions, which facilitated their interaction with the Californios or colonists," another exhibit explains.

Mind you, relations between the Chumash natives and the Spanish soldiers was not always great, and the Franciscan friars were usually caught in the middle. Relations were usually strained when the Spanish presidios (forts) failed to receive adequate support from New Spain (Mexico) and had to depend on the missions for supplies and Chumash labor.

There was also some Chumash resistance to the Catholic religion and Spanish culture that was being imposed on them,  culminating in 1824, when a group of naives participated in a revolt and later surrendered.​ 

"The Friars remained true to their intent to protect the Chumash from Spanish exploitation and at least one remained with the Indians throughout the revolt ministering to them," an exhibit explains. "The missionaries also played a large role in negotiating their surrender."

Okay. But what about today?

"Chumash today are reviving aspects of their ancestral culture and religious traditions," the exhibit explains. "At the same time, many remain part of the Catholic Church."

And so does the work of their ancestors! The work of Chumash artisans can be seen throughout the Mission church and museum.

Although the Mexican government secularized the 21 California Missions and sold the mission lands in 1834-36, Santa Barbara holds the distinction of being the only mission that continued to operate while the others had to close, at least temporarily. A museum exhibit explains that, "Due to a variety of circumstances, Mission Santa Barbara did not close and has continued as a Franciscan church and community even to this day."


During secularization, artifacts from other missions were mostly lost. But because the friars were able to remain in Santa Barbara, mission treasures were not only preserved here but, according to an exhibit here, some "art, artifacts and documents housed at other Missions made their way here."

From the very beginning of the City of Santa Barbara, while the mission fathers began the slow work of converting the Chumash natives to Christianity, and teaching them how to build their own Spanish-style village, a pueblo grew around the Presidio, populated by new settlers and the soldiers own families.

And thus what began as a fort, surrounded by a small cluster of adobe tenements, and a nearby Franciscan mission built by Chumash Native Americans, grew up to become a major metropolis!
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En Español:​
Santa Barbara:
​
La Reina de las Misiones Españolas

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Next: The Great Hispanic American History Tour keeps trekking northward on our California Road Trip to Mission Santa Ines, in Solvang, where the peaceful gardens encourage meditation.
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FOLLOW MY CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP!

​82. International Friendship Park​​

83. Old Town San Diego State Historic Park

84. Cabrillo National Monument
​
85. It took more than two centuries


86. The Birthplace of the Spanish
​     Colonization of California


​87. 
Junípero Serra Museum Transcends
     the Story of a Great Man


​88. San Diego de Alcalá:
     California's First Spanish Mission


89. Old Mission (or Padre) Dam:
     California's First Aqueduct

​
​
90. Even at the beach in San Diego,
     you can't avoid Spanish history


​91. Chicano Park: Mexican-American history
​     painted under highway ramps


92. Balboa Park: Candy for your eyes
     amid a painful controversy!


​93. San Diego: An American Town Named After the Saint from Alcalá
93. 
San Diego: Un Pueblo Americano Lleva el Nombre del Santo de Alcalá

94. The King of the California Missions
​
94. El Rey de las Misiones ​de California


95. San Antonio de Pala: A Sub-Mission
to Reach ​the Natives of the Interior

95. San Antonio de Pala: Una Asistencia
para Alcanzar los Nativos del Interior

​​​
​96
. San Juan Capistrano: ​The Home
of the Missing ​Swallows from Argentina

​96. San Juan Capistrano: El hogar de las golondrinas desaparecidas de Argentina


​97. San Gabriel Arcangel
A Mission that Launched Cities
97. San Gabriel Arcangel

Una Misión que Lanzó Ciudades

98. Hispanics had to be imported for ​El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Ángeles
98. Los hispanos tuvieron que ser importados para El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Ángeles

​99. La Plaza de Cultura y Artes:
​​A walk through Mexican-American History

99. La Plaza de Cultura y Artes:
​
Un paseo por la historia mexicoamericana

​100. Strolling the Hispanic Walk of Fame
100. 
Caminando por el Paseo Hispano de la Fama

101. San Fernando Rey de España
​Teaches California's Colonial 
History

101. San Fernando Rey de España
​​​Enseña la historia colonial de California


102. Mission San Buenaventura
Survived Earthquakes and Pirates

​102. 
Misión San Buenaventura Sobrevivió
Terremotos y Piratas


​103. The Father Serra Cross: On a hill,
overlooking the land he shepherded

103. 
La Cruz del Padre Serra: En una colina,
con vistas a la tierra que pastoreaba


104. The Birthplace of Santa Barbara
104. 
El Lugar de Nacimiento de Santa Barbara

​105. The Queen of the Spanish Missions
105. La Reina de las Misiones Españolas


​​​​NEXT:​
106. Mission Santa Inés:
Built to relieve other overcrowded missions

106. 
Misión Santa Inés: ​Construida para aliviar otras misiones superpobladas
​
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So what do you think? / ™Entonces, qué piensas?
Please join our dialogue on Facebook / Por favor únete a nuestro diálogo en Facebook
Hidden Hispanic Heritage

​And to share, please click on these buttons:

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                   CHAPTERS/CAPITULOS

1. Our Pre-Mayflower Thanksgivings
Nuestros Días de Acción de Gracias Pre-Mayflower
               
2. A Tale of Two Cities
                 
3. Our Pre-Hispanic Heritage
              

4. The Black Legend Returns

4. La Leyenda Negra Regresa
                
5. Even on HBO, The Black Legend Lives
                   
6. Our Spanish Heritage
                     
7. Exalted or Offended?
                    
8. We are all 'Americanos'
                  
9. Latinos are Failing
                  
10. Hispanic, Columbus or Indigenous Day?
10. 
™Dia Hispano, De Colon o Indigena?
                   
11. Two Good Places to Rest
11. Dos buenos lugares para descansar
                  
12. Whitman's Prophetic Letter
12. La Carta Profética de Whitman
                  
13. America’s Cradle
13. La Cuna de America
                 
14. Our Quincentennial is Coming!

14. ´Nuestro Quinto Centenario Se Avecina!
                   
15. 
This chapter was merged with Chapter 29
                
16. A Time To Welcome the Spirits
                  
17. A Hispanic Christmas
17. Una Navidad Hispana
                  
18. JOSE MARTI:
     His Legacy Lives Here
     Su Legado Vive Aquí 
                
19. Hyphenated and Proud!
                   
20. Politicizing Education

21. Speak Any Spanish Lately?
              
22. Happy Three Kings Day!
22. ​
´Feliz Día de Reyes!
               
23. 
This chapter was merged with Chapter 29

24. A Long-Overdue Museum
                 
25. America's First Christmas was celebrated in Spanish
25. La Primera Navidad Americana fue celebrada en español

26. The Grand Canyon
and the Bucket List
 Of Hispanic Heritage
26. El Gran Canyon
y la Lista de Lugares de la Herencia Hispana

                  
27. Now That Fiesta Month Is Here,
Can We Talk About Heritage?

27. Ahora que el mes de fiesta hispana esta aquí,

​™Podemos hablar de nuestra herencia?
                  
28. Our Hispanic Heritage: On Exhibit and Yet Hidden
28. Nuestra Herencia Hispana: En Exhibición y Sin Embargo Oculta

29. Florida's Birthday Should Be a National Holiday

             
30. A Local Celebration that Should be National               

31. 
This chapter was merged with Chapter 30               
​

32. The Conveniently 'Forgotten War'
32. La Guerra Convenientemente Olvidada

33. Guantanamo Has a History  June 4, 2013

34. Exposing the Social Media Bigots  June 18, 2013
34. Exponiendo a los Intolerantes
     de los Medios Sociales June 18, 2013

35. Thinking of Cusi On the Fourth of July
35. Pensando en Cusi en el Cuatro de Julio

36. The Discovery of White Hispanics
36.  El Descubrimiento de los Hispanos Blancos

37. Let's Build a Timeline Of Hispanic-American History
37. Vamos a Construir una Cronología
     De la Historia Hispanoamericana

38. In the Name of Heritage
38. En el Nombre de la Herencia

39. Hispanics or Latinos?
39. ™Hispanos o Latinos?

40.  Hollywood's Hidden Hispanic Heritage
40. La Herencia Hispana Oculta en Hollywood

41. Obliviously Living in ‘The Land of Estevan Gomez’
41. Viviendo Inconscientemente
       En la ‘Tierra de Estevan Gómez’

42. Marking America's Birthplace
42. Marcando el Lugar de Nacimiento De Estados Unidos

43. Hispanics in Denial Should Be Infamous
43. Los Hispanos en Rechazo Deben Ser Infames

44. 
Gay Marriage's Hidden American History
      Started in Spanish
 CABEZA DE VACA'S JOURNEY
44. La Historia Oculta del Matrimonio Gay
      En América Comenzó en Español
        EL VIAJE DE CABEZA DE VACA​

45. Super Bowl Coke Commercial
       Draws Out Ugly Americans

45. Comercial de Coke en Super Bowl
     Hace Relucir a los Americanos Feos


46. 
The 'Discovery' of Self-Loathing Hispanics
46. El ‘Descubrimiento' de los
     Hispanos que se Auto Desprecian


THE GREAT HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORY TOUR 
June 2014 - January 2015


47. My Pilgrimage to San Xavier
47. Mi Peregrinaje a San Xavier

48. The Great Hispanic American History Tour
48. La Gran Gira por la Historia Hispanoamericana

49. On the Trail of Conquistadors
49. En el Camino de los Conquistadores

50. Beyond St. Augustine
50. Más Allá de San Agustín

51. A Hidden Hispanic Role Model
51. Un Modelo Hispano Oculto

52. The Hispanic Flank of the American Revolution
52. El Flanco Hispano de la Revolucion Americana
​

53. New Orleans Has a Spanish ‘Ne Sais Quoi’
53. Nueva Orleans Tiene Un ‘Ne Sais Quoi’ Español

54. Galveston: Still the Isle of Misfortune?

55. Extracting Compacted History
     Unveils Hidden Hispanic Heritage

56. 'Remember The Alamo' Was a Spanish Mission

57. San Antonio: The Showcase Of Our Hispanic Heritage

58. There Was Compassion On the Spanish Mission Trail

59. A Hidden Latina Role Model

60. Time Portals on the Road

61. The First Thanksgiving
     In the (Southwest) United States

62. The World's Biggest Statue
of a Nameless Horseback Rider


63. A River Runs Through Our Hispanic Heritage

64. A Beacon of Hope On a Border Mountaintop

65. A Mexican-American Town
65. Un Pueblo Mexico-Americano

66. The Crossroads of Conquistadors

67. Hiking In Search of Coronado's Trail

68. The Real American Pioneers

69. Keeping My Pledge to San Xavier

70. If They Knew Arizona's History,
     They Wouldn't Be So Xenophobic

71. 'Tucson' is a Spanish Adaptation

72. Under a Utah Lake, Hispanic Heritage Lives

73. A Hilltop View Of Hispanic Heritage

74. Searching for Coronado's Quivira

75. The Spanish Savior of St. Louis

76. 
Jefferson's Spanish Library

WASHINGTON, D.C.
February-June 2015

77. When Galvez Came to Congress
77. Cuando Gálvez Vino al Congreso


78. A Tour of Our Extraordinarily Hispanic U.S. Capitol

79. Searching for Not-S0-Hidden
Hispanic Heritage in Washington, DC


80. Smithsonian Omits Hispanics In U.S. History Exhibit
80. Smithsonian Omite a los Hispanos
     en Exhibición de Historia de EE.UU.
MIAMI - August 2015
​
81. Finding Dad in a Museum
81. Encontre a Mi Padre en un Museo


​CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP - 2018
82. International Friendship Park ​at U.S.-Mexico Border
​- A Jagged Corner of the World


83. Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
​
84. Cabrillo National Monument

85. ​It took more than 2 centuries

86. Presidio Park: The Birthplace
of the Spanish Colonization of California


87. Junípero Serra Museum Transcends the Story of a Great Man

88. Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá:
California's First Spanish Mission


89. Old Mission (Padre) Dam: California's First Aqueduct

90. Even at the beach in San Diego, you can't avoid Spanish history

91. Chicano Park: Mexican-American ​painted under highway ramps

92. Balboa Park: Candy for your eyes amid a painful controversy!

93. San Diego: An American Town
Named After the Saint from Alcalá

93. San Diego: Un Pueblo Americano
Lleva el Nombre del Santo de Alcalá


94. San Luis Rey de Francia: The King of the California Missions
94. San Luis Rey de Francia: ​El Rey de las Misiones de California

95. San Antonio de Pala:
A Sub-Mission to Reach
 the Natives of the Interior
95. San Antonio de Pala:
Una Asistencia para Alcanzar los Nativos del Interior

96. San Juan Capistrano:
The Home of the Mission Swallows
 from Argentina
96. San Juan Capistrano:
El Hogar de las Golondrinas Desaparecidas ​de Argentina

97. San Gabriel Arcángel: A Mission that Launched Cities
97. San Gabriel Arcángel: Una Misión Que Lanzó Ciudades

98. El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Ángeles:
Hispanics had to be imported

98. El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Ángeles:
Hispanos tuvieron que sen importados


99. La Plaza de Cultura y Artes:
A Walk through Mexican-American History

99. La Plaza de Cultura y Artes:
Un Paseo por la historia 
​mexicoamericana


100. Strolling the Hispanic Walk of Fame
​100. Caminando por el Paseo Hispano de la Fama

101. San Fernando Rey de España Teaches
California's Colonial History

101. ​​San Fernando Rey de España Enseña
la historia colonial de California


​102. Mission San Buenaventura Survived Earthquakes and Pirates
102. Misión San Buenaventura Sobrevivió Terremotos y Piratas

​103. Father Serra Cross: On a hill,
​overlooking ​the land he shepherded

​103. La Cruz del Padre Serra: En una colina,
​con vistas a la tierra que pastoreaba


104. The Birthplace of Santa Barbara
104. El Lugar de Nacimiento de Santa Barbara

105. The Queen of the Spanish Missions
105. La Reina de las Misiones Españolas

106. Mission Santa Ines: Built to relieve other overcrowded missions
106. Misión Santa Inés: Construida para aliviar otras misiones superpobladas

107. Mission La Purísima Concepcion:
​Going back in time ​to Spanish California

107. Mision La Purísima Concepción:
Retrocediendo en ​el tiempo a la California española


XXX. Saluting an exile: ​Father Félix Varela
XXX. The Meaning of 'Sotomayor'
SPECIAL SECTIONS
• Great (pro-Hispanic) Americans
​
• 16th Century in the Hispanic American History Timeline
• 17th Century in the Hispanic American History Timeline
• 18th Century in the Hispanic American History Timeline
​
• Spanish-American expeditions before Jamestown
• NYC ​Hispanic Landmarks
• NYC Hispanic Art
• Do You Know/Sabes?
• Garita Art
​
• Do You Speak Spanglish?
HISPANIC AMERICAN HISTORY TIMELINE
​1513 Ponce de Leon Discovers North America, Names Her 'Florida'

April 22, 1513 ​Alaminos discovers the Gulf Stream

1517 De Cordoba, wounded in Yucatan, stops in Florida

1518 Grijalva Reaches Galveston Island

1519 De Pineda confirms Florida ​is not an island​

1521 Ponce de Leon Returns to Florida, Falls Mortally Wounded

1524-25 Estevan Gomez Explores North America's East Coast

1526 Ayllón lands in S.C., settles in Georgia


1528 Narváez expedition succumbs to storms and natives

1528-36 Cabeza de Vaca treks across North America

1537-42 Cabeza de Vaca Returns to Spain, Writes 'La Relación'

1539 De Niza Searches for Golden Cities of Cibola
​

1539-42 De Soto celebrates first American Christmas

1540 Hernando de Alarcon Reaches California

1540-42 Coronado Explores the Southwest,
Cardenas Discovers ​the Grand Canyon


1542-43  ​Cabrillo explores California coast​

1559 De Luna Builds Santa Maria de Ochuse​


1565 Pedro Menendez de Avilés Establishes San Agustin

1566 Santa Elena Built in South Carolina

1598 ​Juan de Oñate Explores New Mexico

1602 Sebastian Vizcaino ​explores the West Coast

1610 Pedro de Peralta establishes Santa Fe

1610-26 The Birth of San Miguel, oldest church in the U.S.A.

1613 Juan Rodriguez becomes the first Manhattan immigrant

1633 Misión San Luis de Apalachee is born in Tallahassee

​1682 San Antonio de la Ysleta becomes first mission in Texas

1691 Father Eusebio Kino builds Tumacácori and Guevavi

1692 ​Father Kino builds San Xavier del Bac 

1692 Diego de Vargas leads ​'Bloodless Reconquest" of Santa Fe

1695 Castillo de San Marcos ​Completed in St. Augustine

1718 Mission San Antonio de Valero is born
​- long before it became The Alamo
​

1738 Runaway slaves establish Fort Mose,
​the first free African-American community​


​1738 Francisco Menendez Leads Fort Mose

1742 Spanish Soldiers ​Open Fort Matanzas

1752 Spanish Soldiers Build Presidio de Tubac

1763 Spanish Florida Goes to England

1765 Juan Antonio Maria de Rivera ​explores ​Colorado and Utah
​
1769 
Father Serra opens ​San Diego de Alcalá,
California's first ​Spanish mission


1771 Father Serra establishes San Gabriel Arcángel

1772 Good hunting determines site
​of ​Misión San Luis Obispo de Tolosa


1775 Captain Hugh O’Connor
​builds Presidio San Agustin del Tucson


​1776-83 Hispanics in the American Revolution

1776 The Birth of San Francisco

1781 Spanish troops defeat the British, capture Pensacola

1781 Pobladores of Los Angeles are imported

1791 ​Alessandro Malaspina Alaska Reaches Alaska

1797 Fermín Francisco de Lasuén
Establishes Misión San Fernando Rey de España


1797 The Birth of Villa de Branciforte

Herencia Hispana Oculta de America:
La Lista de Lugares, Ideas, y Evidencia Historica para Reconectár a los Americanos con sus Raíces Hispanas

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America's Hidden Hispanic Heritage:
The Bucket List of Places, Ideas and Historical Evidence to Reconnect Americans with their  Hispanic Roots
  • HOME
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  • VIDEOS WE LIKE
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  • THE GREAT TOUR/LA GRAN GIRA
  • CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP
  • NYC HISPANIC LANDMARKS
  • NYC HISPANIC ART
  • ON THE ROAD AGAIN
  • EN EL CAMINO OTRA VEZ
  • OUR MEDALLIONS SAGA