April 3, 1998
Mission Santa Barbara
How Missions Came to Be
In 1768 King Charles III of Spain wanted California for its rich land. There were no Spanish settlements there, and he heard that the Russians wanted California too. So he decided to build farms to start settlements. The settlements would be placed along the coast to give and receive supplies from the Manila galleons coming from the Spice Islands.
But King Charles realized that there were not enough laborers to complete this task, so he decided to build missions. The missions would convert Native Americans into Christians, and Spain would make them work for them.
Padres designed the missions, but the Indians did the hard work – building the missions. The general plan for a mission is a four-sided building with a patio in the center.
Locations of the missions were purposeful. They were set one day’s journey apart, so it was easy to trade goods. Usually they were put on a hill with a view of the bay if they were near one. They put them by the ocean so they could also trade with travelling ships.
How Mission Santa Barbara Came to Be
Mission Santa Barbara was named after Saint Barbara. Legend has it that Barbara was the daughter of a pagan Roman ruler. When Barbara turned to Christianity, her father was so enraged he imprisoned her and cut off her head with his own sword. Immediately after this a bolt of lightening struck him.
The presidio was built before the mission. Building the mission was delayed because the governor thought the missions had too much power and did not want them to build another mission. But then finally Father Serra received word that he could found Mission Santa Barbara. A month later Father Serra died. He was not alive to complete the mission. It was Father Fermin Lausen who founded Mission Santa Barbara on December 4, 1786.
Location
Mission Santa Barbara was built on a hill called “The Rocky Mound.” It was overlooking the bay, the Channel Islands, and the presidio. It was also built there because it was so close to fresh water.
The twin towers stand out against the tall, bumpy mountains behind it. In front of the mission you can see Spain’s flag hanging from a tall pole in the presidio.
Architecture
Father Antonio Pipoll was responsible for building the mission. The face of the church was selected from a Roman book by Vitrivius made in 27 BC. They found a copy of the book in the mission’s library.
The entrance of the church has the same architecture as the picture above. There is a triangle on top and pillars coming down the wall. The church’s entrance stands between the twin towers. It was the only mission with twin towers.
The Indian Revolt
Chief Pacomio lived at La Purisima Mission. He was well educated and the fathers at the mission said he could go to Europe one day, but he said no because he had a purpose in California. And that purpose was to revolt against the white men and women.
Chief Pacomio secretly sent messages to all the Indian tribes to get closer to missions so it would be easier to attack. He said to his companions that he would start the uprising on the same day. On March 19, 1824 Pacomio, leading 2000 men from Santa Inez, Santa Barbara, and San Buenaventura Missions, locked up all the soldiers and took over La Purisima Mission.
When Pacomio heard that the northern missions would not be joining in his revolt, he decided to prepare for a long siege at La Purisima Mission. The soldiers from the presidio from Mission Santa Barbara came to fight the revolt. They met up with 50 other soldiers sent by the Governor on the way to La Purisima Mission.
At the mission the Indians prepared the cannons, but overloaded them with too much powder. When they fired the little cannons, the cannons blew up and killed six Indians standing nearby. The Indians had to retreat from their gun holes because there were bullets everywhere and they only had bows and arrows.
Pacomio ran into the church where Father Victoria was praying for the fighting to stop. Pacomio grabbed him and brought him out to the courtyard and ordered him to tell the soldiers to stop firing. And sure enough, the shooting stopped. Pacomio said he was sorry for bringing Father Victoria out into the dangerous fire, but he thought it was best for his people.
Pacomio admitted to his people that if they stayed at Mission La Purisima, they would be doomed. So they decided to escape under the cover of night into the hills north of Santa Barbara Mission. Father Victoria convinced Noriega, the commander of the Santa Barbara Presidio, to make a peace treaty. So they did. Both sides thought it over, and then they agreed to stop fighting. Eventually Pacomio became a citizen of California and was elected to the assembly.
This was the first the first time the Indians tried to break free of the missions. Pacomio’s plan would have worked if had gotten help from the northern Indians.
Mission Santa Barbara Today
Today you can still visit Mission Santa Barbara. You can visit the church with its very delicate artwork, or you can take a walk in the beautiful courtyard. The museum is open daily from 9:00 to 5:00. There you can get books about Mission Santa Barbara and other books about missions in general.
Bibliography
Geiger, Maynard. The Indians of Mission Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara, CA: 1986
Internet Sites:
The Spanish Missions of California http://tqd.advanced.org/3615/
Santa Barbara http://www.bgmm.com/missions/barbara.htm
Linse, Barbara. & Kuska, George. Live Again Our Mission Past. California: Educational Book Distributors, 1996.
Lowman, Hubert. California Missions. (No publisher or date of publication found)
Sunset Magazine. The California Missions: A Pictorial History. Menlo Park, CA: 1979.
The Story of Mission Santa Barbara. (pamphlet - no author, place or publisher found)
Vallejo & Bancroft. Great Indians of California. Santa Barbara: Bellerophon Books. (no date of publication)