The Rancho Nuestra Señora del Refugio ("Ranch of Our Lady of Refuge") was a Spanish land grant to

José Francisco Ortega José Francisco Ortega (1734 – February 1798) was an indigenous Californio soldier and early settler of Alta California. He joined the military at the age of twenty-one and rose to the rank of sergeant by the time he joined the Portola expedition ...

in 1794 and is the only land grant made under Spanish and confirmed by USA in 1866 to Jose Maria Ortega.under the US Supreme Court rule in what is today

Santa Barbara County, California Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria. Santa Barba ...

. A Mexican title was granted to Antonio Maria Ortega in 1834 by Mexican Governor

José Figueroa José Figueroa (1792 – 29 September 1835), was a General and the Mexican Governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835. He wrote the first book to be published in California. Background and governorship Figueroa was a Mestizo of Spanish a ...

. The grant extended along the Pacific coast from Cojo Canyon east of

Point Conception Point Conception (Chumash: ''Humqaq'') is a headland along the Gaviota Coast in southwestern Santa Barbara County, California. It is the point where the Santa Barbara Channel meets the Pacific Ocean, and as the corner between the mostly north-s ...

, past Arroyo Hondo and Tajiguas Canyon, to Refugio Canyon, including what is now

Gaviota Coast The Gaviota Coast in Santa Barbara County, California is a rural coastline along the Santa Barbara Channel roughly bounded by the city of Goleta, California, Goleta on the south and the north boundary of the county on the north. This last undeve ...

History

The first European visitors to California were Spanish maritime explorers led by

Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo ( pt, João Rodrigues Cabrilho; c. 1499 – January 3, 1543) was an Iberian maritime explorer best known for investigations of the West Coast of North America, undertaken on behalf of the Spanish Empire. He was the firs ...

, who sailed up and down the coast in 1542. Spanish explorer

Sebastián Vizcaíno Sebastián Vizcaíno (1548–1624) was a Spanish soldier, entrepreneur, explorer, and diplomat whose varied roles took him to New Spain, the Baja California peninsula, the California coast and Asia. Early career Vizcaíno was born in 154 ...

again sailed along the California coast in 1602. Spanish ships associated with the

Manila Galleon fil, Galyon ng Maynila , english_name = Manila Galleon , duration = From 1565 to 1815 (250 years) , venue = Between Manila and Acapulco , location = New Spain (Spanish Empire) ...

trade probably made emergency stops along the coast during the next 167 years, but no permanent settlements were established. The first land expedition to California, led by

Gaspar de Portolà Gaspar is a given and/or surname of French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish origin, cognate to Casper (given name) or Casper (surname). It is a name of biblical origin, per Saint Gaspar, one of the wise men mentioned in the Bible. Notable peo ...

, camped at today's Tajiguas Creek on August 23, 1769, on its way to

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area and its major city at the south of the bay, San Jose. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by ...

. Franciscan missionary

Juan Crespi ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

, who accompanied the expedition, noted the presence of two native towns, facing each other across the creek, near the ocean—similar to the arrangement found the previous day at Dos Pueblos. The following two days, August 24–25, the expedition moved on along the coast to the west, still over lands that later belonged to the rancho. On the 24th, the camp was at Gaviota Creek, and now

Gaviota State Park Gaviota State Park is a state park of California, United States. It is located in southern Santa Barbara County, California, about west of the city of Santa Barbara. One of three state parks along the Gaviota Coast, it extends from the Pacif ...

. The soldiers named the place ''La Gaviota'' (Spanish for seagull). On the 25th, the party camped at today's El Bullito Creek, about halfway between Gaviota and Point Conception. The rancho was granted to José Francisco Ortega, who in 1769 had served as an expedition scout for that first Portola expedition. As leader of the scouts, Ortega was among the first Europeans to see many places in California, including

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

. Ortega played an important role in the founding of the

Santa Barbara Presidio Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...

in 1782. In 1786, after his retirement, Ortega received approval for the Rancho Nuestra Señora del Refugio land grant and built his home in Refugio Canyon in 1794. The grant was confirmed to his son Antonio Maria Ortega in 1834 by Mexican Governor Figueroa. With the

cession The act of cession is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty. Ballentine's Law Dictionary defines cession as "a surrender; a giving up; a relinquishment of jurisdictio ...

of California to the United States following the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

, the 1848

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...

provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Nuestra Señora del Refugio was filed with the

Public Land Commission The California Land Act of 1851 (), enacted following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the admission of California as a state in 1850, established a three-member Public Land Commission to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican la ...

in 1853, and

patented A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

to Antonio Maria Ortega in 1866. The first sale of lands belonging to Rancho Nuestra Senora del Refugio to non-family members, the Gaviota Ranch, occurred in 1858. In 1866, Thomas B. Dibblee of

Rancho San Julian Rancho San Julian was a Mexican land grant and present-day ranch in present-day Santa Barbara County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to José de la Guerra y Noriega. The grant name probably refers to José Antonio Julian de ...

, acquired several parcels originally included in the Rancho, and he eventually owned approximately three-quarters of the original grant.

William Welles Hollister William Welles Hollister (1818–1886) was a native of Ohio who came west in the 1850s and became a wealthy rancher and entrepreneur in California. Biography Ancestors and early life William Welles Hollister, was born on Jan. 12, 1818 near H ...

purchased the

Hollister Ranch Hollister Ranch is a gated residential community amidst a working cattle ranch on the Gaviota Coast in Santa Barbara County, California. The dramatic bluffs, isolated beaches and terraced grasslands are within the last undeveloped stretch of ...

land in 1866. The Dibblee-Hollister partnership owned several land grants in the Santa Barbara area. With the sale of Arroyo Hondo in 1889, all rancho lands had been sold by the Ortegas.

Historic sites of the Rancho

Ortega settlements were also established at Tajiguas Canyon, Arroyo Hondo, and Cañada del Corral. Privateers under

Hippolyte Bouchard Hippolyte or Hipólito Bouchard (15 January 1780 – 4 January 1837) was a French-born Argentine sailor and corsair who fought for Argentina, Chile, and Peru. During his first campaign as an Argentine corsair he attacked the Spanish colonies of ...

burned the original ranch buildings at Refugio Canyon in 1818, but the adobes at Arroyo Hondo and Canada del Corral still remain. The adobe at Arroyo Hondo, and a small orchard planted by the padres at the

Mission Santa Inés Mission Santa Inés (sometimes spelled Santa Ynez) was a Spanish mission in the present-day city of Solvang, California, and named after St. Agnes of Rome. Founded on September 17, 1804, by Father Estévan Tapís of the Franciscan order, the m ...

are still present at the Arroyo Hondo Preserve which is now owned and managed by the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County.Land Trust for Santa Barbara County - Arroyo Hondo Preserve
(accessed February 2014) The ranch at Tajiguas Canyon featured the first

lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...

planted in California.

References

External links

Ranchos of Santa Barbara County Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuestra Senora del Refugio California ranchos Ranchos of Santa Barbara County, California 1794 in Alta California 1794 establishments in Alta California

History

Historic sites of the Rancho

See also

References

External links