San Marcos Pass (

Chumash Chumash may refer to: *Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism *Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California *Chumashan languages, indigenous languages of California See also * Chumash traditional ...

: ''Mistaxiwax'') is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

in the

Santa Ynez Mountains The Santa Ynez Mountains are a portion of the Transverse Ranges, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges of the west coast of North America. It is the westernmost range in the Transverse Ranges. The range is a large fault block of Cenozoic age created ...

in southern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It is traversed by State Route 154. The pass crosses the Santa Ynez through a southwestern portion of

Los Padres National Forest Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in Southern California, southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast ...

, and connects Los Olivos (and the

Santa Ynez Valley The Santa Ynez Valley is located in Santa Barbara County, California, between the Santa Ynez Mountains to the south and the San Rafael Mountains to the north. The Santa Ynez River flows through the valley from east to west. The Santa Ynez Valle ...

) with

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

along the Pacific coast. The road has been designated as a daylight-headlight highway by the

California Highway Patrol The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is a state law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and roads and streets outside city limits, and can exercise law enfor ...

and

Caltrans The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...

because of frequent accidents, particularly around the exit for

Lake Cachuma Cachuma Lake is a reservoir in the Santa Ynez Valley of central Santa Barbara County, California on the Santa Ynez River adjoining the north side of California State Route 154. The artificial lake was created by the construction of Bradbury Dam, ...

Geography

The pass is one of three passages across the steep

, and the nearest to Santa Barbara. The Painted Cave community and

Laurel Springs Ranch Laurel Springs Ranch is a ranch located on a ridgetop in the Santa Ynez Mountain range northwest of Santa Barbara, California, between the Painted Cave community and the intersection of Painted Cave road with East Camino Cielo Road in the Los P ...

near Chumash Painted Cave SHP is four miles east of San Marcos Pass via East Camino Cielo Road, which intersects with SR 154 right at the summit. San Marcos Pass is a shorter but hillier alternative to using

Highway 101 Highway 101 was an American country music band founded in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. The initial lineup consisted of Paulette Carlson (lead vocals), Jack Daniels (guitar), Curtis Stone (bass guitar, vocals), and Scott "Cactus" Moser (drums) ...

through

Gaviota Pass The Gaviota Tunnel (officially known as the Gaviota Gorge Tunnel) is a tunnel on U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 completed in 1953 in the center of Gaviota State Park, northwest of Santa Barbara, California on the Gaviota C ...

"Battle" of Fremont's Pass

No shots were fired during this "battle", which consisted solely of

John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...

California Battalion The California Battalion (also called the first California Volunteer Militia and U.S. Mounted Rifles) was formed during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) in present-day California, United States. It was led by U.S. Army Brevet Lieutenant Co ...

crossing the mountains via San Marcos Pass on the night of December 24, 1846, during 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 ...

. At that time the Pass was only a path, and a rough one at that. It was a rainy night, and while Frémont's battalion had lost 150 horses and mules from sliding down the muddy slopes during the crossing, the exhausted men were able to reach the

Goleta Valley Goleta (; ; Spanish for " Schooner") is a city in southern Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It was incorporated as a city in 2002, after a long period as the largest unincorporated populated area in the county. As of the 2000 c ...

foothills by the next morning, where they camped for two days. On December 27, 1846, they entered into Santa Barbara and ran up the Stars and Stripes at the Thompson Adobe (now 809–811 State Street). No force defended the town: all local men had gone to Los Angeles earlier that week to join the forces under Captain Flores and General

Andrés Pico Andrés Pico (November 18, 1810 – February 14, 1876) was a Californio who became a successful rancher, fought in the contested Battle of San Pascual during the Mexican–American War, and negotiated promises of post-war protections for Calif ...

. These forces surrendered to Frémont on January 13, 1847, a little more than two weeks later, at Cahuenga Pass near Los Angeles. A

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

marker commemorates the "battle", but is instead located at

, where the Mexicans were waiting to ambush Fremont, expecting he would go through there instead of the San Marcos Pass. A local Army National Guard center is named after Frémont, in recognition of his capturing Santa Barbara and making it part of the United States. The local legend of "Frémont's Cannon" derives from this battle.

References

*
Santa Barbara :: Restaurants, Hotels, Central Coast Wineries and more
defunct as of May 1, 2007.
copy
on archive.org dated 7 February 2006, retrieved 1 May 2007. *Tompkins, Walker A. ''Santa Barbara, Past and Present''. Tecolote Books, Casa de la Guerra, Santa Barbara. 1975.

External links

Huell Howser Roadtrip #108

Copyright 1996, Released under GFDL in 2005 *Archive.org copy o
San Marcos Pass - Santa Barbara, CA 93101 - Attractions @ Virtual-SantaBarbara.com
dated 26 May 2005 retrieved 1 May 2007. {{Authority control Mountain passes of California Landforms of Santa Barbara County, California History of Santa Barbara County, California Los Padres National Forest Santa Ynez Mountains