Burton Mound (also known as Syujtun or Syuxtun) is 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 ...

located in

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 ...

, in the United States. It is believed to be a former Native American village that was discovered in 1542 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 ...

. Historically known as Syujtun, it was also visited and documented by Juan Crespí, Gaspar de Portolà, and eventually Don Luís Burton, the latter who purchased the property in 1860. The

California Department of Parks and Recreation The California Department of Parks and Recreation, more commonly known as California State Parks, manages the California state parks system. The system administers 279 separate park units on 1.4 million acres (570,000 hectares), with over 280 ...

has acknowledged that Burton Mound has "yielded some of the most important archeological evidence found in California".

History

As of 1782, the area known as Burton Mound was "one of the largest Chumash villages on the South Coast." The village, then called Syujtun, or Syuxtun, was visited by Gaspar de Portolà around August 1769. Portolà's party stated that the village was the largest out of all they visited up to that point, and that at least 600 people lived there. A party member stated: "In no other place had we met natives so affectionate and good natured." The entire village had disappeared by the early 1830s. By 1800, there were about 120 people living there. Most of the Chumash had died from Spanish introduced diseases or become "members" of Mission Santa Barbara. A large building was built on site, which stored hide made from cattle. The property was bought by

Joseph John Chapman Joseph John "Jose Juan" Chapman (1784–1849) was an American merchant sailor, then a crew member under the privateer Hippolyte Bouchard (Letter of Marque 116 signed by Juan Martín de Pueyrredon), then one of the earliest English-speaking settler ...

in 1833. He was a former employee of

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 o ...

. Chapman helped construct

Mission San Gabriel Arcángel Mission San Gabriel Arcángel ( es, Misión de San Gabriel Arcángel) is a Californian mission and historic landmark in San Gabriel, California. It was founded by Spaniards of the Franciscan order on "The Feast of the Birth of Mary," September ...

. In 1860, the property was purchased by Lewis T. Burton. Burton became a major figure in Santa Barbara, opening a series of businesses in the town, including a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, general store, and

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 ...

s. He died in 1879. In January 1903, the property became integrated into the Potter Hotel, a luxury hotel with 600 rooms. In April 1921, the hotel was destroyed in a fire. It was not rebuilt. At this time, the property became a curious factor for

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

John P. Harrington John Peabody Harrington (April 29, 1884 – October 21, 1961) was an American linguist and ethnologist and a specialist in the indigenous peoples of California. Harrington is noted for the massive volume of his documentary output, most of which h ...

was in charge of excavating the property on behalf of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. He started the excavation in the spring of 1923 and over 2,500 objects were uncovered by the end of summer that year. The objects from that excavation reside in the National Museum of the American Indian.

Today

Today, the site is located near

West Beach West Beach may refer to: ;Australia *West Beach, South Australia West Beach is a seaside suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in both the City of Charles Sturt and the City of West Torrens. History West Beach was first laid out in ...

. It is located on Burton Drive. The property comprises commercial and residential businesses. On July 12, 1939 it was named a

References

{{reflist Chumash Archaeological sites in California Buildings and structures in Santa Barbara, California California Historical Landmarks History of Santa Barbara County, California Santa Barbara, California

History

Today

Further reading

See also

References