The Santa Margarita de Cortona Asistencia Ruscin, p. 59 was established in 1787 as an asistencia ("sub-mission") to

Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa ( es, Misión San Luis Obispo de Tolosa) is a Spanish mission founded September 1, 1772 by Father Junípero Serra in San Luis Obispo, California. Named after Saint Louis of Anjou, the bishop of Toulouse, the m ...

, then in the Spanish

Las Californias Province The Californias (Spanish: ''Las Californias''), occasionally known as The Three Californias or Two Californias, are a region of North America spanning the United States and Mexico, consisting of the U.S. state of California and the Mexican sta ...

. Its site is near the present day city of Santa Margarita, in

San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo. Junípero Serra founded the Mission ...

, central California.

History

The ''asistencia'' compound was located north of the mission and of Cuesta Grade, in the

Santa Lucia Mountains The Santa Lucia Mountains (sæntə luˈsiːə) or Santa Lucia Range is a rugged mountain range in coastal central California, running from Carmel southeast for to the Cuyama River in San Luis Obispo County. The range is never more than from t ...

, on a site Padre

Junípero Serra Junípero Serra y Ferrer (; ; ca, Juníper Serra i Ferrer; November 24, 1713August 28, 1784) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size ...

had previously chosen in 1772. It was named for Saint Margaret of Cortona, an Italian

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

. It was established for Indian Reductions of the large number of

Salinan The Salinan are a Native American tribe whose ancestral territory is in the southern Salinas Valley and the Santa Lucia Range in the Central Coast of California. Today, the Salinan governments are now working toward federal tribal recognition f ...

(Obispeño) Californian Indians, whose southern homeland included the area. The compound also served as an outpost, chapel, and storehouse. The

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...

and stone chapel building measured , with a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

and eight auxiliary rooms for the use of the

majordomo A majordomo is a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. Typically, this is the highest (''major'') person of a household (''domūs'' or ''domicile'') staff, a head servant who acts on behalf of the owner of a large ...

, his servants, and as quarters for visiting priests. One chamber functioned as a granary for storing mission crops. The

Mission Indians Mission Indians are the indigenous peoples of California who lived in Southern California and were forcibly relocated from their traditional dwellings, villages, and homelands to live and work at 15 Franciscan missions in Southern California and ...

were engaged in extensive grain cultivation in the fields around it. When the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

Hipólito 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 ...

raided coastal colonial

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

settlements in November 1818, many local residents sought refuge at this inland site.

Rancho period

The Santa Margarita Asistencia was

secularized In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...

along with Mission San Luis Obispo in 1835, and suffered the same neglect that many mission properties did after that time. In 1841, the

Mexican land grant The Spanish and Mexican governments made many concessions and land grants in Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish Concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an inducement for ...

for

Rancho Santa Margarita :''This article refers to the San Luis Obispo County, California, land grant. For the city of Rancho Santa Margarita, see Rancho Santa Margarita, California'' Rancho Santa Margarita was a Mexican land grant in the Santa Lucia Mountains, in pre ...

was issued to Joaquín Estrada. After the two-day American

capture of Monterey The Capture of Monterey by the United States Navy and Marine Corps occurred in 1842. After hearing false news that war had broken out between the United States and Mexico, the commander of the Pacific Squadron Thomas ap Catesby Jones sailed from ...

in 1842, General

Pío Pico Don Pío de Jesús Pico (May 5, 1801 – September 11, 1894) was a Californio politician, ranchero, and entrepreneur, famous for serving as the last governor of California (present-day U.S. state of California) under Mexican rule. A member of ...

and General José Castro met at the rancho to discuss strategy. During the 1846

Bear Flag Revolt The California Republic ( es, La República de California), or Bear Flag Republic, was an unrecognized breakaway state from Mexico, that for 25 days in 1846 militarily controlled an area north of San Francisco, in and around what is now Son ...

, the forces of Captain

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 ...

captured an Indian bearing a message at the rancho, from Jose Jesus Pico, the Mexican Pueblo of San Luis Obispo

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

, and ordered his execution. In December of that year Frémont also arrested Estrada and others at the rancho, releasing them only after securing their pledges of service to Frémont. Estrada sold Rancho Santa Margarita in 1861 to Mary and Martin Murphy Jr., who had come to

with the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party in 1844. The Murphys turned over running of the rancho, along with the adjacent

Rancho Atascadero Rancho Atascadero was a Mexican land grant in present-day San Luis Obispo County, California. It was granted in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Trifon Garcia. The grant extended along the Salinas River and encompassed present-day Atascade ...

and

Rancho Asuncion Rancho Asuncion was a Ranchos of California, Mexican land grant in present-day San Luis Obispo County, California. It was given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to Pedro Estrada. The grant extended along the Salinas River (California), Salinas River ...

they also owned, to their son Patrick W. Murphy. He later served in the California Assembly and the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Cal ...

, and was a General in the California National Guard. Murphy erected a barn over the adobe and stone Santa Margarita de Cortona Asistencia to shield it from the elements. In February 1889, the town of Santa Margarita was incorporated.

Present day

The Santa Margarita de Cortona Asistencia site 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 ...

. Several of the original stone walls remain standing, having been incorporated into a ranch barn. The site is on the private property of the Santa Margarita Ranch. Tours are occasionally offered, and the site may also be visited during some public Ranch events.Ranch history
at Santa Margarita Ranch

Notes

References

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External links