LetsGoSeeIt.com - Your Guide to Southern California and Beyond



The Presidios

The Presidios of Northern New Spain


Presidios - Military Colonies in New Spain
PRESIDIOS - MILITARY COLONIES
IN NEW SPAIN


The Presidio of Santa Barbara, established in 1782, was among the last in a series of over one hundred military posts established by the Spanish in North America. Presidios were an essential element in the Spanish conquest and settlement of Mexico and the American Southwest. Innovative use of presidios began in Mexico in the 1570s. Primarily, they protected settlers and missionaries from potentially hostile Indians and prevented other European powers - namely England, France, and Russia - from penetrating Spain's holdings along the borderlands of New Spain. Presidios served as symbols of Spanish authority and were designed to secure land by establishing a Hispanic settlement. More importantly, presidios served as the initial civil settlements from which many towns developed in New Spain. These towns were inhabited by a new, evolving race of people from Europe, Africa, and the Americas who came to the Spanish frontier and built a home away from home.
 



The Presidio-Mission-Pueblo Settlements in Alta California
THE PRESIDIO-MISSION-PUEBLO
SETTLEMENTS IN ALTA CALIFORNIA


Spain's colonization plan for Alta California rested upon three institutions: presidios, missions and pueblos. Presidios were established as military colonies to deter foreign invasion, to protect other settlers from possible Indian attacks and to provide provincial government headquarters. Between 1769 and 1782, a total of four presidios were established in Alta California - in San Diego, Monterey, San Francisco and Santa Barbara.

Missions were the religious element of Spain's colonization plan. The goal of the Franciscan padres, who established the Alta California missions for the Spanish crown, was to convert the natives to Catholicism, and to educate and train them to become loyal Spanish subjects. Twenty-one missions, extending along the coast from San Diego to Sonoma, were established in Alta California.

Pueblos, or towns, were civil communities established to house non-military settlers in the province, to supply the military with agricultural products, and to encourage expanding populations of Spanish subjects. Pueblos were established in Los Angeles, San Jose and Branciforte, near Santa Cruz. The ultimate goal of the Presidio-mission-pueblo settlement strategy was to secure Spain's claim to Alta California.
 



El Predisio de Santa Barbara
EL PRESIDIO DE SANTA BARBARA


The settlement of Alta California was one of the last, major colonization efforts for Spain. Though first explored and claimed for Spain by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542, the land was not occupied until 1769. Spain began building a chain of presidios, missions, and pueblos up the coast of California.

The founding of Santa Barbara was part of this plan. Santa Barbara was selected as the site for a presidio because of its strategic position between San Diego and Monterey for the defense of the central coast of California.

The first colonists arrived in Santa Barbara in 1782 after enduring a thousand mile journey from Sonora, Mexico. The Santa Barbara Presidio was officially founded on April 21, 1782 by Father Junipero Serra, Governor of California Felipe de Neve, and Lieutenant Jose Carlos III of Spain. The group of settlers was composed of approximately fifty-five soldiers, some of whom brought their wives and children.

The presidio was regarded primarily as a military fortress and living quarters, although it also served as government headquarters, trading center, supply depot, and religious center for the new settlers, making it the focal point of activity in colonial Santa Barbara.
 



The Construction of the Santa Barbara Presidio
THE CONSTRUCTION OF
THE SANTA BARBARA PRESIDIO


The original presidio was a temporary palisade structure composed of saplings and mud. Beginning in 1784, it was gradually replaced by an adobe fortress, constructed by presidial soldiers and paid Indian labor under the direction of the second comandante, Felipe de Goicoechea.

The presidio formed a quadrangle, approximately four hundred by five hundred feet, with the corners oriented towards the four cardinal points of the compass. According to the first known plan for construction of the Santa Barbara Presidio, dated 1788, the warehouses, barracks for unmarried soldiers, a guard house, and corrals were adjacent to the main gate. Small, one-room dwellings for married soldiers and their families lined the southwest and northeast sides. The chapel, flanked by the visiting padre's quarters and officer's quarters, stood directly opposite the main gate.

The Santa Barbara Presidio's simple architecture, whitewashed adobe walls, and red tile roofs were characteristic of Spanish colonial architecture in California.
 



Model of the Presidio Model of the Presidio The Santa Barbara Presidio by Russell A. Ruiz