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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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