Theodore Roosevelt's Visit To Santa Barbara

THEODORE ROOSEVELT’S VISIT TO SANTA BARBARA 1

THE “KING AND QUEEN” MARKER

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BEARS

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VOL iV

NO. 1,

NO. 2

AUGUST,

1958

SANTA BARBARA HISTORICAL SOCIETY OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS 19 5 8

OFFICERS President

Thomas J. McDermott

First Vice President

Hugh J. Weldon

Second Vice President

. . Elmer H. Whittaker

Secretary

. ...Paul G. Sweetser

Treasurer

... Mrs. Henry Griffiths

Past President

Elbert S. Conner

DIRECTORS Mrs. Natalie C. Bigelow Elbert S. Conner Mrs. Wilson Forbes

Dr. Hilmar 0. Koefod Mrs. E. F. Menzies William S. Porter

John Galvin W. Edwin Gledhill

Miss Edna Sharpe Mrs. Van Rensselaer Wilbur Don W. Woods

Mrs. Robert Ingle Hoyt Rev. Basil Kelly, O.F.M.

W. Edwin Gledliill

Museum Director

Mrs. W. Edwin Gledhill. .

Curator

Edward Selden Spaulding

.. .Edilor-in-Chief

NOTICIA5 QUARTERLY BULLETIN OF THE SANTA BARBARA HISTORICAL SOCIETY MAILING ADDRESS: OLD MISSION, SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA

Theodore Roosevelt's Visit to Santa Barbara . . . a Personal Recollection

By Henry Van Winkle (Former Forest Ranger)

Quoting from the United States Forest Service Booklet on our Los Padres National Forest, printed in 1939: “The original forest was com posed of several isolated areas—Pine Mountain, Zaca Lake, and Santa Ynez, reserved in 1898-99 by President William McKinley. At that time, it was called the ‘East and West Halves of Pine Mountain and Zaca Lake Reserve’.

“Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo were reserved by President Theo dore Roosevelt in 1903 and 1906, respectively. These reserves were com bined and named ‘Santa Barbara National Forest’ on June 26th, 1908. (A small bronze plate to mark a southern corner of this Forest was placed in the cement sidewalk at the corner of Mission and Garden Streets, Editor’s note.) On December 3rd, 1936, the name of the reserve was changed to ‘Los Padres National Forest.’

“The original purpose for which these reserves were created, namely, watershed protection, is still their primary function; and, with the growth of population and agricultural development, the foresight of these men who created this protective forest is increasingly apparent.”

As President Theodore Roosevelt was such an earnest conservationist, it seemed only fitting that the Rangers of the East Half of the original Re serve, under their Supervisor, Col. Willis M. Slosson, and those of the West Half, under their Supervisor, Col. B. F. Cramshaw, should be called on to act as a body of horsemen to ride escort to the President on his visit to Santa Barbara as a part of his trip through the Western States in 1903. It was on this trip, by the way, that Roosevelt had his first sight of the Pacific Ocean.

Roosevelt’s special train stopped at the intersection of Depot Road and the Southern Pacific Line in Montecito at eleven o’clock in the morning of May 9th, 1903. The train was exactly on schedule. Awaiting the President’s arrival was Col. Bigelow and a committee of citizens. Carriages were as signed by Colonel Bigelow, who also gave directions as to the route to be followed and instructions to the deputy sheriffs and the Ranger escort.

The route as laid out by Colonel Bigelow led into Montecito by Olive Mill Road, through or past many estates, and entered the City via the Eu1

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President Roosevelt speaks at Playa del Mar—May 9, 1903.

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Santa Barbarans gather to view the presidential parade.

calyptus Hill Road, where all had a fine view of the City. Unfortunately, the day was hazy and so the usual, glorious view of the Channel and the Islands was missing.

The Sycamore Canyon bridge was generously decorated with flowers and groups of citizens cheered the party at various points along the way.

The Presidential Party crossed the City to the Plaza del Mar, where the G. A. R. had assembled a large representation of their chapter, and where a battalion of sailors from the U.S. Training Ship “Alert” were standing at attention. A formal welcoming address was made by Mayor George Edwards and, just as the President was ready to respond, the Alert fired a full salute from the harbor.

The President, after paying tribute to the men who had fought and died to establish and maintain the unity of this Nation, spoke of the prob lems to be solved in the present and future; and he urged every citizen to work for the good of all—a plea for team-work throughout the Nation.

Judge Taggart also made some very fitting remarks.

When back in line, the carriages took their way to the Old Mission through the business section of the City. State Street was closed to traffic during the parade, but there were those who wished a closer look at their President than this regulation allowed, and these had to be restrained by the men of the escort. (The local paper, commenting on this phase of the procession the next day, stated that the Rangers in the group under Col. Slosson did an excellent piece of work in policing these interlopers, or words to that effect.) The writer, going into more detail than did the newspaper in this matter, remembers seeing a man in a buggy crowd his horse through the guard at the intersection of Sola and State Street and try to drive close to the presidential carriage. “Bob” Clarke, from Ventura, spurred after this man, caught his left rein about three feet back from the bridle, and at tempted to control the horse. One excited Californian cried out loudly: “De laVuelta! De la Vuelta!” Bob was ahead of this man, however. He quickly had taken a turn of the rein around his saddle horn and quickly turned the buggy away from the course of the parade and toward the curb of the street.

The incensed driver of the buggy whipped Bob’s horse across the rump with the result that the speed of aU was about doubled. Bob turned west into Micheltorena Street. The buggy made the turn on two wheels in a great cloud of dust. At this point. Bob released the rein he was holding, set up his horse (which reared, swinging on its hind legs), and was headed back for his proper place in the parade all in one action. (Men rode well in those days! Editor’s note.)

Incidentally, Bob Clark, after some years of Ranger service, was made a United States Marshal.

Arriving at the Old Mission, the President was taken on a tour of the establishment by the Padres and then, at its conclusion, from the Mission steps, made a short and vigorous speech, largely on the need for conserva tion of our public resources for the good of the entire nation. After this, speaking directly to the Ranger escort, he raised their morale considerably by impressing upon them the fact that their best efforts were required in that line. As loyal citizens, it was a labor well worth their while, he declared.

He ended by complimenting them on the way they already had accepted their duties and had carried out their orders.

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Saying “adios” to the Fathers, the route of the cavalcade next led to the corner of Pedregosa and Laguna Streets, where a brief stop was made at the President’s request. Col. Roosevelt wished an opportxmity to talk briefly with Mrs. Hollister, the mother of Stanley Hollister, who, as one of the Rough Riders, had given his life in the Battle of San Juan Hill, Cuba, during the War with Spain, in 1898.

The President’s train was waiting for him at the Victoria Street Sta tion, and the time was getting short. Crossing Garden Street on Pedregosa, the President evidently told his driver to “get going”, for his carriage, which of course was in the lead, rapidly began to draw away from the car riage carrying the secret service men. As escort, we had been told to stay with our undivided carriages, so we stuck by the secret service carriage until one of these men, frantic at being unable to get their driver to speed up, yelled to us and to those behind us to “get out of here and stay with the President!”

From then on, all the way to the Victoria Street Depot, it was a lively ride for the escort. Running down the sides of the streets, or on the side walks when necessary, we raced for it. Some of us would get to an inter section ahead of the presidential carriage and hold the crossing until the President passed, and then we would race for another intersection. All the way, it was a wild, cowboy sort or parade. (The next day, the newspaper reported the drive from Pedregosa Street to the Depot as “being probably the fastest ever made by carriages.”)

After boarding the train at the Depot, the President reappeared on the rear platform of his car, gave a Rough Rider wave of his arm, and said: Thank you, boys. I like the way you ride!” Then the train started down the track. It got away at 2 P.M., right on schedule.

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Ruth Wood Neilson’s recollections of this episode closely parallel the Van Winkle account. As Mrs. Neilson is the daughter of the former Thomas D. Wood, who, at the time of the Roosevelt visit to Santa Barbara, was president of the local Chamber of Commerce and, as such, rode in the car riage with the President and Mayor Edwards, her information was derived directly from conversations with her father. Mr. Wood, on returning to his home that evening, told his daughter that, as the presidential carriage approached the Hale residence, he said: “Mr. President, you may be interested to know that, in that house, lives the mother of Stanley Hollister, a boy of your regiment, who was killed in Cuba.”

“Stop the carriage!” cried the President, on hearing this. “I remember Stanley Hollister. He was a gallant soldier. I wish to pay my res|>ects to his mother.”

The entire cavalcade was halted. Mr. Roosevelt met Mrs. Hollister in the garden of the residence and conversed with her briefly. Then he re turned to his carriage and the race to the train began.

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KING AND QUEEN Uhlan 1^8

Lou Dillon 1.58^ 1898-1921

1904-1934

World’s Champion Trotters 1903

1921

The "King and Queen" Marker

By John A. Parma A rugged sandstone boulder marked with an old copper plate stands near the corner of Eucalyptus Hill Road and South Salmas Street, in Santa Barbara. It is a memorial to a King and Queen. Originally, the boulder designated the spot where the King and Queen were buried, under the wind swept Eucalyptus trees half way between Lou Dillon Lane and Eucalyptus Hill Road. Two years ago, it was moved to its present temporary location to make way for a subdivision.

The Queen, Lou Dillon, 1.58^, was foaled in Santa Rosa, California, and was the world’s first two (2) minute trotter. Sired by Sidney Dillon 23157, dam Lou Milton, by Milton Medium, Lou Dillon was World Cham pion Trotter from 1903 to 1912 and also held the title of World Champion Trotting Mare for 19 years. Among the enviable world records she held were 1.58^ to a sulky; 2.00 to a wagon; 2.05 to high wheels. In Moscow, she trotted to a half-mile in 59% seconds. Exhibited by her owner, Mr. C. K. G. Billings, in Germany, Austria and Russia, she was the darling of Royalty. These races were for ribbons and not for money prizes.

The King, Uhlan, 1.58, was the World Champion Trotter from 1912 to 1921. Foaled in 1904, sired by Bingen; dam, Blondella, by Sir Walter, Jr. In company with a running mate in Moscow, Russia, he made the sensational time of 1.54%—a feat never duplicated to this day. Again, during an ex hibition in Moscow, against the famous gray “Orloffs,” he trotted a mile in 2.04, a record in Europe up to that time. At Saratoga, New York, August 13, 1914, under saddle on a grass course, he covered % mile in 13 seconds carrying Mr. Billings who weighed 192 lbs.

These are only a few of the splendid records made by the King and Queen who were, at long last, withdrawn from racing and exhibitions and retired by Mr. Billings to his Montecito estate. It was a common sight to see these two beautiful horses being ridden along the beach.

It would be a significant gesture to the memory of famed King and Queen if our City Park Department would move this interesting marker to a permanent home in one of our well-kept parks. Thus could be perpetuated the memory of Royalty “who reigned over a sport, not so-called of kings, but of sportsmen,” in whose memories and hearts they remain.

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Bears As has happened in many other parts of the United States, most place names of early origin in and about Santa Barbara have sprung from events and animals rather than from people. Carpinteria, for example, is so named because one of the early Spanish exploring expeditions, when it passed through this area, found the Indians there engaged in building one of the canoes that justly have made the Canalinos famous. The beautiful pass through the Santa Ynez Mountains, some thirty miles west of the City, is named “Gaviota” because a Spanish explorer killed a seagull on the beach near the mouth of the creek that runs down this canyon. Toro Canyon, had it been located near Chesapeake Bay, probably would have been called “Bull Run ; and Tecolote Canyon was so named by some early vaquero or paisano who noticed that there were a large number of great horned owls in the oaks and sycamores there. “Dos Pueblos”, as everyone knows, merely indi cates the place where, when the Spaniards first came to this littoral, there were two Indian villages, or rancherias. Milpas Street, in its beginnings, was the path that led to the corn fields. And so on almost ad infinitum.

Perhaps the name most often encountered hereabouts IS i “Oso”. When campers and hunters go on horseback from the Santa Ynez River to the top of Little Pine Mountain, in the San Rafaels, their trail takes them up the long and open Oso Canyon. When duck hunters at the extreme western end of Santa Barbara County follow their favorite avocation, they, as often as not, build their blinds on Oso Flaco, the slough or lake or depression, call it what you will, where Portola, when he passed this way, in 1770, was aston ished by the number of bears that he saw there.

“Oso”, of course, means “bear”, the smallish grizzly bear of this region and not the black bear commonly met with in many of our national parks.

The black bear, “ursus americanus”, is a relatively gentle, harmless creature. He is of large size and very strong, but he is omnivorous, or largely so,^ in his diet, and his temper, when compared with that of his cousin’s, is quiet and fairly peaceful. The grizzly, on the other hand, is a strong mam is mal with noticeably large claws and a surly, combative disposition. He i; largely carnivorous. Colton, describing one that he saw emerging from a thicket as he rode out of Monterey, remarked that the brute had a storm of darkness on his face.”

The grizzly bear as a species was encountered and described first by Americans when Lewis and Clark lead their party of explorers up the Mis souri River and into the heart of the Rocky Mountain Country. At the first meetings, these hardy men took the grizzly to be merely a new species of American bear, one very much like the black bear in disposition. They soon were disabused of this error. After several of the party had escaped from encounters with the brute only by the most strenuous efforts and by the narrowest of margins, (one man actually floundered into the water of the river and stayed there for several hours while the grizzly he had so woefully underestimated patrolled the bank of the stream in furious temper) Cap tain Lewis issued the order that, while the party was in grizzly bear coun try, men should leave camp only in parties of two or three or four.

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The California Grizzly was a little smaller in size than his eastern connterpart, but his temper was no less pugnacious and he was equally tenacious of life. His scientific name, ‘ ursus horribilis”, is very descriptive of hirnThe Spaniards, whose chief weapon was the riata, or lasso, do not seem to have feared him overly much, however. Mounted, as they always were, on fast, nimble-footed horses, they were able easily to elude his charge; for the bear, while strong and tough in muscle and surly in temper, was rather slow afoot. More than this, unless cornered or unduly provoked, he was not likely to do more than to gaze with unconcerned interest at the horseman who passed him at not too close range.

On occasion, the vaqueros enjoyed the rough sport of roping the grizzly.

Their wild cattle in the chaparral Aey considered to be equally dangerous, perhaps even more dangerous, than the bear because the cattle were faster on their feet and because they possessed long and sharp pointed horns that were ideally adapted for goring.

Bull and bear fights were a common form of public entertainment in the Spanish and Mexican days. On the open, rolling hiUs, the bear was more than a match for the bull; usually this was true, also, in the enclosure, or arena, that was built for the contest between the two animals; but it was not always so. Alfred Robinson describes in close detail a buU and bear bait that took place at the Mission while he was a resident in Santa Bar bara. In this fight, the two creatures were tied together by a twenty foot rope that extended from the foot of one to the foot of the other. This rope allowed to each combatant a certain freedom of action while it held each in close proximity to the other. In this instance, the bear was killed rather quickly and easily by the bull. Robinson is quick to credit this swift victory to the fact that the bear had been closely bound for many hours before the fight began and so was all but exhausted before he was called upon to defend himself. Robinson adds that it was usual for a bear to defeat and kill at least one bull in a fight of this kind before he himself was defeated and

killed.

How large was the bear population in Southern California when the first white men came here it is not possible to say accurately. Judging by the records of Portola and other explorers and leaders, it was very large.

After the introduction of cattle and horses and sheep, this large bear popula tion must have increased very fast because the vast herds of these animals that soon lived in a half wild state furnished an inexhaustible supply of food for the carnivors of the region. This was the more true because the Spanish ranchers raised the cattle for their hides and tallow and not for the meat they produced. After a matanza, when the cattle were slaughtered by the thousands and the hides and tallow taken, the carcasses, for the most part, were left to rot where the animals had fallen. This practise was almost identical with that followed by the buffalo hunters on the Great Plains a half century later. In those days, a huge grizzly population was essential to the health of the region.

The grizzly was a creature of the rolling hills and level canyon floorsSo long as he was faced only by the Spanish and Mexican vaquero armed with the riata, he easily held his own. When the Americans, armed as they were with musket, powder, and ball, appeared on the scene, his doom was sealed. The last grizzly to be killed in Southern California met his death 7

in Tajunga Canyon on October 28th, 1916, because of bullets fired from a Winchester repeating rifle.

Even though worsted and finally exterminated in this unequal struggle with the Americans, the grizzly so impressed himself upon his foes that it was his image that they placed upon their flag when they went to battle in 1846; and, since those eventful days, California has been proud to be known as the “Bear State.” In 1917, after the United States had entered the First Phase of the World War as a combatant, when a regiment of volun teer artillerymen was raised in the State for service in France, the men marched under the bear ornamented flag of the State and were known popu larly as “The Grizzlies”. (A company of this regiment, under the captaincy of Stewart Edward White, was recruited in and about Santa Barbara County.)

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Because there once were so very many grizzlies in the State, it is rea sonable to suppose that their pelts and skeletons now would be found in every museum; but the opposite is the case. Properly authenticated skulls of our bear are very difficult to come by these days. The specimen that now graces a case in the mammal wing of the local Museum of Natural History was secured after a long and difficult search, in British Columbia in 1934.

There are bears now in our back country. Occasionally, the report of one seen in the San Rafael Moimtains or on the upper Santa Ynez River appears in the local newspaper. In the winter of 1957-8, one was reported to have been killed by a passing automobile on the highway at the under pass in Carpinteria. These bears are not grizzlies. They are black bears.

When the grizzly was here in numbers, he would not tolerate the black bear; and so there were none in our mountains. It was only after the grizzly was exterminated that the black bear was able to establish and to maintain himself here.

72 GRAND PARLOR OF THE NATIVE DAUGHTERS OF THE GOLDEN WEST On June 15, 1958, the Native Daughters of the Golden West opened their week’s program for the 72 Grand Parlor in Santa Barbara with State President Mrs. Irma Caton, of Oakland, presiding. Installed at this con clave, as incoming grand president, was Mrs. Ben C. Dismuke, who has been credited with the organization of three Parlors in this area, the Tierra de Oro, No. 304 Santa Barbara in 1952, the Poinsettia Parlor, No. 318 in Ventura, and Los Tres Parlor No. 302 in Oxnard. Mrs. Dismuke was bom and educated in Santa Barbara. She is interested in completing the restora tion of Mission Nuestra Sonora de la Soledad, the last of the 21 Missions to be restored, and the restoration of the Royal Spanish Presidio of Santa Bar bara, established here April 21, 1782. It was largely through her efforts that the State Division of Beaches and Parks presented a bronze plaque marking the site of the Presidio on the last remaining building “El Cuartel”, on June 8, 1958.

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Director's Report The present Spanish Colonial exhibit was opened, with a tea for mem bers, on June 23, and is noteworthy for the loans from several important collections. Among them are the manuscripts from the collection of the Galvin family, of Rancho San Fernando Rey, which includes documents signed by many of the Spanish monarchs, dating as far back as King John II in 1305 A.D. and of early Jesuit explorers and founders of the lower California Missions. An Aztec codex, circa 1531, is of special interest. There are drawings, made in 1805, by the artist-explorer Chloris, of the Indians he saw here and important papers of Governor Sola, the last Spanish and first Mexican governor in Alta California. Also one of the four original sets of signatures of the members of the 1849 Constitutional Convention at Monterey.

Another of the important loans was from Mr. Carl S. Dentzel, Director of the Southwest Museum in Los Angeles, which includes geodetic maps of the Santa Barbara and Point Concepcion coasts, drawn by Juan Pantoja, who came as the Spanish King’s official pilot with the Father Junipero Serra expedition; architectural drawings by Miguel Constanso, engineer who ac companied Father Serra on the 1769 overland expedition to Monterey; and also drawings by Manuel Tolsa, distinguished Spanish-Mexican architect and sculptor, who gave Father Serra advice on the building of the MissionsLoaned by Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Bagdon is a Mexican painting of great interest, entitled “Nuestra Senora del Refugio”. Mr. Bagden is a descendant of the Raphael Castro family. Mrs. Hope Tryce’s loan of a fragment of a portrait of Ramona Lorenzana by Leonardo Barbieri. This brings to three the portraits now on exhibition by this fine artist, who painted in Santa Barbara and Monterey in the 1850’s.

We are indebted to Mr. William S. Porter, Mr. Elmer Whittaker, Mrs. Wilson Forbes and her father, Mr- Thomas H. Lynch, and to Miss Edna Sharpe and others for their assistance in the restoration of the TrussellWinchester adobe and its contents following a regretable accident to its interior this Spring. This work will be completed shortly and the land mark perhaps will be in better condition than before.

On the coming change in editorship of Noticias I wish to express my own personal appreciation for the fine and inspired work of Mrs. Wilberta Finley as editor. From its beginning, singlehanded, she worked out its problems with her husband George Finley and in those Noticias she captured the feeling and spirit of the then new-born Historical Society. This job has grown to more than one person can manage and Mrs. Finley realized that a larger editorial staff was needed. I am delighted that she will continue on as a member of the Noticias committee and that Edward Selden Spaulding, a long time friend of the Society, will be the new Editor, and we offer our co-operation in every way possible.

We wish to extend our thanks to Mrs. Elmer Whittaker as chairman and to her able committee for their participation in a successful membership tea. Those who assisted Mrs. Whittaker were, in the decorations, Miss 9

Katherine Burke, Mrs. Wilson Forbes and Mrs. Henry Griffiths; and presiding at the tea table were Mrs. Thomas McDermott, Mrs. James Forsyth and Miss Katherine Burke.

On June 26-27-28, your Director and Mrs. Gledhill attended the Con ference of California Historical Societies at Hoberg’s in Lake County and, as always at these meetings, found the exchange of ideas stimulating. One of the actions at this meeting was the resolution passed to seek legislation re quiring the teaching of California history in the High Schools.

Again in 1958, we have been able to keep the exhibition rooms open to the public on Sundays from 2 to 5 P.M. through the generous co-operation of the following groups, whose members act as volunteer hostesses: Soroptimist International, Santa Barbara Chapter.

Reina del Mar, Parlor No. 126, Native Daughters of the Golden West.

City Club.

Woman’s Relief Corp.

Zonta Club.

We wish to express our appreciation to the Santa Barbara News-Press, Mr. Charles Storke, co-editor, Mrs. Jean Storke Menzies, Miss Verne Linderman, Miss Litti Paulding, Miss Jean Fay and to photographers Ray Borges and Eldon Tasch for the excellent news coverage of the Museum’s activities throughout the year.

To Mr. and Mrs. James A. Forsyth, editors and publishers, our sincere thanks for their news coverage and gift of their publication “This Week in Santa Barbara”. And last but not least to Mr. William S. Porter for his gift of S500 toward the r^toration of the Trussell-Winchester adobe and for two much needed steel filing cases, and to Mrs. Lawrence More and Mr. Hugh Weldon for their generous contributions toward the above restoration.

W. Edwin Gledill

DR. ELLISON RESEARCH LECTURER In the April-December 1957 issue of Noticias appeared an account of a meeting held on March 25 by the Research Lecture Committee on the campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara College. Dr. William Henry Ellison, Professor of History, Emeritus, was the elected speaker for the event.

A recognized authority as an historian, editor, and scholarly writer in the field of California history and the Indians of the Southwest, he presented an interesting account of the turbulent years which preceded the admittance of California as the thirty-first state into the Union, in 1850.

Dr. Ellison, a member and former president of the Santa Barbara Historical Society, has very generously given Noticias permission to publish hiS distinguished paper, “Background of a Star.” Lack of space m^es it necessary for the editors to pospone for the moment the publication of this material.

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NOTES THE LOUISE PARROT PECK MEMORIAL COLLECTION With the death of Mrs. Louise Parrott Peck on March 9th, 1958, in Santa Barbara, our Society and our Community has lost an able historian who specialized in Spanish-California genealogy. Born August 18, 1887 in Indianola, Iowa, Mrs. Peck was the daughter of Walter and Emma Sarah Peck and a Graduate of Iowa State College with a degree of Bachelor of Science and a B.A. from Simpson College, Iowa. She lectured for Presi dent Hoover’s Food Administration program and came to Santa Barbara in 1919 from San Francisco. She was then employed by the Morning Press and later, the Daily News (now the Santa Barbara News-Press)^ as proof reader. Her interest in the descendants of early Spanish-California families led her into historical research and genealogy.

Her latest work, extending over a period of 10 months, was the tranoriginal three books at the Mission Santa Ines, of ^e entries of baptisms, marriages and burials of all Gente de Razon which was completed for Fr. Timothy O’Sullivan 0. F. M. Cap., pastor of the famous Old Mission at Solvang.

Protection of the priceless, old record books in the custody of Mission Santa Ines was the 1957 historical project of Fr. Timothy. To obviate fu ture handling of the frail vellum tomes, with their faded Spanish entries of baptisms, marriages, and burials at the Mission, the three original books set up on Sept. 17, 1804, by Fr. Estevan Tapis O.F.M., founder, were first transcribed in numerical order.

Eliminating Indian neophyte entries, for which there are few requests in a these days, the records were translated from the Spanish and typed 3-section numerically keyed note book for the use of the resident priest.

From this English version of the old records a modern cross-file index was compiled, making possible quick reference to any name in either the trans lation or the original volumes.

Since all records of the Old Mission La Concepcion Purisima, originally at Lompoc, have also been in the archives of the Santa Ines Mission for more than a century, Fr. Timothy continued his 1957 historical work by having set up a similar translation and index for Mission Purisima, founded in 1787 by Fr. Fermin de Lasuen O.F.M., but active only until 1840. While Purisima Mission’s records are primarily of its large Indian neophyte popu lation, a few most interesting records were uncovered of early day Spanish residents. These contrast sharply with the thousands of entries at Mission Santa Ines. Combined, these present a comprehensive record of the early day life in northern Santa Barbara County, for the two Missions’ jurisdiction extended from the Ortega lands of Goleta Valley, over the mountains and through the vast ranch lands as far north as the Santa Maria River.

Mrs. Peck, known affectionately locally as “Your Luisa”, from her writings in the Santa Barbara News-Press for the Santa Barbara Fiesta, was a valued member of this Society for many years. Her last contribution to 11

Noticias” was a biographical sketch of Judge Joaquin Carrillo, published in the April-Deceraber, 1957 issue.

The collection of her personal papers and genealogical records has been a gift to this Society from her sister, Mrs. Grace Peck Young, and work has been begun on getting it ready for use by our members.

ROYAL PRESIDIO — STATE LANDMARK NO. 636 On Wednesday, June 18, 1958, an impressive ceremony was held in a roped off area in the 200 block on East Canon Perdido Street immediately in front of the last remaining building, “El Cuartel”, of the Royal Presidio of Santa Barbara. The Chairman of the State Park Commission, Hon. Jo seph R. Knowland, gave the address at the unveiling of a handsome bronze plaque. On the plaque one reads: SITE OF THE ROYAL SPANISH PRESIDIO OF SANTA BARBARA. THIS PRE SIDIO WAS ESTABLISHED UNDER ORDERS OF KING CARLOS III, APRIL 19-21, 1782, BY GOVERNOR FELIPE de NEVE, PADRE JUNIPERO SERRA AND LIEU TENANT JOSE FRANCISCO ORTEGA, TO PROVIDE THE BENEFITS OF GOVERN MENT FOR THE INHABITANTS OF THE SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL REGION OF CAUFORNIA. CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL LANDMARK NO. 636 PLAQUE PLACED BY THE CALIFORNIA STATE PARK COMMISSION IN CO-OPERATION WITH THE CITY OF SANTA BARBARA, THE GRAND PARLORS OF THE NATIVE DAUGHTERS AND NATIVE SONS OF THE GOLDEN WEST, THE SANTA BARBARA HISTORICAL SO CIETY, AND THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA, JUNE 18, 1958.

Other speakers on the program included Francis Price, past president of the Santa Barbara Historical Society, who spoke on “King Carlos III” and the Rev. Maynard Geiger, O.F.M., historian of the Santa Barbara Mis sion who spoke on “The Head and Heart of the Presidio.

Mrs. Ben C. Dismuke, later installed as Grand President of the Native Daughters of the Golden West, introduced George Castagnola as Master of Ceremonies, who in turn introduced his Honor, Mayor Floyd Bohnett. Mayor Bohnett extended greetings on behalf of the City of Santa Barbara and intro duced Dr. V. Aubrey Neasham, historian of the Division of Beaches and

Parks.

Among other participants on the program were William N. Hollister, chairman of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, Thomas M. McDermott, president of the Santa Barbara Historical Society, John Adams, president of the Mission Council, Boy Scouts of America, Mrs. Irma Caton, outgoing Grand President of the Native Daughters of the Golden West, and Miss Pearl Chase, who spoke briefly of the hope that “El Cuartel” could be bought by a non-profit organization so that it could be preserved indefinitely.

Miss Gloria de Bernardi, president of the Reina del Mar Parlor, No. 126, and Mrs. Barbara Upton, president of the Tierra de Oro Parlor, No. 304, Native Daughters of the Golden West, presented the American and California Bear Flags to the Boy Scouts headquarters.

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‘NOTICIAS” IN NEW DRESS The Publication Committee of the Santa Barbara Historical Society announces that, after considerable thought and discussion and with the ap proval of the Board of Directors, a new policy will be followed for Noticias, the Society’s bulletin. The format will be 6 x 9 and it will be published this year in three issues, each one of about 20 pages. Next year, it will appear quarterly.

Noticias made its first appearance as a Quarterly in April, 1955 during the presidency of Mr. Francis Price and continued through two terms of Mr. Elbert Connor’s presidency. Its object was to bring current news of the organization and to gather and to disseminate articles of historic interest to the members. In the beginning, Noticias was a four-page issue. With the January-March quarterly it had expanded to eight pages. We are finding we have so much valuable material that the work has grown beyond the power of one person to handle. Therefore, a committee has been formed with Mr. Edward S. Spaulding selected as editor. Mr. Spaulding is well known for his publications of books on birds and his latest book “Adobe Days Along the Channel”, which appeared in October, 1957. His family came to Santa Barbara before the turn of the century. His years as Head master of Laguna Blanca School, in Hope Ranch, has given him managerial ability that assures Noticias of capable direction, while his personal experi ence and memorie of his life here as a boy endow him with a rich store house on which to draw.

Mr. Spaulding has already asked a number of Santa Barbara residents to write of local historical events and their memories of old Santa Barbara.

The new committee consists of: Edward Selden Spaulding, Editor Elbert S. Conner Mr. and Mrs. George Finley Mr. and Mrs. W. Edwin Gledhill Mrs. Ernest Menzies It is to be hoped that this change will meet with the approval of the members of this Society and that they, without personal requests from the editors, will feel free to contribute in writing any records and memories of California history for the Society’s files.

OUR NEW PRESIDENT Mr. Thomas J. McDermott, president of the Santa Barbara Historical Society for 1958, will need no introduction to our members who reside in Santa Barbara and vicinity, but we offer a brief sketch for those readers to whom his name is not so familiar.

A native of Santa Barbara, Thomas McDermott first saw the light of day at the family home on the corner of Bath and Canon Perdido Streets.

He was one of three children born to Charles and Nora McDermott of Illinois, who, in 1906, established McDermott’s Undertaking Company at 13

the corner of State and Haley streets, where they continued in business until their deaths in 1921.

Tom and his brother and sister, were taken to Ventura to live with Mr. and Mrs. Reardon, their mother’s sister, and her husband, who were also morticians. Here they grew to maturity. In 1935, Tom attended a mortuary school in San Francisco, and, following his training, he and his sister on October 7, 1937, opened McDermott’s Colonial Mortuary on upper State Street. Their brother, Maurice, joined them for a time, and togedier they carried on a tradition begun thirty-one years earlier by their parents.

Mr. McDermott has been an active member in the civic life of our community. He has served on our City Council, and has been on the Board of Directors of the Old Spanish Days Fiesta Committee for a number of years. He has chairmaned the annual Parade, “El Desfile de Historico,” El Mercado and La Fiesta Bowl Pageants committees, and is still a valued member of the latter, important group. In 1954 he was honored by being chosen as El Presidente of the Old Spanish Days Fiesta, and he and his lovely wife were gracious hosts at the celebrations held during those festivities.

Thomas McDermott is a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West, Santa Barbara Parlor No. 116. He became a Past President of this organization in 1943, the same year he married Miss Louise Jackson, a talented musician, and a native of Colorado. In 1946, he was elected to the state office of Grand Trustee of NSGW. He is the father of two children, a son, Charles Michael, and a daughter, Kathleen Louise.

Mr. McDermott is deeply interested in the history of his birth-town, and in the preservation of those things which will help it retain the “flavor” of the old days and the appealing charm which draws visitors and new resi dents to our area. Because of this, we feel assured that under his direction, our Society will show a healthy growth and experience a very successful year.

SOCIETY OPPOSES ISLANDS’ NAME CHANGE At their monthly meeting held July 17 in the library room of the Santa Barbara Historical Society headquarters in the Old Mission, the officers and directors of the Society’s board passed a resolution opposing the change of name of the Santa Barbara Channel Islands to Cabrillo Islands. Included was a proposal that the Santa Barbara Channel Islands be made a matter of official record. Comprising this group are: San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Anacapa, Santa Barbara, and San Nicolas.

DIRECTOR GLEDHILL HONORED Noticias is pleased to announce the election of Director W. Edwin Gledhill to the office of Vice-President of the California Historical Societies for the Tri-County area (Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo counties), at the conference held June 26-27-28 at Hoberg’s, in Lake County.

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Gifts The Santa Barbara Historical Society announce with pleasure gifts made to the Society by the following persons: Mrs. Edward Borein

Mrs. Lawrence More Mrs. Harold Mercer

Mrs. Wadsworth Baylor Mrs. Henrieta von Blon Miss Katherine Burke Mrs. Ida N. Burford Mrs. Sonia Carrillo Sandstrom Mrs. Mona Carrillo Chase Elias J. Cota Mrs. Wilson Dibblee

Mrs. Marie Northrop Mrs. John B. Oliver Mrs. William L. Otte Opti-Mrs. Club of Santa Barbara Miss Ynes Orena Miss Marie Antonia Orena Mrs. Russell Perkins Mrs. Charles Perkins Miss Doris Palmar

Mrs. Martin Elmberg Robert Easton Dr. Joel Ferree

Mrs. Ray Paulson Mrs. Louise Parrott Peck

Mrs. George H. Finley Mr. and Mrs. James Forsyth Robert Gross

Reina del Mar Parlor, No. 126 N.D.G.W. Mrs. Paul Soberanes

Clifton Smith

Mrs. Anton Hegemann James J. Hollister Harold C. Holmes

Mrs. Georgians Lacy Spalding Mrs. Hope Tryce Reginald Vaughn Samuel Vaughn Mrs. Joseph Wheelwright Dr. Irving Wills Mrs. V. H. Wilson

J. W. Hughs A. Bertram Harmer Junior League of Santa Barbara Dr. Hilmar Koefod Mrs. Justin K. Kendrick Roger Leverson David Myrick

Mrs. Grace Peck Young

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NEW

MEMBERS

The following have become members of the Society since the first of January, 1958. We extend a warm welcome to them.

ACTIVE Mr. and Mrs. Wallace W. Arendt Miss Jean Abel Mr. and Mrs. William J. Barnhill Mrs. Frieda H. Boeckman Mrs. Cornelia Booth Mr. Andrew Burnett Mrs. Lawrence Cobb Mr. and Mrs. James N. Dazey Mrs. Briscoe Hindman Mr. D. W. Hutchinson Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. McDermott Miss Katherine C. McNabb

Mr. Charles Outland Mr. and Mrs. August Platz Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Riess Miss Maude Taggert Mrs. Hope Tryce Mrs. Huyler While SUSTAINING Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Bagdons Mrs. Wallace C. Coburn Mrs. John Delos Elliott Mrs. Alfreda Victor Orena Miss Ynez Elena Orena Mrs. A. L. Murphy Vhay Mr. and Mrs. C. L. Vivian

Mre. Harriet Minot Mrs. Annabel MacLeod Moss Lt. Cdr. and Mrs. A. J. Nall

PATRON Mrs. Van Rensselaer Wilbur

Mrs. Louis Newberry

IN

MEMORIAM

It is with deep regret that Noticias announces the loss by death of these valued members during the early months of 1958. Their friendship to the Society and their support of our program and activities will be keenly missed.

We wish to extend our sympathies to their families at this time.

Mrs. Richard T. Ambrose, Sr. Mrs. Rosamond Pierce Barry Mrs. Frances E. Bishop Mr. John Delos Elliott Miss G. Louise HuU Dr. William W. Huse

Mrs. Arthur E. Hutchinson Miss Louise Parrott Peck Mrs. James B. Rickard Mr. Alfred W. Robertson Mrs. Edward Tallant

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