Santa Barbara and Montecito, past and present . PART I. Expedition of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo—Cus-toms and Religion of the Santa Barbara In-dians—Second Expedition under GeneralSebastien Vizcaino—Saint Barbara—Foun-dation of Presidio by Padre Junipero Serra—Establishment of Santa Barbara Missionby Padre Fermin F. de Lasuen. OMANCE should be accreditedwith inspiring the charmingname given to California. Inthe year 1510, a novel was pub-lished in Seville, Spain, inwhich California was givenas the name of a mythical islerich in minerals and preciousstones, and said to be inhabitedby a tribe of Am
Santa Barbara and Montecito, past and present . PART I. Expedition of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo—Cus-toms and Religion of the Santa Barbara In-dians—Second Expedition under GeneralSebastien Vizcaino—Saint Barbara—Foun-dation of Presidio by Padre Junipero Serra—Establishment of Santa Barbara Missionby Padre Fermin F. de Lasuen. OMANCE should be accreditedwith inspiring the charmingname given to California. Inthe year 1510, a novel was pub-lished in Seville, Spain, inwhich California was givenas the name of a mythical islerich in minerals and preciousstones, and said to be inhabitedby a tribe of Amazons. Thisbook, entitled Las Sergas deEsplandian (The Exploits ofEsplandian) was written byGarcia Ordonez de Montalvoas a sequel to the famous novel Amadas de Gaula by Lobe-ira, which he had translated. The two works were printed in the same volume, and evidently were widely read in Spain. That their contents were familiar to the early explorers of America. SANTA BARBARA is proved by the fact that Bernal Diaz, compan-ion of Cortez and recorder of the conquest ofMexico, often mentions the Amadas to whichthe story of Esplandian was attached. Thepassage containing the famous name is as fol-lows :— Be it known unto you that at the right handof the Indies there w^as an island formed of thelargest rocks known and called California, verynear to the terrestial Paradise. This islandv/as inhabited by robust dark women of greatstrength and great warm hearts, who lived al-most as Amazons, and no man lived among weapons and the trappings of the wildbeasts which they rode after taming them wereentirely of gold, and no other metal existed onthe island. The people lived in well-hewn had many ships in which they made ex-cursions to other countries, where they caughtmen whom they carried away and subsequentlykilled. During periods of peace with theirneighbors they commingled with them withoutrestraint. When children were born the f
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookidsantabarbara, bookyear1920
