Santa Barbara and Montecito, past and present . he Padres hadtoo much influence in Mexico and Spain to per-mit it to succeed; the government of these twomissions, therefore, differed in no respect fromall the rest. In October, 1786 all was ready and GovernorPedro Pages wrote Padre Lasuen that the ma-terials for the important event were on hand atSanta Barbara; the latter replied that he felt hewould more fully carry out the w^ishcs of PadreSerra if he waited until Saint Barbaras day, the4th of December; Padre Serra had been espec-ially devoted to this virgin martyr, as he firmlybelieved it was
Santa Barbara and Montecito, past and present . he Padres hadtoo much influence in Mexico and Spain to per-mit it to succeed; the government of these twomissions, therefore, differed in no respect fromall the rest. In October, 1786 all was ready and GovernorPedro Pages wrote Padre Lasuen that the ma-terials for the important event were on hand atSanta Barbara; the latter replied that he felt hewould more fully carry out the w^ishcs of PadreSerra if he waited until Saint Barbaras day, the4th of December; Padre Serra had been espec-ially devoted to this virgin martyr, as he firmlybelieved it was through her intercession that hehad once been saved from immediate death byshipwreck. Padre Lasuen was also desirous thatthe patroness of the new Mission should be thefairest saint in all the calender. Padre Lasuen, with two other missionaries,started for Santa Barbara in November 1786 ar- 32 AND MOxNTECITO living there on the 22nd of that month. Theylooked the ground over thoroughly, and finallydecided to erect the Mission on a plateau about. Franciscan Friar—From an Old Print. a mile north west of the Presidio. ComandanteGoycoechea wanted the Mission erected nearerthe Presidio ,and wrote Governor Fages to that 33 SANTA BARBARA effect, but Padre Lasuen and his associates dis-regarded his wishes, as they had full authority toplease themselves as to site, and went on withtheir preparations. It is more than likely thatthe main reason for building the mission somedistance from the Presidio was the desire of thePadres to keep their Indian converts free fromtlie influence of the soldiers, whose morals werenot of a character to afford a good example tothe childlike and imitative native. The location finally selected had a plentifulsupply of water from what is now known as Mis-sion Creek, but which was then called the Ar-royo Pedregosa. On the site were a large num-ber of boulders which led to the name Tayna-yam being given it by the natives, and El Ped-regosa by the Sp-aniards, bo
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