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Evidence of human habitation of the area begins
at 13,000 years ago. In recent times the Portuguese explorer Joao
Cabrillo sailed through the Santa Barbara Channel in 1542, anchoring briefly in
the bay. A land expedition led by
Gaspar de Portola visited in 1769, but they did not stay. The first permanent
European residents were Spanish missionaries and soldiers under Filipe de Neve,
who came in 1782 and became the first Governor of California. Padre Sera accompanied de Neve, and
tried to convert the natives to Christianity. During the following decades, many of the
natives died of diseases such as smallpox, against which they had no natural
immunity.
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| Santa Barbara today is a beautiful seaside community to the north of Los Angeles and lies between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. |
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| The city with its Mediterranean climate has been
promoted as the "American Riviera". The city is a popular tourist destination and
also includes government offices and a campus of the University of California. |
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Mission
Santa Barbara is a Spanish mission founded by Padre Fermin Lasuen on
December 4, 1786, the feast day of the Saint. Santa Barbara was beheaded by her
father for converting and following the Christian Faith. The early missionaries built three
different chapels during the first few years. The old chapels were destroyed by the earthquake
on December 21, 1812, at which time the construction on the current Mission was begun. It was completed and re-dedicated in 1820.
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