Rancho Nuestra Señora del Refugio
The Rancho Nuestra Señora del Refugio was a 26,529-acre (107.36 km2) Spanish land grant to José Francisco Ortega in 1794 and is the only land grant made under Spanish rule in what is today Santa Barbara County, California. A Mexican title was granted to Antonio Maria Ortega in 1834 by Mexican Governor José Figueroa. The grant extended along the Pacific coast from Cojo Canyon east of Point Conception, past Arroyo Hondo and Tajiguas Canyon, to Refugio Canyon, and encompassed much of the Gaviota Coast.
The first European visitors to California were Spanish maritime explorers led by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, who sailed up and down the coast in 1542. Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno again sailed along the California coast in 1602. Spanish ships associated with the Manila Galleon trade probably made emergency stops along the coast during the next 167 years, but no permanent settlements were established.
The first land expedition to California, led by Gaspar de Portolà, camped at today's Tajiguas Creek on August 23, 1769, on its way to Monterey Bay. Franciscan missionary Juan Crespi, who accompanied the expedition, noted the presence of two native towns, facing each other across the creek, near the ocean - similar to the arrangement found the previous day at Dos Pueblos.
The following two days, August 24-25, the expedition moved on along the coast to the west, still over lands that later belonged to the rancho. On the 24th, the camp was at Gaviota Creek, and now Gaviota State Park. The soldiers named the place La Gaviota (Spanish for seagull). On the 25th, the party camped at today's El Bullito Creek, about halfway between Gaviota and Point Conception.
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