Santa Barbara is a community that prides itself on history. For that reason, we do ourselves a community service whenever we can correct misconceptions and historical errors. A recent editorial about Old Spanish Days provides such an opportunity because its underlying premise is historically inaccurate. Since I know some others share this misunderstanding, I would love to set the record straight because there is a fabulous history to be revealed here.
The era that is highlighted during our community’s “Old Spanish Days” Fiesta is commonly called “the Rancho Period.” This period lasted roughly 40 years, taking place from around 1824 to 1864, when Santa Barbara was under Mexican rule and American rule … but not Spanish. Therefore, whatever historical argument one wants to proffer concerning Spain, Cortez, Aztecs, Cuba, etc. is immaterial here, as it has nothing whatsoever to do with our celebration. Nothing. Again, the era we reference began under Mexican rule.
This Rancho Period was a distinct culture. It was neither Spanish nor Mexican, and in fact the people here did not identify as either Mexican or Spanish, but insisted on being called Californios. Furthermore, they had a whole cultural body of work — songs and dances — unique to just California.