Santa Margarita Asistencia

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**Santa Margarita Asistencia**
Location	Santa Margarita, California
Misión de Santa Margarita by Henry Chapman Ford, 1881
Name as Founded	La Misión de Santa Margarita de Cortona
Translation	The Mission of Saint Margaret of Cortona
Namesake	Margaret of Cortona, Italy
Nickname(s)	"San Luis Obispo County's Third Mission"
Founding Date	1787
Military District	Third
Native Tribe(s) Spanish Name(s)	Obispeño
Owner	Private entity
Current Use	Unknown
Coordinates	35°24′3.8″N, 120°36′40.1″W
California Historical Landmark	#364

The Santa Margarita Asistencia was established in 1787 as a "sub-mission" to Mission San Luís Obispo de Tolosa to minister to the large number of Chumash (Obispeño) Indians who inhabited the area. Named for an Italian saint, the settlement was located at the top of the Cuesta Grade (north of San Luis Obispo) and also served as an outpost, chapel, and storehouse. Additionally, the Mission padres and Indians conducted extensive grain cultivation. The chapel building measured some 120 by 20 feet and eight auxiliary rooms for the use of the majordomo and his servants, and as quarters for visiting priests. One chamber functioned as a granary for storing mission crops.

The Santa Margarita Asistencia was secularized along with Mission San Luís Obispo in 1835, and suffered the same neglect that many mission properties did after that time. In 1841 the lands, encompassing over 17,000 acres (69 km²), were granted to Joaquin Estrada. After the American takeover at Monterey in 1841, General Pío Pico and General José Castro met at the rancho to discuss strategy. During the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt, the forces of Captain John C. Frémont captured an Indian bearing a message from Jose Jesus Pico (the San Luis Obispo Justice of the Peace) at the rancho and ordered his execution. In December of that year Frémont also arrested Estrada and others at the rancho, releasing them only after securing their pledges of service to Frémont.

The United States Land Commission issued a patent for the rancho in April, 1861 to Martin and Mary Murphy of San Jose. That property (and others) ultimately passed along to their son Patrick Murphy, who served in the California Assembly and the California State Senate for three terms. Eventually Patrick Murphy amassed holdings of over 70,000 acres (283 km²) statewide.General P. W. Murphy acquired the property in the 1860s and erected a barn over the Asistencia to shield it from the elements. In February, 1889 the town of Santa Margarita was incorporated. The former rancho lands today are under the ownership of four families. Several of the original stone walls remain standing, having been incorporated into a ranch barn. The fact that the Asistencia is situated on private land makes public viewing, photography, and study problematic at best.