Nuestra Señora del Refugio
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The Rancho Nuestra Señora del Refugio was the only land grant licensed under Spanish rule in what is today Santa Barbara County, California. The ranch stretched from Cojo Canyon to the eastern ridge of Canada del Refugio (Refugio Canyon). The grant was given to Jose Francisco Ortega, who in 1769 had served as an expedition scout for the Spanish Portola Expedition, discovering for the Spanish San Francisco Bay.
Ortega played an important role in the founding of the Santa Barbara Presidio, El Presidio de Santa Bárbara, in 1782. In 1786, after his retirement, Ortega received approval for the Rancho Nuestra Señora del Refugio land grant and established the Ortega Adobe Ranch in Refugio Canyon in Santa Barbara County, California, in 1794.
Ortega settlements were also established at Tajiguas Canyon, Arroyo Hondo, and Cañada del Corral.
The ranch at Tajiguas Canyon featured the first lemon orchard planted in California.
Privateers burned the original ranch building at Refugio Canyon in 1818, but the Ortega adobes at Arroyo Hondo and Canada del Corral still remain.
The adobe at Arroyo Hondo, and a small orchard planted by the padres at the Santa Ines Mission are still present at the Arroyo Hondo Preserve which is now owned and managed by the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County.
The Arroyo Hondo Preserve has been designated a county historic landmark to be managed in the spirit of the Spanish-Mexican period of California history. The two Ortega adobes remaining in Cañada del Corral serve as offices for the Exxon/Mobil Corporation.
