An 1876 Ramble on the Mesa
In 1876, there was an article in the local paper written by a writer called "Sara Gadabout," who described her walk around the Mesa one day. She started at the eastern end of the Mesa. "The Mesa has a beckoning look. I don't believe that I can resist it. Can you, friends? We won't, anyway … [she describes the views from the Mesa] Did you know Santa Barbara was so lovely till you saw it from this height? I did not … And turning to the mountains, see from over their tops, at the point where their curve is lowest, the gleam of a distant range lying cloudlike against the sky. The landscape viewed from this Mesa top is peculiarly suggestive, not only of beauty and sublimity, but of immensity."
Then she walked toward the area now called La Mesa Park. "Now we'll go on farther towards the lighthouse; not with rapid strides, but slowly, so that we can take in the whole picture of lovely cottages, and rounded hills, and the magnificent slope that extends to the sea, green with waving grain, its billows rolling and swelling in the breath of the wind in soundless harmony with those of the deep."
In case you missed it, you can view my recent ZOOM presentation - It Happened on the Mesa here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnSRF3ESaPw&t=795s