Betsy J. Green

The Highest Bid

Sultry Charlotte Burton starred in The Highest Bid, which was filmed in one of the mansions in Montecito in 1916. One reviewer wrote, "The Highest Bid is based on a story of love and high finance, the scenes of which stretch all the way from Wall Street to the Sierras." – Motion Picture News [New York, New York], July 8, 1916

She plays a young woman who lacks marketable skills, and is shopping around for a rich husband. [Spoiler alert – she actually finds two.]

The Santa Barbara Red Cross Asks for Help

During the "Spanish Flu" in 1919, the local Red Cross was call­ing for any volunteers who had attended "home nursing" courses. "It is necessary at present to care for many small chil­dren whose parents are removed to the hospitals."

Girls and small children were being housed at St. Vincent's on De la Vina Street, and boys were staying at an­other institution. The flu even reached Santa Cruz Island and many of the men there were sick.

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 

The Better Wife

Has anyone ever seen anything like this? The Better Wife was filmed at one of the estates in Montecito in 1919, and at the other end of the country – Alabama – the film's title was used to advertise various household products in the Montgomery Advertiser, August 3, 1919.

Celebrating July 4 in 1915

In addition to the usual fireworks and parade, everyone in Santa Barbara gathered at the racetrack in the afternoon to watch the rodeo. There was a 3/4-mile dash, a "standing Roman race" (the rider stands on the backs of two horses), and a cowboy tug-of-war."

You can see the location of the racetrack on this 1897 map drawn by Alfred Poett. This area usually flooded in the winter, but was dry all summer long. It was used for races and circuses, and even as an airplane runway in 1919. This location is now the El Estero Water Resource Center. Somehow that just doesn't have the same pizazz.

The Haunted Rock at Santa Barbara

In the course of doing research for MESApedia, I discovered a fictional tale from the 1800s that was set on the Mesa! The story was written by a local newspaper woman and published in The Overland Monthly magazine in 1873. The "lofty and rugged group of rocks" mentioned in the tale refers to the Castle Rock outcropping which was located near the base of the harbor breakwater. The "ancient ruin" in the story was inspired by a small Spanish fort located where Santa Barbara City College is today.

Here's the beginning, you can read the complete story at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4073287&view=1up&seq=427&q1=%22santa%20barbara%22

The Haunted Rock at Santa Barbara

By V. Forward Russell

"Immediately on the western limit of the town of Santa Barbara, a high, green tableland, or Mesa, rises from the ocean beach and extends for several miles up the coast. At one point at its foot, near the town, rises a lofty and rugged group of rocks, projecting huge masses into the ocean. Seabirds flit and call about their summits. At their base, the waves surge a perpetual harmony that rolls in heavy cadence, and, like a chorus of receding music, fades slowly away. The sea breeze blows over them, cool and invigorating, and beyond them, in infinite grandeur, stretches the boundless sea.

"The point of the tableland projecting seaward, and below which is piled the group of rocks, is the site of an ancient ruin; but after the rainy season, the land is covered with tall weeds, and visitor passes the spot many times without suspecting that the solitude of the place has ever been broken save by the steps of some wandering traveler like himself, or the call of the seabird, or the chirp of the rabbits and squirrels that now dart through the long grasses and burrow in the foundation of the ancient walls.

"I Meet an Old Man and Hear a Tale

"During one of my rambles many years ago, I was surprised at the appearance here of a very old man. He stood silent and motionless, and his gaze was fixed on what I now, for the first time, observed to be a circular rise of land, evidently the remains of a former wall or tower. He was dressed in the Spanish garb — tight breeches fastened with buttons of silver from the ankle to the loins, a scarf crossed over the bosom, and a black silk kerchief bound about the forehead. His hair fell in long white locks upon his shoulders, his form was tall but bent and, except that his eye was bright, I knew him to be very old. I advanced toward him, but he did not move. I accosted him, but he was silent, and I saw that his face wore an expression of deep and absorbing grief."

Ashes of Vengeance

The so-called "silent movies" weren't really silent – music was generally played when the films were shown in theaters. And music was often played during the filming. Mournful music might be played to help the actors produce tears, ragtime music was played during lively party scenes, or period music might be played for historical dramas.

For example, while Ashes of Vengeance, a film set in 16th-century France, was being filmed at a Montecito estate, "only music of the time of Charles IX or his predecessors" was played, according to American Cinematographer [Los Angeles, California], 1923

A Movie Dog Misbehaves

Although some folks are unhappy that there will be no fireworks this July 4, the dogs of Santa Barbara are jumping for joy. Which brings to mind a movie dog named Peter who was jumping around in Santa Barbara back in 1914. He jumped into the lake, during the filming of a "Flying A" movie at Laguna Blanca in Hope Ranch, when he wasn't supposed to.

As part of the action in the film, an actor, who was Peter's owner and trainer in real life, was thrown into the lake. Pe­ter, who, like some people, had trouble differentiating between Real Life and Art (or Real Life and Reel Life) jumped into the lake and "rescued" his owner, thereby spoiling the take. Oops! Bad dog! (Peter is on the left.)

The 1925 Quake on the Mesa

Today, June 29th, 2020 is the 95th anniversary of the disastrous earthquake that rocked the city of Santa Barbara. There was extensive damage on State Street, but the earthquake was also felt here on the Mesa as well.

At 1101 Luneta Plaza, Santa Barbara City Manager Herbert Nunn was just waking up when the big one hit at 6:42 a.m. His gripping on-the-spot report of the temblor later appeared in The Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.

"At the moment of the shock I was sitting on the edge of the bed, … and was thrown upon my back. Preceding the shock there was a heavy rumbling sound similar to that of thunder, which apparently came from directly underneath. There was a barely perceptible interval between the rumbling sound and the shock. ... The [first] violent shock was followed instantaneously by a rapid vertical vibration, which I vividly remember.

"I immediately ran from my bedroom to the front lawn. ... As I stepped from the front porch …, I was thrown violently. ... My wife and the gardener, … stepping from a tiled porch to the grass ... both were thrown violently down. ... The roof was vibrating with sufficient force to break the tiles."

The Mesa lighthouse tower, built of granite, nearly collapsed on the lighthouse keeper and her family. The Morning Press wrote, "she rushed out with her family just in time to hear the light tower crash through the roof of the rooms they had left." (Our lighthouse was later replaced with a beacon.)

A couple of other Mesa residences were also severely damaged. One was the home of cowboy artist Ed Borein. His home, called La Barranca, had been built to resemble a Southwestern Pueblo. The Morning Press called it "one of the show places of the west side." It was completely destroyed. (Borein later built a frame house of a similar design, which Mesa Rats of the 1950s dubbed The Alamo.)

The largest and most spectacular home on the Mesa was severely damaged and later demolished. The 1880's home called Punta del Castillo was designed by premier Santa Barbara architect Peter J. Barber for Thomas B. Dibblee. Commonly known as "Dibblee's Castle," it had been Santa Barbara's very first estate in the modified Tuscan-villa style, according to the book Material Dreams.

The Mesa landscape was also changed forever. Castle Rock, a huge chunk of rock on the beach, which was once one of the most popular tourist destinations in Santa Barbara, had its profile greatly altered. Near the lighthouse, the quake shook loose a large piece of the cliff which crashed into the ocean. A set of stairs known as "Lovers' Nook" that led down to the beach, perhaps at Santa Cruz Boulevard, was filled with rocks. The Morning Press joked that "something must be done about it right away to guarantee the happiness of the young and amorous generation."

The Law of God

This 1912 one-reel movie is the third religious one made in Montecito. Jim, an atheist, falls in love with a minister's daughter. (You can see where this story is headed.) She and her father give him the heave-ho, so he joins a gang of robbers, which pretty much confirms their assessment of his character, I'd say.

The gang of robbers is apprehended, and they all do time. When Jim gets out of the slammer, he visits the girl and her dad, tells them he is reformed, and all is forgiven. (This is the third movie made in Montecito, and the third with a religious theme.)