On Sunday, February 22, the Santa Barbara County Trails Council will lead a five-mile “living heritage hike” from Rincon Beach County Park to Santa Claus Lane, tracing the path of the 1775-76 Juan Bautista de Anza expedition as it entered Santa Barbara County 250 years ago.
The hike marks the day Anza’s party camped just past Rincon Point after moving up the coast with 240 settlers, including families, livestock, and soldiers. Their destination: Alta California. Their legacy: complicated.
“It’s a discussion about migration,” said Mark Wilkinson, executive director of the Santa Barbara County Trails Council, describing the programming planned for the hike. “We will imagine what the expedition members were thinking and compare that with personal stories of ‘migration’ to Santa Barbara County.” Wilkinson said participants will also stop at two Chumash interpretive signs “to discuss the impact of European colonization on the native population.”…