On this day in 1824, significant events that ended the Chumash Revolt took place in the Santa Clarita Valley.

It all started in February of that year, when a Chumash boy was severely beaten by a Mexican soldier as he tried to visit a relative imprisoned at San Ynez.

The soldier, Valentin Cota, was the son of Manuel Cota, who would eventually be part of the group that discovered gold in Placerita Canyon. 

This event, along with economic struggles in the area, caused the enslaved Chumash natives to revolt at Mission San Ynez, located in current day Solvang.

Approximately 554 Chumash natives participated in the rebellion; whoever wasn’t captured or killed that day fled to the nearby missions of Santa Barbara and La Purisima, where they informed their fellow slaves of what happened.

Soon after, as many as 1,270 Chumash natives fortified Mission La Purisima and held its soldiers and occupants captive for three days. When they were released, no violence took place.

Simultaneously, the natives taking control of Mission Santa Barbara forced its occupants to flee without bloodshed. The Chumash women, children, and some men took livestock and other resources into the hills for survival, while the remaining men stayed to fight. 

By April, the Mexican Army began to strike back.

The first group of soldiers sent to quell the Natives were under the command of Narciso Fabregat, who at the time was stationed at Rancho San Francisco, a massive plot of land used as ranches for San Fernando Mission; much of this land would become the Santa Clarita we know today.

In May, numerous unarmed natives were murdered by Mexican soldiers, including ones who accompanied them from Mission San Fernando. 

Others were captured and bound by ranch hands at Rancho San Francisco before being brought back to the mission.

The revolt ended in June; on the 6th of that month, a second set of troops marched along the Santa Clara River, through what is now modern day Santa Clarita, continuing past the Castaic Junction, up north through the Grapevine, and into the Central Valley, where they encountered natives at Lake Misjamin (later known as Kern Lake, which has since dried up) and convinced them to return to the missions. 

The Chumash natives were pardoned for the revolt after a week of discussions with the Mexican armies; by the end of June, 816 of the missing 1,000 natives returned, and by 1825, only four men and three women were missing. 

The Chumash Revolt resulted in the deaths of 43 natives and 8 soldiers, with Santa Clarita being a primary crossroad for both sides of the battle.

To read yesterday’s today in SCV history, click here.

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