Santa Barbara Mission. Mission Santa Barbara is a Spanish mission in Santa Barbara, California. It was founded by Padre Fermín Lasuén for the Franciscan order on December 4, 1786, the feast day of Saint Barbara, as the tenth mission for the religious conversion of the indigenous local Chumash-Barbareño tribe of Native American people. The mission is the namesake of the city of Santa Barbara as well as of Santa Barbara County and comes from the legend of Saint Barbara, a girl who was beheaded by her father for following the Christian Faith. The Mission grounds occupy a rise between the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ynez Mountains, and were consecrated by Father Fermín Lasuén, who had taken over the presidency of the California mission chain upon the death of Father Junípero Serra. Mission Santa Barbara is the only mission to remain under the leadership of the Franciscan Friars since its founding, and today is a parish church of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The early missionaries built three different chapels during the first few years, each larger than the previous one. In 1787, the first chapel built was a palisaded log structure with a grass roof and an earthen floor that measured 39 ft x 14 ft. In 1789, the second chapel was constructed out of adobe with roof tiles and measured 83 ft x 17 ft. In 1793-94, it was replaced again with another adobe tiled-roof structure that measured 125 ft x 26 ft. However, the third chapel was destroyed by the 1812 Santa Barbara earthquake which occurred on December 21 of that year. By 1815, construction of the fourth Mission structure had begun and was mostly completed by 1820. Most probably under the direction of master stonemason José Antonio Ramiez, the work was performed by a labor force of Canalino people. The towers were considerably damaged in the June 29, 1925 earthquake, but the walls were held intact by the buttresses. Restoration was undertaken the following year. By project completion in 1927, the church had been accurately rebuilt to retain its original design utilizing the original materials to reproduce the walls, columns, and arches. Some years later it was discovered that the concrete foundation of the church had begun to disintegrate while it was settling into the ground, thereby causing the towers to crack. Between 1950-53, the facade and towers were demolished and subsequently rebuilt to duplicate their original form. The appearance of the inside of the church has not been altered significantly since 1820. Remains of the Mission's original infrastructure constructed primarily by the indentured Chumash people under Franciscan rule are located on the eastern abutting property known as Mission Historical Park, which was sold to the City in 1928. These ruins include tanning vats, a pottery kiln, and a guard house; in addition to an extensive water channelization system that utilized aqueducts, a filtration system, two reservoirs, and a hydro-powered gristmill. The larger reservoir, which was built in 1806 by the expedient of damming of Mission Canyon situated to the north within the existing Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, continued to serve as a functioning component of the City's water system until 1993. Also intact near the entrance to the Mission remain the original fountain and lavadero. In 1803, 1,792 Chumash lived as neophytes within 234 adobe huts that surrounded the mission, which was the highest number living onsite during a single year. In 1818, two Argentine ships under the command of the French privateer, Hipólito Bouchard approached the coast and threatened the young town of Santa Barbara. The padres, led by Fray Antonio Ripoll armed and trained 180 of the neophytes to mobilize for the anticipated attack. They were organized into an infantry unit comprising one-hundred archers that were reinforced by an additional fifty brandishing machetes, and a cavalry unit of thirty lancers. Father Ripoll named the unit Compañía de Urbanos Realistas de Santa Bárbara. With their help, the Presidio soldiers confronted Bouchard, who sailed out of the harbor without attacking. By 1820, the Mission's Chumash population declined to 1,132, which then dropped to 962 three years later. However during the period of the Chumash revolt of 1824 on February 22, under the leadership of Andrés Sagimomatsee, the mission was briefly seized and looted, while the soldiers posted there were disarmed of their muskets and were sent back to the Presidio.