Everything about San Marcos Pass totally explained
San Marcos Pass (el. 2,225 ft. / 678 m) is a
mountain pass in the
Santa Ynez Mountains in
California.
It is traversed by
State Route 154. The pass connects
Los Olivos and the
Santa Ynez Valley with
Santa Barbara, California. The road has been designated as a daylight-headlight highway by the
California Highway Patrol and
Caltrans because of frequent accidents, particularly around the exit for
Lake Cachuma.
Geography
The pass is one of three passages across the steep
Santa Ynez Mountains, and the nearest to Santa Barbara. The
community near
Painted Cave SP is four miles east of San Marcos Pass via East Camino Cielo Road, which intersects with SR 154 right at the summit.
Battle of Fremont's Pass
No shots were fired during this "battle", which consisted solely of
John C. Fremont's California Battalion crossing of the mountains via San Marcos Pass on the night of December 24, 1846. At that time the Pass was only a path, and a rough one at that. It was a rainy night, and while Fremont's battalion had lost 150 horses and mules from sliding down the muddy slopes during the crossing, the exhausted men were able to reach the
Goleta Valley foothills by the next morning, where they camped for two days. On December 27, 1846, they entered into Santa Barbara, pulled down the Mexican flag, and ran up the Stars and Stripes at the Thompson Adobe (now 809-811 State Street). No force defended the town: all local men had gone to Los Angeles earlier that week to join the forces under Generals Flores and
Andres Pico. They surrendered to the Americans on January 13, 1847, a little more than two weeks later, on the Cahuenga Plain near Los Angeles.
A local Army National Guard center is named after Fremont, in recognition of his capturing Santa Barbara and making it part of the United States.
The local legend of
Fremont's Cannon derives from this battle.
There is a California Historical marker located at the site which references the participation of William
Benjamin Foxen in leading Fremont through the pass avoiding confrontation with the Mexican forces protecting Santa Barbara.
Further Information
Get more info on 'San Marcos Pass'.
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