A Brief History of Lompoc
Confined to the coastal meadows by the elements, their diet and the grizzly bear, the first settlers of the area were simple food gatherers. In the 1770s the Spanish discovered these lands inhabited by the Chumash Indians. Their diet consisted of mussels, abalone, crabs, lobsters, berries, sage and acorns. They later moved inland where they subsisted on game and fish, as well as plant materials. Like other Californian Indians, they lived in small, clan-like "triblets" with well defined territories and separate dialects.
The first European land expedition into California was lead by Gaspar de Portola, along with his contingent of Spanish and colonial soldiers, in 1769. On December 8, 1787, the Franciscan Monk, Francis Lasuen, began the La Purisima Mission which began the Spanish and Mexican occupation of the valley, and the decline of the Chumash. The Indians were baptized, offered beads, cloth and food and readily became part of the mission life, which they were then forbidden to leave. By 1804, only 160 were left due to many diseases brought by the white men.
Colonel W.W. Hollister was one of the valley's first Anglo-American owners. He headed west from Ohio with 200 head of cattle and later 900 sheep to build a fortune in 1851. He became partners with Thomas and Albert Dibblee and acquired a chain of contiguous Mexican land grants, including Lompoc. Here, vast herds of his sheep grazed before he sold part of his holdings to the Lompoc Valley Land Company in 1874. The lands consisted of the Lompoc Rancho and the Mission Vieja de la Purisima Rancho. The town was laid out nine miles from the coast, near the center of the Lompoc Valley. The lots sold well and the town flourished.
The Chumash Indians called the area "Lum Poc," meaning little lake or laguna, for a now vanished lake. The Spanish called it "Lumpoco," accenting the second syllable. By the time settlers began to arrive in the valley, the name had been Anglicized. The founding fathers of Lompoc modeled their city after Vineland, New Jersey, a thriving temperance community, and proposed that it be called New Vineland. However, the citizens of Lompoc opposed the idea. Another try in 1939 to change the name to La Purisima was also defeated. 1875 and 1876 were good years. One of the worst droughts on record hit in 1877, however. Sheep and cattle died and people were in need of food. A diptheria epidemic broke out in 1878. The valley recovered to become one of the most versatile agricultural locations in California, yielding vegetable, field, seed, nursery, livestock, fruit and nut crops. In the late 1800's, rows of blue gum and cypress trees were planted to raise the temperature of the fields through windbreaks, which could increase ground temperature by as much as 10 degrees.
-adapted from Lompoc The First 100 Years published by the Lompoc Centennial Committee
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