Mission Santa Barbara's Conversions: Over 7,000 Chumash and Indigenous People Baptized (1786–1845)

Historical records from Mission Santa Barbara (founded 1786, "Queen of the Missions") indicate that over 7,000 Native American Chumash and other indigenous individuals were baptized during its active period under the Franciscan Order (1786–1845, secularization).

Context

• The Chumash were the dominant coastal people from Malibu to San Luis Obispo.
• Baptism was often tied to mission residency, labor, and cultural assimilation.
• Population declined catastrophically due to introduced diseases (measles, smallpox), dietary change, and disruption of traditional life.
• Mission Santa Barbara holds the most complete surviving mission archives, enabling this count.

The figure reflects both spiritual conversion and the demographic tragedy of the mission system.