Las Cruces Town
The town of Las Cruces, if you can call it that, was first established as a stagecoach stop. As the coaches traveled up or down the coast from Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo, this gap at Gaviota was an important way station for the weary travelers. The tavern and inn on the west side of the highway were there well before the motorized carriages came cruising up the coast.

This location was important for another reason too. It was the mouth of a funnel that fed from the Santa Ynez and Lompoc Valleys to the Gaviota wharf, where livestock were shipped to points north and south. The ranchers to the north would drive their cattle, pigs, sheep or goats down into and through Las Cruces and across the bridge to the wharf, usually staying at Las Cruces for some fun and frolic after the work was done.



Pity the early motorist that arrived at the Gaviota bridge on the day that a herd was being driven into the gap. It could be a long wait before they could continue on their journey north when stalled by this unanticipated traffic delay. Even today this narrow section of highway becomes a liability for travelers when a truck turns over and blocks the lanes. With nowhere to go (and we mean that literally) the motorists are stuck running for the bushes and into the ghosts of the gas stations of Las Cruces for relief.

(Just a note: This happened twice in the month of November of this year. A produce truck tipped spilling its load of salad all over the highway and closing the southbound lanes for several hours. On Monday a fuel truck fell over in the morning and snarled the commute from northern Santa Barbara County to the south for most of the day.)


Here is what the tavern looked like inside. Note the saddle seat barstools. After a long week of driving cattle the cowboys could literally be drunk in the saddle.



This group was having a day of leisure at the Gaviota wharf, although it was a working pier too.


C Cragg