In 1842 the Irishman, Nicolas Den, received the first Mexican land grant in the valley. Four years later, his father-in-law Daniel Hill, another Irishman, received the La Goleta land grant. In that same year John Fremont, the American explorer and soldier, passed through the valley twice on his campaigns to capture California. The Gold Rush began in 1848, making both cattle ranchers, Den and Hill, wealthy from the sale of beef to the miners in the gold fields.

In 1886, Thomas Hope purchased the two land grants to the east of La Goleta, thus placing the whole valley in the hands of the three Irishmen-Den, Hill and Hope. These pioneers were instrumental in saving the Santa Barbara Mission from destruction during the dark days of secularization.