Rancho El Conejo facts for kids
Rancho El Conejo was a huge piece of land, about 48,572 acres, given by the Spanish government in California. This happened in 1803. The land was given to two people, Jose Polanco and Ygnacio Rodriguez. It covered the area we now call the Conejo Valley. This valley is in southeastern Ventura County and northwestern Los Angeles County.
The name El Conejo means "The Rabbit" in Spanish. This name was chosen because many rabbits lived in the area. You could find both desert cottontail and brush rabbit species there. The rancho's borders stretched from near Westlake Village in the east to the Conejo Grade in the west. This is the big hill along the 101 Freeway that looks down into Camarillo. From north to south, it went from the top of the Simi Hills to Hidden Valley in the Santa Monica Mountains. Today, the cities of Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks, and Westlake Village are all part of what used to be Rancho El Conejo.
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History of Rancho El Conejo
In 1803, Jose Polanco and Ygnacio Rodriquez received the Rancho El Conejo land. They were both former soldiers from the Presidio of Santa Barbara. Jose Polanco later lost his part of the land because he did not take care of it. In 1822, a powerful army officer from Santa Barbara, José de la Guerra y Noriega, was given Polanco's land by the Spanish Governor Pablo Vicente de Solá.
Land Changes After the Mexican-American War
After the Mexican–American War, California became part of the United States in 1848. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, and it said that the land grants given by Spain and Mexico would still be honored.
In 1851, a new law called the Land Act was passed. This law said that people who owned land grants had to prove their ownership to the United States government. So, in 1852, a claim for Rancho El Conejo was filed. The government officially recognized the land grant for José de la Guerra y Noriega and María del Carmen de Rodríguez in 1873.
Selling Off the Rancho Lands
The de la Guerra and Rodriguez families owned the property until the 1860s. At that time, a bad drought and cattle diseases caused them to lose many animals. Because of this, the two families started selling off parts of their large rancho.
In 1872, a man named H. W. Mills bought half of the Conejo grant. He bought it from the family of Captain Jose de la Guerra. Mills named his new property the Triunfo Ranch. However, Mills later went bankrupt. In 1881, Andrew D. Russell bought the Triunfo Ranch from him.
More land was sold over time. In 1882, about 2,200 acres of the Newbury area were sold. Later, in 1910, Harold and Edwin Janss bought a large piece of land. They were part of the Janss Investment Company. They bought about 10,000 acres of land that is now Thousand Oaks. They bought it from the person who had purchased it from the de la Guerra family.
Historic Places of Rancho El Conejo
- De la Guerra built an adobe house in Westlake. This house was later covered by water when the Westlake dam was built.
- The ruins of another De la Guerra Adobe, built around 1860, can be found at 4651 Tapo Canyon Road.
