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Rancho El Conejo was a Spanish land grant in California given in 1803 to Jose Polanco and Ygnacio Rodriguez that encompassed the area now known as the
Former Santa Barbara Presidio soldiers Jose Polanco and Ygnacio Rodriquez were granted Rancho El Conejo in 1803. Polanco, eventually lost his land due to neglect. In 1822, influential Santa Barbara army officer José de la Guerra y Noriega was granted Polanco's claim by Spanish Governor Pablo Vicente de Solá.
With the cession of California to the United States following the John Edwards
who had purchased the land from the de la Guerra heirs.
Map of old Spanish and Mexican ranchos in Los Angeles County
{{California history El Conejo Conejo Valley Santa Monica Mountains Simi Hills History of Thousand Oaks, California Newbury Park, California Westlake Village, California 1803 in The Californias 1803 establishments in The Californias Ranchos of Los Angeles County, California
Conejo Valley
The Conejo Valley (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Valle del Conejo'', meaning "Valley of the Rabbit") is a region spanning both southeastern Ventura County, California, Ventura County and northwestern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles C ...
in southeastern Ventura and northwestern Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
Counties. ''El Conejo'' is Spanish for "The Rabbit", and refers to the many rabbits common to the region (the desert cottontail and brush rabbit species). The east-west grant boundaries approximately went from the border of Westlake Village near Lindero Canyon Road in the east to the Conejo Grade (the top of the hill along the 101 Freeway looking down into Camarillo) in the west. The north-south borders extended from the top of the Simi Hills
The Simi Hills are a low rocky mountain range of the Transverse Ranges in eastern Ventura County, California, Ventura County and western Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, of Southern California, United States.
The range runs ma ...
at the end of Moorpark Road in the north to Hidden Valley in the Santa Monica Mountains
The Santa Monica Mountains are a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area encompasses this mountain range. Because of its p ...
in the south. The rancho is the site of the communities of Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks, and Westlake Village.
History
Former Santa Barbara Presidio soldiers Jose Polanco and Ygnacio Rodriquez were granted Rancho El Conejo in 1803. Polanco, eventually lost his land due to neglect. In 1822, influential Santa Barbara army officer José de la Guerra y Noriega was granted Polanco's claim by Spanish Governor Pablo Vicente de Solá.
With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War
Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...
, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). It was signed on 2 February 1848 in the town of Villa de Guadalupe, Mexico City, Guadalupe Hidalgo.
After the defeat of its army and the fall of the cap ...
provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho El Conejo was filed with the Public Land Commission
The California Land Act of 1851 (), enacted following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the admission of California as a state in 1850, established the California State Lands Commission to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican l ...
in 1852, and the grant was patented
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
to José de la Guerra y Noriega and María del Carmen de Rodríguez in 1873.
The property stayed in the de la Guerra and Rodriguez families until the 1860s, when after drought and disease decimated local cattle, the two families began selling off their land. In 1872, H. W. Mills purchased one-half of the Conejo grant from the heirs of Captain Jose de la Guerra, which he called the Triunfo Ranch. Mills went bankrupt and Andrew D. Russell purchased his Triunfo Ranch in 1881. In 1882, of the Newbury tract were sold. In 1910, Harold and Edwin Janss of the Janss Investment Company purchased about of land of what is now Thousand Oaks from the heir of John Edwards,who had purchased the land from the de la Guerra heirs.
Historic sites of the Rancho
*De la Guerra built an adobe in Westlake that was later submerged by the Westlake dam. *De la Guerra Adobe Ruins (1860) are located at 4651 Tapo Canyon Road.See also
*Ranchos of California
In Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California, ranchos were concessions and land grants made by the Viceroyalty of New Spain, Spanish and History of Mexico, Mexican governments from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish concessions of l ...
* List of Ranchos of California
References
* Allen, Patricia, 1976, ''History of Rancho El Conejo'', Ventura County Historical Society Quarterly, Spring; Vol. XXI, No. 3, p. 2-97. * Bidwell, Carol A., 1989, ''The Conejo Valley : old and new frontiers'', Windsor Publications. * Russell, Joe., 1957, ''History of the Conejo Ranch'', Ventura County Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. II, No. 2, p. 12-19.External links
Map of old Spanish and Mexican ranchos in Los Angeles County
{{California history El Conejo Conejo Valley Santa Monica Mountains Simi Hills History of Thousand Oaks, California Newbury Park, California Westlake Village, California 1803 in The Californias 1803 establishments in The Californias Ranchos of Los Angeles County, California