Strong and Fertile Roots

In my last post, I spoke about the broken dreams of some of the earliest pioneers in the Conejo Valley. The late 1870's were tough on some of the ranchers. In 1881, optimism about real estate was on the rebound. Andrew Russell was on a stagecoach from Santa Barbara headed for the Conejo to investigate some land for sale. On the stagecoach, he met a land developer who was after the same land. In Ventura, Mr. Russell got off the stage, rented a horse and sped to the Conejo Valley. He was able to tour the property and strike a deal just as the stage was pulling into the area. The land he purchased was the majority of Westlake Village today. I guess that's an 1880 version of camping out in front of a new tract of homes the night before it opens.

The Russell's were just one of the early ranchers in the area. There were many other families and all were very important in developing the great foundation, character and culture of Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Westlake and Agoura. We see the names of these families throughout the city and many of the families have ancestors still active and generous to the community today. Some of the names we see on street signs, parks, community buildings and schools are Russell, Borchard, Kelley, Edwards, Haigh, Hays, Olsen, Pederson, Nilson, Crowley and Janss to name a few.

Since I have read some of the stories and books about these pioneer families, I have tried to block out the community I know so well today and do my best to imagine what the area was like over 100 years ago. It must have been a very peaceful place to be and the beauty and richness was not lost on the founding families. They loved the weather and rugged beauty then just as much as we do today. With the few facts I know; even as late as the 1920's, I picture a very quiet community. There was a small congregation of tiny cottages and hunting lodges in the Ventu Park area. These cottages, many of them on tiny lots that were free, were used by people from Los Angeles to get away. There was a small community of homes for the wealthy of L.A. near Lake Matheissen soon to be renamed Lake Sherwood and there was a small town mostly along Newbury's original land that runs along what is now Thousand Oaks Blvd. I knew there was a reason everyone calls it Old Town. The rest of the Conejo was dotted with large ranches tending to the business of raising cattle, sheep, hay and grain.

Soon, there would be some changes and development coming to the area but it's fun to imagine the simple, difficult and beautiful lifestyle of the Conejo residents back then. And to think I had school age parents just fifty miles down the road who were completely unaware of the golden opportunities up the road.