Maulhardt - Conejo Valley

This image shows the dese o , or land grant map, of the area known as Salto de Conejo for Maria del Carmen Lorenzana. Lorenzana was the sister of Jose de Jesus Rodriquez and daughter of original Spanish land grantee Jose Ignacio Rodriquez. Lorenzana moved onto the Conejo property in 1833 with her husband, Jacinto Lorenzana, and two children. They lived in an adobe in the area known as El Rincon. It has been speculated that the adobe was located on what became the Janss Ranch near the shopping center.

In 1822, soon after Mexicos reign of California began, Jose de La Guerra, who principally lived in Santa Barbara, petitioned for a re-grant of half of El Conejo Rancho. He claimed that original grantee Jose Polanco had abandoned his claim. De La Guerra was granted the El Triunfo portion, todays Westlake and North Ranch areas.

After decades of legal battles between the heirs of the Rodriquez and de La Guerra families, the U.S. Surveyor Generals office completed an official map of Rancho El Conejo. The total acreage of the grant was 48,671.56 acres.

Andrew Russell poses in front of the remnants of the de La Guerra adobe that was located on his ranch. Russell and his brother Hannibal Russell purchased 5,960 acres from Howard Mills in October 1881 for $15,000. (Courtesy Thousand Oaks Library, accession number LHP00393.)

The Russell family originally used the adobe for their residence and later used it as a milk house. The de La Guerra adobe was ripe with rumors of hidden treasure buried under the house. Eventually gold seekers undermined the foundation of the structure by digging for gold and leaving the link to the Californio past to topple. (Courtesy Stagecoach Inn and Conejo Valley Historical Society.)

Howard K. Mills and his wife, Carolyn Freeman, along with their three children, came to California in 1870. Mills came to California upon advice from his doctor to move to an area with a warmer climate than the harsh winters he endured in Minnesota. In August 1871, Mills and partner John Edwards, both from Santa Barbara, purchased 23,835.75 acres for $55,000, at approximately $2.30 an acre, from the heirs of the de La Guerra family. Mills and Edwards purchased 4,500 head of sheep but would lose most of their investment to the drought of 18761877.

John Edwards married Elizabeth Sexton, and they had four children, all born in Ione, California. The Edwards, Sexton, Foster, and Hill families all participated in the gold rush in 1849 and later moved to the Goleta area. Edwards built a home in Conejo but lived in Santa Barbara, where he ran a hardware store and became a prominent banker.

Egbert S. Newbury (18431880) purchased 2,200 acres in 1874 from his partners Mills and Edwards. His property was near old town Thousand Oaks and stretched toward Hidden Valley. Newbury was the areas first postmaster, starting in July 1875, and also served as the areas news correspondent to the Ventura paper. However, the drought of 18761877 put a financial strain on the family, and they moved to Michigan, where Egberts sister lived with her husband, Gov. John Judson Bagley. Egberts short life ended here in February 1880. (Courtesy Stagecoach Inn and Conejo Valley Historical Society.)

Joseph Howard Jr. was born in Orange, New Jersey, in 1866. He came to California in 1880 with his parents and lived in Santa Barbara. For a short time, he worked at his fathers Conejo ranch, where he learned how to raise cattle, a skill he expanded upon and extended to other areas of the county and later in Arizona. Howard married Sarah Middleton, the daughter of Elizabeth Middleton, who was married to Samuel Hill.