Perkins - Newhall

TATAVIAM ROCK PAINTING. The earliest known residents of the Santa Clarita Valley were likely members of the Tataviam Indian tribe, who spoke a dialect of Serrano, one of the Southern California Uto-Aztecan languages. Their settlements were scattered around the valley and surrounding canyons, where some of their rock paintings can still be found. (Courtesy of SCVHS.)

MAP OF TATAVIAM VILLAGES. H. Allen drew this map in 1937, showing the locations of villages throughout the Little Santa Clara Valley (today called Santa Clarita to distinguish it from Santa Clara in Northern California). It is based on the research of Richard F. Van Valkenburg in the 1930s. Van Valkenburg was a painstaking researcher, using the records of Mission San Fernando, interviews, and fieldwork to gather the information shown. With the exception of Castaic, all the names on the map are post-1750. No one is certain of the age of the Castaic name; its related name, Chaguayabit, appears to be even older. Later scholarship has cast serious doubt on the details of this map, particularly the number and location of the villages and the names given. It seems that Van Valkenburg was a better scholar than he was a cartographer and misinterpreted some of the information he gathered. Even so, it represents a fair idea of Native American settlements in the mission era.

THE SACRED EXPEDITION. Variously called the Sacred Expedition and Portolas Expedition, it was led by Don Gaspar de Portola to search for an overland route to Monterey Bay. Fr. Junipero Serra had come from Mexico with Portola and remained in San Diego at the new colony there, but his men were also on the expedition. On August 8, 1769, they made their way over the mountains to the valley. Fr. Juan Crespi kept a journal and described his first impression of it as a pleasant place with flat ground, two creeks, a river, abundant trees, and lush plants, including grapevines and wild roses. He named the valley for St. Clare and believed that it would be an ideal site for a mission. The expedition took several days to go west across the valley, where they followed the advice of the Native Americans and continued west along the river valley to the coast, avoiding the steep mountain range to the north. (Painting by Jerry Reynolds, courtesy of SCVHS.)

MISSION SAN FERNANDO REY DE ESPANA. While the original plan suggested a mission near present-day Castaic Junction to serve travelers between Mission San Gabriel and Mission San Buenaventura, the difficulties in navigating the mountains separating the San Fernando and Little Santa Clara Valleys resulted in the site being moved to San Fernando. The mission was completed in 1797 and claimed the earlier site as part of its holdings.

ESTANCIA AT CASTAIC JUNCTION. The entire Little Santa Clara Valley was placed under Mission San Fernandos ownership. In 1804, Francisco Avila attempted to gain control of the lands on the basis of disuse. To protect its far-flung holdings, the asistencia or estancia (opinions differ) was built that same year. Due to nearly nonexistent records, the location and precise nature of the buildings were lost over time. (Painting by Jerry Reynolds; courtesy of SCVHS.)

ESTANCIA DIG. Richard F. Van Valkenburg and Arthur B. Perkins discovered the ruins in 1935 while they were looking for remains of a mission-era dam. Arthur Woodward of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History led the subsequent dig, and workers included the entire Perkins family, right down to five-year-old Richard Perkins (shown here with his father, Arthur B. Perkins.)

TILE FLOOR OF ESTANCIA. The dig uncovered traces of two buildings, with surviving walls up to 4 feet high and this tile floor. Dreams of a full restoration were dashed in 1936 when vandals smashed the floor and undermined the walls while looking for an imaginary mission treasure. A visit to the site in 1946 led to the sad discovery that the entire site had been bulldozed, and no traces remained.

ENTRANCE OF BOWERS CAVE. Discovered in 1884 by McCoy Pyle and his brother Everett, the cave held a treasure trove of Native American artifacts. They sold the lot to Dr. Stephen Bowers of Ventura for $15 (or $1,500accounts vary). Bowers then sold most of the collection to Yale Universitys Peabody Museum. This photograph shows (from left to right) Richard F. Van Valkenburg, Arthur B. Perkins, and his son Arthur Jr. on a later exploration.

GRAFFITI, BOWERS CAVE. As is so often the case, not much is known about the actual founders of the cave, but young McCoy Pyle left his name and the date on the cave wallalmost as if he knew his name would not be associated with their find in the future.