The story of the Conejo Valley begins in prehistoric times. There are clues that tell us what it was really like back then. At one time, this area was covered with water. Fossils of sea animals 57 million years old have been found in many places around the valley. A petrified tree trunk over 15 million years old was found on the ground near the road that today we call North Calle Yucca. It was so old that the tree had turned to rock. 

   We also know that there was a volcano on the edge of the Conejo Valley about 14 million years ago. It is now known as Conejo Mountain. Volcanic rocks from the old volcano can be seen at the northern end of the valley called Mount Clef Ridge near Olsen Road. In 1971 in Newbury Park a huge jawbone of an Imperial mammoth was found. These animals were among the largest land animals ever to walk the earth. They were 14 feet tall and weighed about 40 thousand pounds.

   Today, you can see these artifacts: the fossils, a piece of the petrified tree, and the jawbone of the Imperial mammoth at the Stagecoach Inn Museum in Newbury Park.

Chumash

            I wonder whether you are aware that the first people to live in the Conejo Valley came about 10,000 years ago. Today we call them the Chumash. They saw the grass covered land, large oak trees, streams with fish, and mountains all around. It was everything they needed so they decided to stop traveling and settle in this beautiful valley. From that time on, people began to change the land. There were over 600 Chumash living in the valley. They lived in different places. Westlake and Wildwood Elementary Schools are sites of villages where Chumash once lived.

Spanish Explorers

            In 1770 the Chumash saw strange men coming into the valley riding horses. These men were Spanish soldiers. Because California was owned by Spain at that time, the King of Spain wanted soldiers to explore California and find good places to build towns and churches. He asked Gaspar de Portola to be their leader. When the soldiers rode into the Conejo Valley and saw the rolling hills and oaks trees, they thought it was such a beautiful place they gave it a special name. “El Triunfo del Dulcisimo Nombre de Jesus.” In English it means The Triumph of the Sweet Name of Jesus. Have you ever seen the word “Triunfo” anywere in the Conejo Valley? If you have seen “Triunfo Canyon Road, or Triunfo Creek, you will know now that it is because of the Spanish explorers of long ago.

            In 1774 another Spanish explorer , Juan Bautista de Anza, was commissioned to explore California. Included in his entourage were padres or “priests.” They came to teach the Chumash about the Christian religion and the Spanish way of life. The priests built 21 churches, called Missions in California. The one nearest the Conejo Valley was called the Mission San Buenaventura. It was built in 1782. Most of the Chumash living in the Conejo Valley decided to live at the mission and learn from the priests.

            Today the trail started by Portola and De Anza is called the El Camino Real. In English it means the King’s Highway. It was the road people traveled on through California, and it passed by all the missions. Today we travel on that same road. It is called Highway 101.

            Two Spanish soldiers, Jose Rodriguez and Jose Polanco liked the Conejo Valley so much that they decided to ask the King of Spain for a land grant. They received 49,000 acres of land and they called their gift Rancho El Conejo, because there were many rabbits living in the area. In Spanish, conejo mean rabbit. They decided that the Rancho El Conejo would be a good place to raise cattle. They hired vaqueros, Spanish cowboys from Mexico to help them care for the cattle. For a long time the cattle had plenty to eat and drink, then something terrible happened. There was a drought. For several years, month after month no rain fell. The owners of the Rancho decided to sell Rancho El Conejo.

The First Land Developers

            In 1873 Three men from Santa Barbara heard that Rancho El Conejo was going to be for sale. These three men, John Edwards, Howard Mills and Egbert Starr Newbury, bought the land in the Conejo Valley. They had plans to divide the land into sections and sell the sections to ranchers which they did. During this time, a post office was established at the Newbury home which is now the site of the Civic Arts Plaza, the first school was established called Conejo School. The Conejo Valley was also established as a stagecoach  stop.

Early Ranchers

            Who were some of these early ranchers? There was James Hammell who built the first hotel in the area of the 101 and Ventu Park Rd.; Andrew Russell who was the first to have hot and cold running water and an inside bathroom in his home; Caspar Borchard who won the prize for the largest pumpkin at the Ventura County Fair. His pumpkin was 7 ft. 8 in. in circumference.;The Hunt family who ran the Conejo Valley post office out of their home and also started a creamery where 100’s of pounds of butter were churned every week.; The Norwegian colony,  the Nilsons, Pedersons, Hansons, Olsens and Andersons. Some of their land was eventually donated to build a special school called California Lutheran University,.

            One of the things children loved about this area is…In 1927 Louis Goebel opened his Lion Farm which was later called Jungleland. You could say that the popularity of the Conejo Valley GREW LIKE WILDFIRE. Crowds FLOCKED LIKE HUNGRY BIRDS to see Goebels performing jungle animals. Soon the motion picture industry discovered the Conejo Valley’s BREATHTAKING BEAUTY. Scenes from Tarzan, Bonanza and Gunsmoke were filmed here.

Land Developers

            Have you ever been on a road called Janss Road? It was named for a very important family who helped make the Conejo Valley grow into a wonderful community. The Janss family were ranchers who decided to be land developers and wanted to change their land from a ranch to a very special community where there would be room for homes, churches, schools, shopping centers, and places where people could work. They made up a large map called a Master Plan and began to advertise their new community. Later the new community was named Thousand Oaks. More of the early ranchers decided to sell their ranches at this time. Big corporations such as Prudential and the Hawaiian steamship company bought the land and the masterplanned community of Westlake Village was developed . Within twenty years, the Conejo Valley changed very fast from a place where there were only large ranches to a place where thousands of people lived.

The Present

            Today, the Conejo Valley is still growing and people come from all over the world to live in this beautiful place. The wisdom of the master planners in PRESERVING, PROTECTING and ENHANCING the natural environment of the area is evident today in the consistent GROWTH ,VITALITY, and COMMUNITY of the Conejo Valley. This preserved space allows residents to enjoy the same natural beauty the Chumash native Americans first enjoyed hundreds of years ago.

             We are nine miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, 38 miles from downtown Los Angeles and 900 feet above sea level. The story of the Conejo Valley has not ended. Now we are part of this community and as we work together, we will keep our beautiful valley a good place to live.