Historical Timeline of the San Fernando Valley

Historical Timeline of the San Fernando Valley. . , 144-65 Million Years , The Chatsworth Formation was created close to 68 million years ago 5,000 feet below sea level. At some point it is lifted 1,000 feet above sea level with its upper portion eroded away. Stoney Point is the most well-known outcropping of the Chatsworth Formation. , Time Immemorial , Creation stories tie the ancestors of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians to the Valley. Ancestors are believed to have been birthed from the land that is now known as Los Angeles County and were the original people living in the Valley. , 40,000-10,000 Years , Scientists offer another perspective. Some argue that the Bering Strait Land Bridge might have affected migration paths of animals and humans to the Valley. People of northeast Asia would follow herds of large mammals south along ice-free corridors into the North American continent to what is now California. Others would migrate north from South America. As Earth warms, the ice sheets melt and the Bering Strait land bridge disappears. This theory continues to be researched and debated among scientists. , About 35,000 Years Ago , Through the end of our last Ice Age (around 10,000 years ago) a number of animals find themselves trapped in shallow pools of asphalt at a place that will be known as the La Brea Tar Pits. These megafauna (large mammals) include saber-tooth cats, Harlan's Ground Sloth, Dire Wolves, Western Horses, Ancient Bison, Yesterday's Camel, Short-Faced Bears, Colombian Mammoths, and American Mastodon. These same animals also resided in the Valley aher its water receded. , Current studies indicate that humans setting in the coastal region of Los Angeles around 16,000 or 15,000 years ago, which is still debated. Scientists also theorize humans were living alongside the megafauna for 2,000 to 3,000 years before the mammals’ complete extinction around 12,900 years ago. This gives rise to scientists’ beliefs that there is some relationship between humans and the extinction of megafauna. , Time Immemorial , Before colonization, villages in the San Fernando Valley were sovereign and organized around lineages, each with its own name and culture. Once the villages were colonized by the Spanish, the individual natives became known as Fernandeño. , Archaeological excavations align with local stories of the Femandeño Band of Mission Indians being present in the Valley. They date their community back thousands of years to the villages of Siutcanga (Encino) and Tujunga (Tujunga). , Place names for areas such as Tujunga, Pacoima, Cahuenga and Topanga derive from village names such as Tújúnga, Pakoinga, Kawénga and Tupá’nga which reflect the early presence of Indigenous communities. , Time Immemorial , Though facing upheaval from colonization, particularly 18th century forward, local Native Americans continue to practice their cultures and ceremonies in the region. , 1769 , The Spanish claim California as its territory calling it New Spain under "Sacred Expedition: a religious and military project of missionization and colonization on behalf of Spain.” , Missions are established along the California coast and used to convert Native Americans to Christianity so they can better control their population and exploit for knowledge of the local area. , 1769 , Spanish conquistador Gaspar de Portola, a military officer and the 1st governor of Upper California, is assigned an expedition to establish Franciscan missions along the California coast and block English and Russian expansion into California. With him are two Franciscan Padres - Junipero Serra and Juan Crespi, who record their journey. , Native Americans guide the Portola expedition through the Sepulveda Pass into the San Fernando Valley looking for land prospects. They stay two nights in a native village called Siutcanga near what is now Los Encinos State Historic Park. Portola is the first documented European to enter the Valley. , 1784 , Corporal Jose Maria Verdugo establishes Rancho San Rafael in Burbank/Glendale. , 1795 , Francisco Reyes establishes the original Rancho Los Encinos in the northern San Fernando Valley. , Around 1797, Reyes cedes this land to the church to be the site of the Mission San Fernando Rey de España. In exchange for releasing his land, Reyes receives 4,450 acres of land relocating the Rancho to the southern San Fernando Valley adjacent to El Camino Real and between the Los Angeles River and Santa Monica Mountains. , 1797 , The Mission San Femando Rey de España (aka San Fermando Mission) is established. The villages within the four geographical valleys of Antelope, Simi, Santa Clarita, and San Fernando are conscripted to build the structures and farm the land. These Native Americans, who become known as Femandeño, are subjected to forced labor, extreme exploitation, forced baptisms and death at the Mission. , The Mission becomes prosperous in California, producing abundant harvests and goods as well as the most blacksmiths in Los Angeles, many of whom are Native American. , 1810-1821 , The War begins in 1810. , In 1813, at an assembly in Chilpancingo, Mexico, independence is declared and a new constitution formulated. , In 1821, the Spanish regime formally accepts independence but maintains reluctance to relinquish control over the San Fernando Mission, which creates tensions for native and Californio populations (people of Spanish and Mexican descent) for many years until 1848. , 1834 , The Mexican government secularizes the missions and gives Mission land and the right to organize electoral village governments to the Ferandeño, thus releasing them from enslavement. , Today most of the missions, including Mission de San Fernando Rey de España, are owned and maintained by the Catholic church. , 1840 , The gold rush in California was a mitigating factor in its eventual statehood. However, an unknown story of the discovery of gold leads us to an individual who accidentally finds gold in Little Tujunga in 1840. This was the first story of gold in California when it was part of Mexico. Settlers who heard about this tale went on a frantic search for it but the gold was never found. This was the beginning of future migration of homesteaders into the San Fernando Valley that would displace many Fernandeños from their homeland. , 1842 , Francisco Lopez finds gold in Placerta Canyon. Caravans of U.S. immigrants migrate into the Valley as people look for gold. At this time, the Valley is still part of Mexico. , 1843-1845 , Femandeños petition the Mexican government for land grants and receive 18,000 acres. These 18,000 acres include Rancho Encino. , California Governor Manuel Micheltorena issues land grants to approximately 40 Fernandeños, including Rogerio Rocha, the Tribal Captain of the Fernandeños, and other progenitors (lineal ancestors) of the present day Femandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. , The land grants are supposed to guarantee that petitioners have access to farmland and no renter or buyer can assume control of the granted land. , 1845 , Local politician Don Vicente de la Osa, a Californio, is also issued a land grant by Micheltorena for one league of land which he calls Rancho Providencia. This is not the natural spring at the Rancho Los Encinos property that he so desired. , Around the same time, Francisco Reyes, who had relocated his Rancho Los Encinos to a southern location, is accused of mistreating his Ranch workers. The newly appointed governor Pio Pico re-grants Reyes’ 4460-acre Encino property to Fernandeño native Francisco Papabubaba and two other natives. These same 3 people had previously petitioned for a deed to the Encino property. , Osa encroaches on the Rancho Encino Fernandeños. Even though the court reaffirms the Fernandeño’s title to the land in 1855, they fall behind in taxes and Don Vicente de la Osa finally acquires the property that held an important water supply. The Fernandeños are left landless at Encino by the 1860s. , 1845-1846 , California government policy changes from supporting the recovery of the missions under Franciscan management, to the dismanding of mission properties with rental or sale of Mission lands to the highest bidder. Land grant guarantees were no longer effective. , Also, during this time the U.S. migration continues to explode prompting Governor Pio Pico to say the following: , "Shall we remain supine, while these daring strangers are overunning our fertile plains and gradually outnumbering and displacing us." , 1846 , In 1846, when American troops invade California during the Mexican-American War, Pio Pico - the last Governor of California under Mexican rule - is unable to obtain a commitment of troops from Mexico City. Pico, who is of Spanish, Native American and African descent, quickly sells off to Don Eugelio de Cells 120,000 acres of public land in the San Fernando Valley (almost all the Valley save for Encino and a few other ranchos) for $14,000. He says it is to raise money for the war and keep as much land as possible out of the hands of Americans. , 1847 , On January 13, 1847, the Treaty of Cahuenga (also called the Capitulation of Cahuenga) between Mexican Forces Commander-in-Chief Andres Pico and American Colonel John C. Fremont results in ending the fighting of the Mexican American War in Alta California. , The treaty takes place at the ranch house of Don Feliz at the Campo de Cahuenga in North Hollywood near the Cahuenga Pass. It results in a cease-fire between Californios and Americans until an official treaty between the United States and Mexico is signed. , 1848 , The Mexican American War ends with the signing of The Treaty of Guadalupe in Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico on February 2, 1848. , In exchange for $15 million, the U.S. gains 520,000 square miles of land. This includes all or parts of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, plus Mexico gives up all claims to Texas. The treaty also sets a border between Mexico and the United States at the Rio Grande. , Though the Treaty formally ends the war, there becomes an issue of contention when existing California rights are not honored as promised, and the Treaty is breached. , 1849-1850 , 1st California U.S. Governor Peter Burnett signs into law the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians (Indian Indenture Act) enabling the enslavement of Native Calfornians. Promoter of genocide, he only served from December 20, 1849 to January 9, 1851. , In Governor Burnett's 1851 state speech he declares: , "...that a war of extermination will continue to be waged between the races until the Indian race becomes extinct must be expected. While we cannot anticipate the result with but painful regret, the inevitable destiny of the race is beyond the power and wisdom of man to avert.” , 1850 , California becomes the 31st state in the United States on September 9, 1850. , 1853 , The Cahuenga Pass is opened for oxcart travel and a wagon road is built over the mountains between Mission Fernando and Rancho San Francisquito [Newhall Pass]. , 1856 , The State of California issued a bounty of $0.25 per Indian scalp and increased it to $5.00 per Indian scalp 4 years later. , 1857 , Fernandeño ancestor Antonio Maria Ortega is born in 1857 and then later is baptized in the mission of San Fernando. In the mid-1800s, a pandemic sweeps across the San Fernando Valley. By 1865, Antonio loses both of his parents to the pandemic. An 8-year-old Antonio moves to San Fernando where he works for the Geronimo Lopez Family at the Lopez Station. , At 18 years old, Antonio shadows Captain Rocha and eventually becomes Tribal Captain of the Femandeño people. , Tribal Captain Antonio Maria Ortega is amongst the last generation to speak the native language of the Fernandeño people fluently. His descendants are citizens of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. , 1860 , Lopez Station is started by Catalina and Geronimo Lopez. It is a stagecoach line, US Postal Office, merchandise store and the first English language school in the Valley. It is demolished in the 1910's to clear way for the San Fernando Reservoir (renamed Van Norman Reservoir), part of the then new L.A. Aqueduct system. , 1861 , Edward Beale is appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to collect a toll at the Fremont Pass, known as Beale's Cut. It is used as transportation passage until the Newhall Tunnel is built in 1910. Chinese immigrant labor is used to create the pass. , 1869-1873 , In 1869, Isaac Lankershim, his son-in-law Isaac Newton Van Nuys and his San Francisco investors (including Levi Strauss) purchase 60,000 acres of the southern half of the San Fernando Valley from Pio Pico for $115,000 and form the San Fernando Valley Farm Homestead Association. This is the first large American real estate purchase of the San Fernando Valley. , The area includes current day Woodland Hills, Encino, Tarzana, Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys, and North Hollywood. Shortly thereafter, the company is renamed as the San Fernando Sheep Company to give the public confidence in the sheep and cattle they are raising. , In 1873, the Los Angeles Farming and Milling Company is created. It is the new wheat and flour-milling industry promotional arm of the San Fernando Farm Homestead Association. , 1874 , Charles Maclay, George Porter and Benjamin Porter purchase 56,000 acres of the Northern San Fernando Valley from Spanish-born Don Eugelio de Cells’ estate. This combined with the Lankershim's large land purchase results in American ownership and control of most of the San Fernando Valley. , 1874 , The Southern Pacific Railroad offers service from Los Angeles to San Fernando linking the Valley to Los Angeles more closely. , 1875 , A major drought devastates the Valley, wildfires destroy 18,000 acres of land and thousands of sheep die. After the severity of the drought, the Lankershim partners decide that dry land wheat is the best agricultural commodity to raise. , In 1875, the Lankershims also require a road to bring the new wheat to world-wide markets by ship. They begin to widen an ancient Native American trail over the Santa Monica Mountains to accommodate sturdy wagons laden with grain to travel to ships docked at the Santa Monica Pier. This is the same footpath that Portola's expedition had traveled in 1769 on their way to Monterey. This also would eventually become part of today's I-405. , By 1888, they produce 510,000 bushels of wheat. This development transforms the Valley into a juggernaut of agricultural production which dominates the Valley landscape until World War II. , 1876 , The City of San Fernando becomes the first city in the San Fernando Valley. It is incorporated later in 1911. , 1880 , In 1880, the first Chatsworth school is opened and is called the Santa Susana school. Classes are held in the adobe home of Mrs. Jeremias with one teacher. The following year a structure is built that holds 20 students and is used until the official school is built in 1890 located on the corner of Topanga and Devonshire. , 1882 , Passed by the U.S. Congress, the Chinese Exclusion Act is the first federal law in U.S. history that restricts immigration based explicitly on nationality. It bans entry to all ethnically Chinese immigrants besides diplomats and prohibits existing Chinese immigrants from obtaining citizenship. , This law, along with provisions of the Angeli Treaty with China of 1880, significantly diminishes the Chinese population in the Los Angeles area and jostles the Valley's agricultural workforce. This creates an opening for Japanese farmers to become a force in the San Fernando Valley's growing agricultural industry. , 1883 , The first newspaper, The San Fernando Comet, is established in the San Fernando Valley. , 1884 , Major flooding in the Valley occurs again and devastates the cattle economy. , 1885 , A land grant issued to Femandeño Tribal Captain Rogerio Rocha by the Mexican government was to be honored by the U.S. under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. In a quest for land and access to water sources, ex-California Senator Charles Maclay and George Porter use the court system to remove Rocha and the Femandeños from this land. Rocha and his elderly wife are forced out of their home one winter night during a storm. , Rocha and the Fernandeños did not have any recourse at that time due to the fact that an Indian could not sue a white man in the California court system. However, Rocha never stopped his efforts to reclaim the land. , 1887-1888 , In 1887, Jouette Allen purchases 1,000 acres of Pacoima and in 1888 Pacoima School opens. , By the time roads reached Pacoima, it had become the home of railroad workers, laborers and farmers. Small populations of African Americans, Mexican Americans, Japanese Americans and Filipino Americans worked and grew in these jobs in Pacoima and interacted in markets, on farms and in schools. This is the beginning of the rich culturally diverse character that is associated with Pacoima today. , 1890 , A Japanese community begins to grow in the San Fernando Valley. Farmers excel in specialty crops, triggering competition with other farmers. The largest migration will come in 1910. , 1891 , Major flooding occurs. The Great Flood of 1891 obliterates everything including the most elaborate Victorian train station (in Pacoima) that the Southern Pacific had ever built. , 1892 , In 1892, Perris Indian School in Perris, California is established (moved in 1902 to Riverside and renamed Sherman Institute). Some Native children in the San Fernando Valley are forcibly sent there. Some never return while others reappear years later searching for their family in the San Fernando Valley. , 1897 , Squatters of the Land Settlers league attempt to squat in the San Fernando Valley under the belief that it is public land for settlement. , 1898 , Construction of tunnels by Southern Pacific Railroad begins through the Chatsworth and Simi Valley mountains in anticipation of the San Pedro Breakwater contract. The Chatsworth Park sandstone rock is needed to form the substructure of the breakwater. This will eventually lead to opening the Coast line in 1901, linking Los Angeles and San Francisco via major coastal cities. , 1900 , By 1900, only five families of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Indians survived and are recorded on the local U.S. census.