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The five-acre Los Encinos State Historic Park is situated between business and residential areas of Encino. Encino is a fashionable sub-urban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley located twenty miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Banks and office buildings overshadow busy Ventura and Balboa Boulevards, contrasting with the quiet upscale single family homes along the side streets of Moorpark and La Maida, this State Park land is surrounded by two separate worlds.
A variety of trees and shrubs are strategically scattered throughout the park to attempt to filter out the modern day sights and sounds of city life. Secluded within the tree-lined confines of the park, stands a nine-room adobe house built by Don Vicente de la Osa in 1849. The long, single story, mission style structure stands beside a small lake, which was historically significant to the beginnings of the San Fernando Valley. Near this body of water, a large Indian settlement existed for thousands of years, long before it was visited by the first white-men to ever come in contact the great valley in 1769.
From this adobe casa, Don Vicente ran his 4,460 acre Rancho Los Encinos. After De la Osa, Los Encinos changed ownership several times and was still used as a working cattle ranch up until 1944. Sub-division and progress threatened the existence of the park's historic buildings, which included the Garnier house built in 1872. But, these structures were given reprieves and saved from the wrecking ball in 1945, when the five-acre site was acquired by the State of California. Rancho Los Encino evolved from a modest land grant to the present Los Angeles communities of Sherman Oaks and Encino.
De la Osa Adobe
Photos: LAOkay.com
Shoshonean speaking Gabrielino Indians were the first to call Encino home. The area was quite a favorable habitat for people living off the bounty of the earth. They were drawn to the inviting warm springs, fresh water pools, and the numerous acorn-laden oaks scattered throughout the valley. The Indians thought the warm bubbling springs had curative powers and came from great distances to soak in the mud. Eyewitness and archeological evidence supports the existence of a thriving rancheria (village) located in the vicinity, but there is no mention of a name or indication of a village listed on old mission records. In August 1769, Father Juan Crespi, who traveled with the Gaspar de Portola party, wrote in his diary about the populous village located near the warm water spring fed pool. Crespi counted over 200 inhabitants who were friendly and peaceful.
De la Osa Adobe
Photo: LAOkay.com
This rancheria most likely vanished prior to the establishment of Mission San Fernando in 1797. We know that many Indians died when they came in contact with Europeans who brought diseases foreign to the natives. Could it be possible that the people of this "lost village" contracted a disease like smallpox from members of the Portola party and their immune systems could not fight the strange sickness resulting in their demise? Or perhaps the villagers were nomadic in nature and just moved on or became absorbed by other nearby settlements.
Whatever the reason, the "Lost Village of Encino," as it became known, disappeared without a trace. Then in 1984, construction workers excavating for a building complex on Ventura Boulevard, just across from Los Encinos State Park, discovered an archeological jackpot. They found over two million items of Indian artifacts which included arrowheads, beads, and various stone tools. Also found were about twenty earthly remains from an ancient village which was over 3,000 years old. Teams of archaeologists combed the area, collecting and cataloging artifacts, which were later distributed to several museums throughout California. Some artifacts are displayed at Los Encinos State Park.
In the sixteenth century, Spain concentrated her colonization efforts in Mexico and Central America. During this time Alta and Baja California remained unsettled due to its remoteness or lack of interest. In the mid 1700s, Russian fur traders began to settle in Spain's California province and plans of westward expansion of British colonies in North America prompted the Spanish crown to launch colonization expeditions. In 1769 the first Franciscan Mission was established in San Diego, California.
On July 14, 1769 an expedition party of seventy-six men led by Gaspar de Portola left San Diego en route to Monterey. This was to be the first overland excursion into Alta California. Accompanying the group, comprised mostly of soldiers, was a Franciscan Padre by the name of Juan Crespi. Crespi, who was a life long friend and co-worker of Father Junipero Serra, served as the chaplain and the official diarist for Portola. Serra was to go on this long journey, but was unable due to illness. Father Crespi was nominated to take his partner's place. Crespi, like Serra, was a native of the Spanish island of Majorca. Crespi was born in the town of Palma on March 1, 1721. He entered the Franciscan Order in 1738 and came to Mexico in 1749 to work as a missionary with Father Serra.
The Portola party arrived at the banks of what was to be called the Los Angeles River on August 2, 1769. Here the weary band of travelers camped overnight. This campsite was located where North Broadway meets the river in the area of Elysian Park. From here they continued west passing the La Brea Tar Pits along today's Wilshire Boulevard. On the 4th of August, they camped in the vicinity of today's Westwood. On Saturday, August 5th, a scouting detachment led by Sergeant Jose Francisco Ortega set out westward to find a potential route along the coastline. When they encountered the high steep cliffs jutting into the sea at Pacific Palisades, they realized that a coastal access was out of the question and returned to the main group. The party took the trail recommended by Indian guides. This old Indian trail led northward up a passage through the Santa Monica Mountains. The route taken was most likely through the Sepulveda Pass.
The ascent through the pass was laborious as indicated by Crespi. After the apex was a gradual decent which revealed a "very large valley all burned off by the heathens." Crespi estimated the size of the valley to be "about three leagues in width, and more than eight leagues in length," or eight miles by thirty-six miles. This valley described by Crespi was the San Fernando Valley. The band made their way down the canyon and stopped near a "very large pool of fresh water." This was the first historical record of the lake at Los Encinos State Park. Crespi noted that there were many huge evergreen oak trees in this grand valley, so he gave it the name El Valle de Santa Catalina de Bononia de Los Encinos (the Valley of Saint Catherine of Bologna of the Oaks). One of these massive oak trees still stands on Louise Avenue in the center of the street several yards south of Ventura Boulevard in Encino. It is over 1,000 years old and was designated as Monument #24 by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Board.
Portola and his men set up camp near the bubbling warm water springs, which still flows from the depths of the earth to this day. The water temperature varies from eighty-eight to ninety degrees Fahrenheit. While there they were greeted by friendly natives from a large village nearby. Crespi counted over 205 men, women and children and expressed relief that they were not armed. The Indians offered the visitors gifts of seeds in trays or baskets made of rushes. The following day, Sunday, the 6th of August, they decided to stay and rest in shade provided by the numerous lofty oaks. Father Crespi held Mass near the pools, and later in the day, more natives visited the group. Some Indians drew figures in the dirt depicting a map of the Channel Islands and showed the courses of ships they have seen. When time came to move on, these early valley inhabitants pleaded for the visitors to stay. Crespi vowed that he would return.
The next day, the expedition set a course due north (along today Balboa Boulevard) and were aided by guides from the rancheria at Encino. After marching three leagues, they camped at a "very green valley grown with large live oaks and alders." This campsite was near the spot where the San Fernando Mission was to be built twenty-eight years later. They left the valley the next day through the San Fernando Pass. At the Santa Clara River, (named by Crespi) the party headed west along the river valley to the coast at Ventura and continued north on what became the El Camino Real. Portola came very close to Monterey but inadvertently by-passed the huge bay. Instead, on November 1, 1769, they discovered the immense San Francisco Bay.
In January 1770, Padre Crespi and the rest of the Portola Party returned to the San Fernando Valley from Northern California. On the return trip they took a different route suggested by Indian guides. They traveled through the Calabasas Pass and entered the west side of the great valley of oaks they encountered five months before and once again visited the friendly Indians living near the springs at Encino. The party left the valley via the Cahuenga Pass and went returned to San Diego.
In mid August 1795, Franciscan Padres from Mission San Buenaventura set out to find a location for a new mission complex to shorten the distance between San Buenaventura and San Gabriel Mission. Padre Fermin de Lasuen, President of the Missions, led the party and was accompanied by Padre Vicente de Santa Maria (the diarist), Sergeant Jose Maria Ortega, Ensign Pablo Cota, and four soldiers. While scouting out a potential site within the San Fernando Valley the padres camped near the warm water pools in Encino where the Portola Party used as a campsite in 1769. The Franciscans had their eye on some land in the northern portion of the valley.
The area chosen for the mission was a cattle rancho, which was being used by Francisco Reyes, who at the time was alcalde of the pueblo of Los Angeles. Reyes called this rancho El Encino and supposedly was allowed to use the land by a temporary permit. There was no record of permit or formal grant issued to Reyes. He improved the land by planting crops and built a small house. But the missionaries considered Reyes to be a squatter and forced him give up his rancho in exchange for a 4,460-acre, rectangular shaped parcel of land, which included the springs at Encino.
On September 8, 1797, Father Lasuen founded the Mission San Fernando Rey in honor of Saint Ferdinand, the King of Spain, on the site of the original Rancho Los Encinos. Reyes retained the name of Los Encinos, which he used to call his smaller rancho located along the Camino Real. Some references indicate that Reyes may have built one of the small stone structures located at Los Encinos State Park. Reyes used local Indians to do all the work at the rancho. Mission padres heard reports that Reyes had been abusing the Indians, and when Reyes abandoned the property, the Mexican government allowed neophytes from the San Fernando Mission to use Rancho Los Encinos.
In 1845, Governor Pio Pico granted Rancho Los Encinos to Tiburcio Lopez and three other Indians. Tiburcio had worked for Francisco Reyes by tending to his cornfields. Two of Tiburcio's co-grantees were his sons-in-law, Ramon and Francisco. The third was named Roque. The Indians never obtained confirmation of their land grant due to a variety of obstacles. Ramon had mysteriously disappeared for several years. Francisco and Roque had died, and property taxes were never paid. It was this set of circumstances which caused Tiburcio's brother-in-law, Vicente de la Osa, to step in and take over.
The Indians sold all their interests in Rancho Los Encinos to De la Osa, and in 1849 he began construction of a nine room, single story adobe near the warm pool and springs once used by the lost civilization of Encino. By 1850, Don Vicente moved into the adobe with his bride, Rita Guillen. Rita was one of the daughters of Dona Eulalia Perez, the house matron of Mission San Gabriel. Dona Eulalia had a fine adobe near the mission and three leagues of land known as Rancho San Pascual. Dona Eulalia was an old woman and left the management of her rancho to her children. In the 1830s, Don Vicente and Tiburcio Lopez obtained some land in this area as a result of their marriages to Dona Eulalia's daughters. Vicente and Rita de la Osa raised their fifteen children at the large adobe at Encino.
Vicente de la Osa was born in 1808. Not much is known about his younger years. It appears he became involved in politics in the turbulent 1830s at a time when insurrections were common in California. He was a member of the ayuntamiento (town council) of Los Angeles between 1832 and 1835. During those years he served as regidor (council member) with the exception of 1833, when he was secretary of the council. He served on the council a second time in 1838, when he became sindico (receiver). In May 1835, De la Osa was appointed by Governor Jose Figueroa to serve on a committee to investigate charges of smuggling alleged against Yankee businessman, Abel Stearns. Stearns was suspected of smuggling activities at his warehouse in San Pedro. The committee was unable to prove Stearns guilty of any wrongdoing.
After his political career, De la Osa became involved in ranching. In 1842 he received Rancho Providencia from Governor Juan B. Alvarado. Rancho Providencia was a 4,064-acre square shaped land grant located where the city of Burbank currently exists. Burbank Boulevard was the northern boundary of the rancho between the western city limits and the Golden State Freeway. The western city limit was the western boundary. The southern line cut across Cahuenga Peak and through the north end of today's Griffith Park. The eastern border was a straight line drawn from intersection of the Golden State Freeway and Burbank Boulevard to the Travel Town section of Griffith Park.
In 1851, de la Osa sold Providencia to Alexander Bell and James Alexander, the first two Americans to receive a land title in the San Fernando Valley. Bell and Alexander sold the rancho to a New Hampshire dentist named David Burbank in 1867. Burbank turned the property into a sheep ranch. In 1887, Rancho Providencia was transformed into the township of Burbank, and today, it is a center for motion picture and television production.
In 1845, Don Vicente became co-grantee of Rancho Los Encinos with three Indians. He built a long adobe and established a cattle and sheep ranch. On January 8, 1851, Don Vicente de la Osa was granted formal title to Los Encinos. The 4,460-acre rancho was contained in a perfect square shape. The foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains were situated in the south section of the grant. The remainder of the land was flat, dry, grassland, with the Los Angeles River cutting diagonally through the heart of it. Today, the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area covers half of the original grant. Los Encinos was surrounded on all sides by Rancho Ex-Mission de San Fernando, the huge former mission property owned by Don Andres Pico, the brother of Pio Pico.
Today, the area of Rancho Los Encinos is described in the following manner, using modern streets and landmarks:
The western boundary of Rancho Los Encinos followed the same course as today's White Oak Avenue from Haynes Street south to a point just north of the Encino Reservoir. From here, the southern line cut across the hills eastward to the intersection of Firmament Avenue and Sutton Street. From here, a straight line due north to Firmament Avenue and Haynes Street formed the east border line. A line following along Haynes Street back to White Oak Avenue was the northern border of Don Vicente's rancho.
During the 1850's the De la Osa adobe hosted many travelers along the El Camino Real. Home-cooked food, a comfortable bed, and Mexican hospitality were offered free of charge to all who stopped here. In 1853, when a band of marauding Indians raided some ranchos near Los Angeles, a posse of Americans pursued the Indians across the valley, but never made it past Don Vicente's home. The exceptional food and spirits took priority over capturing thieves.
By 1858, Rancho Los Encinos became a regular stop along the El Camino Real and later the Overland Stage Route. The stage coach road between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara was a perilous adventure. It was common for armed bandits to terrorize the stages along the route. When outbound Los Angeles stages exited the Cahuenga Pass, they were vulnerable to attack while crossing the wide-open valley. The next available stop was Don Vicente's home in Encino, offering the only refuge. Don Vicente erected a large barn next to his adobe so that stages being chased by bandits could enter and pull a rope, which would drop large, heavy trap doors, securing the barn and protecting the coach and its passengers.
Hard times besieged Don Vicente. With the declining cattle industry and mounting debts, the ranchero could no longer afford to offer free hospitality to weary travelers. In 1859, he transformed his home to a roadside inn and commenced to charge patrons. He placed an advertisement in the "Southern Vineyard", a Los Angeles newspaper, which featured his accommodations and advising guests to bring enough funds to cover expenses.
Don Vicente De la Osa died in 1861, leaving the rancho and adobe to his widow, Rita. Don Vicente was unable to live to see the title of his Rancho Los Encinos officially cleared by the United States Land Commission in 1862. Rita De la Osa remained at the Encino adobe until 1867, when she sold the Los Encinos to James Thompson. Thompson used the rancho to raise sheep.
James Thompson was known to the Californios as "Don Santiago". He was experienced as a ranchero when he obtained a five-year lease to half of Rancho La Brea in 1852. This rancho, named after the ancient tar pools near by, later became the Hollywood and Wilshire Districts of today. Thompson had an adobe and corrals on this land. The adobe occupied by Thompson still stands in the parking lot of Farmers Market at 3rd Street and Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles. Later, Thompson became the Sheriff of Los Angeles County. Thompson kept Rancho Los Encinos for only two years. He sold the property to the Garnier brothers in 1869.
Eugene Garnier purchased Los Encinos and along with his brothers Philippe and Camille operated the ranch. They were French Basques who were expert sheep raisers and carried on their trade when they acquired Los Encinos. They raised imported Spanish merinos, which had high quality wool. Most of the Garnier's wool was exported to European markets. The wool industry boomed during the Civil War years due to the drastic plunge in Southern grown cotton. The semi-arid San Fernando Valley was more conducive for raising sheep than cattle. However, in 1872, wool prices declined sharply and the Garniers settled for a loss of thirty-three cents per pound. Still, their clip of wool for that year was over 150,000 pounds, but the market never fully recovered. The devastating drought and smallpox epidemic of 1876-77 took its toll on the Garnier's livestock. This may have caused them to sell the rancho the following year.
Eugene Garnier was married to one of Vicente De la Osa's daughters. In 1872, he constructed a two-story limestone house near the De la Osa adobe. The house was designed to replicate the Garnier family farmhouse back in France. The stone used to build the house was quarried right on the rancho near the base of the hills to the south, where today's Woodley Avenue terminates. The ground floor contained the kitchen and dining room. The upstairs rooms were used as servants quarters for ranch hands. During the Garnier's reign, Los Encinos had at least twenty men employed there.
Garnier Building 1873
Photos: LAOkay.com
Eugene was responsible for transforming the pool of warm spring water into a reservoir when he lined the banks with five-foot limestone walls. The lake took the unique form of a Spanish guitar. It was used to irrigate crops and provide water for livestock. This body of water still serves as a tributary to the Los Angeles River. At the floodgate leading to the concrete stream the inscription "Eugene Garnier - 1872" remains to this day.
The Garniers made several improvements to the rancho during their ownership. They built the stone structure in the northwest corner of the park. This was used as a blacksmith shop. In 1870, they built small spring house in the southwest quadrant of the park. This structure controlled the outflow of the underground artesian springs. The brothers still maintained Los Encinos as a stagecoach stop and restaurant for travelers.
Philippe Garnier built a large, two story brick building in Los Angeles in 1890. This was known as Garnier Block and was used for residential units and Chinese owned business. From 1900 to 1948, the Chinese Benevolent Society used the second floor of the building as their headquarters. Today, it is known as the Garnier Building, with only a third of the structure still standing at the northwest corner of Los Angeles Street and Aliso Street. It is a part of El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Park.
On May 28, 1878 the Garnier brothers sold their entire interests in Rancho Los Encinos to another French Basque by the name of Gaston Oxarart. Oxarart foreclosed on an $18,000 mortgage he held against Eugene Garnier. He continued to use the rancho to raise sheep. Before acquiring Los Encinos, Oxarart was a successful sheep man in the Cahuenga Valley. He came to California via Buenos Ayres, Argentina about 1851.
Oxarart turned the ailing Los Encinos into a thriving sheep ranch. By 1886 he owned over 32,000 head of sheep and in one instance he sold over 150,000 pounds of wool to a single buyer in Belgium. He was a fierce competitor of fellow Basque, Miguel Leonis of Calabasas. Due to failing health, Gaston Oxarart transferred the rancho to his nephew, Simon Gless in 1889. Gless, in turn sold his interests to his father-in-law, Domingo Amestoy in December 1891.
Domingo Amestoy was a French Basque sheepherder like the Garniers and Oxarart. In 1851, he came to California by way of Argentina, possibly with Gaston Oxarart. Amestoy started a modest sheep business and within a few years he parlayed it into a fortune. In 1871, he bought $500,000 worth of shares in the newly established Farmers and Merchants Bank in Los Angeles. He was one of the largest wool producers in Southern California during the 1860s. By 1880, he had over 30,000 head of sheep, most of which were fine-wooled Spanish merinos.
Domingo Amestoy died in January 1891, just days after acquiring Rancho Los Encinos. His sons, John and Peter Amestoy, assumed ranch operations and changed the name to Amestoy ranch. Like other ranches in the San Fernando Valley at the time, the Amestoys engaged in dry farming. They cultivated white wheat and barley. The Amestoy family held title to rancho for fifty-five years. In 1915, subdivision of the rancho began later developing into the communities of Sherman Oaks and Encino. The Amestoys held on to 100 acres, which included the old adobe until selling the property in 1944.
Clarence Brown, a movie director, purchased the remaining acreage from Amestoy heirs. Brown began his career in motion pictures in 1915 and became director by 1920. In the 1920s he directed several silent films for Universal Film Manufacturing Company (Universal Studios) and was entrusted with ambitious projects due to his immense talent. He directed many Universal releases such as "The Acquittal" (1923), "The Goose Woman" (1925) and "Smoldering Fires" (1925). In 1924, Brown directed silent film star Wallace Beery in the melodrama, "The Signal Tower." In 1927, he directed Greta Garbo in "Flesh and the Devil."
Brown was an experienced pilot and his love for flying made him the ideal choice to direct David O. Selznick's film "Night Flight." The movie starred Clark Gable and Hellen Hays was released by Metro Goldwyn Mayer in 1933. In 1935, Brown directed one of his most acclaimed films, "Anna Karenina" with Greta Garbo, Fredric March and Freddie Bartholomew. He was the director of several Garbo films because he was the only director who knew how to work well with the demanding starlet.
In 1932, Brown owned a ranch in the Calabasas area. It was located at the southeast corner of Las Virgenes Road and Mulholland Highway in the beautiful Santa Monica Mountains. Brown kept Rancho Los Encinos for a short time, selling it to a building syndicate in 1945. With land prices in the San Fernando Valley soaring after World War II, the building syndicate further subdivided the remaining acreage that was once a lucrative sheep ranch. Plans were in the works to destroy the historic structures built by de la Osa and the Garniers.
Upon learning of the fate of the De la Osa adobe and surrounding structures, a woman named Maria Stewart stepped in to save these remnants of the Valley's historic past. Back in 1940, Maria Stewart and her family moved to Encino and attempted to buy the old adobe along with the 100 acres from John Amestoy. Amestoy refused to sell. Mrs. Stewart formed the Encino Historic Committee and served as the president of the group. She was successful in persuading the State of California to buy the historic adobe, the surrounding structures, and the five remaining acres. In 1949, the California State Department of Parks and Recreation purchased the property with the help the City of Los Angeles, which rendered half of the funds required. The site was named Los Encinos State Historic Park.
After saving the adobe, Mrs. Stewart worked to collect furniture and other artifacts from the heirs of past owners of Los Encinos in order to furnish the vacant rooms. The furnishings in the master bedroom were donated by heirs of the Garnier family. The parlor contains items provided by the Amestoys, and the Victorian era kitchen was restored to appear as it did when Simon Gless owned the adobe. Over the years, the Encino Historical Society and the state conducted several restorations of the structures in the park. The Historical Society provided docents to give guided tours to the public. Displayed here are artifacts and antiques from the different eras in the rancho's illustrious history, spanning over 200 years. The adobe contains rooms reflecting the lifestyles of the various owners.
Since 1989, plans were being made to turn the dining room of the stone Garnier house into a visitor's center for the park. However, disaster struck on January 15, 1994, when the 6.9 magnitude Northridge Earthquake caused major damage to the buildings in the park, especially the adobe and Garnier House. The quake's epicenter was situated just a few miles northwest of the park. As of this writing (1996), a drive to raise funds to repair the ruined historic structures was underway. The cost of repairs are an estimated 1.5 million dollars.
Although the historic buildings are declared structurally unsafe and entry is restricted, the park grounds are still open to the public. The lake is in good condition and visitors can feed the frolicking ducks living there. A large grassy area and shady trees make the place an ideal picnic site. Picnic tables are available. The different types of trees and flora are a treat for any botany enthusiast. Here one can find various species of oak trees as well as pepper, orange, California holly, Torrey pines, olive, and pomegranate trees. Grapevines, flannel bushes, cacti and over twenty varieties of California lilacs are planted throughout park adding to the color and beauty.
The stone buildings located north of the Garnier House were built in 1904 by the Amestoys. They were used to store dried and preserved food. The stone blacksmith shop built by the Garniers was later converted to a bakery by the Amestoy family. Here, bread for the ranch was made. Now the structure houses old tools and equipment. Many antique farm implements and carriages are displayed about the grounds.
In the midst of concrete sidewalks, asphalt covered streets, tall office buildings, and single family homes there lies hidden historic treasures waiting to be discovered.
Rancho Los Encinos Adobe
Los Encinos State Historic Park
16756 Moorpark St., Encino, CA 91436 Map
818 784-4849
Open the the public
Wendnesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tours of the adobe museum are conducted afternoons, 1 to 4 p.m.
Historic Adobes of Los Angeles County © 1997 John R. Kielbasa
Unless otherwise noted, photos © 2001-2004 LAokay.com