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The rugged, chaparral covered mountains of Griffith Park rise just a few miles north and west of the tall modern skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles. An oasis in a major metropolis, much of the parks natural beauty appears today as it did to original inhabitants of the fledgling pueblo. One of the earliest leaders and protectors of the pueblo received these nearby mountains, hills, canyons, valleys, and streams as a token of appreciation by the Spanish government. This area was once the 6,647 acre Rancho Los Feliz, one of the first land grants in California given to Corporal Jose Vicente Feliz. An old adobe house built in the 1830s by heirs of Feliz still stands in Griffith Park on Crystal Springs Drive.
Rancho Los Feliz had a succession of owners after the Feliz family. One such owner, Colonel Griffith J. Griffith, donated over half of the ranch to the city of Los Angeles, which became one of the largest city owned parks in the country. Other sections of the rancho were developed and became the communities of Los Feliz and Silver Lake.
Long before the Spanish pobladores (settlers) arrived to settle near the banks of the Los Angeles River, Indians were the only people in the area. The Indians established villages, known as rancherias, throughout the countryside. One of these settlements was located within the boundaries of what was to become Rancho Los Feliz. Archeological surveys have found evidence of a substantial rancheria that existed in the mouth of Fern Dell Canyon in Griffith Park. It is estimated that the Indians first came to this area approximately 10,000 years ago. The traditional name of this village is not known, but the inhabitants were Gabrielinos. This name was given by the Spanish because of the Indians' association with the San Gabriel Mission. When Gaspar de Portola traveled through the vicinity in 1769, his expedition encountered members of this particular village.
The Indians named their canyon home, Mocohuenga. The meaning is not clear, but the Gabrielino term, "Kawenga" or "Cahuenga," means "Place of the Mountain." It may be possible they were referring to nearby Mount Hollywood where the observatory is now located. The site of this rancheria was where the Fern Dell Nature Museum stands today at 5373 Red Oak Drive. In 1973, the village site was recognized as Los Angeles Cultural Historical Monument #112 and a plaque was placed at the Los Feliz Boulevard entrance to the park.
With the advent of the Portola party passing through this territory in 1769, the Indians may have wondered if more "white men" would come or perhaps stay. If any residents of Mocohuenga Canyon thought this, they would have been correct. On September 4, 1781, the pueblo of Los Angeles was founded and Corporal Jose Vicente Feliz was one of the soldiers who escorted the original eleven families to their new home.
Jose Vicente Feliz was a native of Los Alamos in the Mexican state of Sonora. Ancestors of Feliz were among the founding fathers of the town. Originally, he used the Spanish spelling of his surname-Felix. Some records show "Felis" as another spelling. At some point he changed his last name to the Mexican spelling of Feliz, which translated means "happy." Feliz was a soldier for the Spanish crown. Just several months prior to United States declaring independence from British rule, he took part in a military escort, which was the second overland expedition of Captain Juan Bautista de Anza. His first expedition occurred in 1771.
The purpose of Anza's second journey was to establish a presidio and civilian colony at San Francisco. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel prior to the expedition. Feliz enlisted for the trip at the Presidio at Tubac in Sonora. He was among 30 other soldiers. He brought his pregnant wife and four children with him. On October 23, 1775, over 200 men, women, and children left Tubac for long journey through mostly desert terrain. On the first nights encampment, Senora Feliz, while giving birth to her fifth child, died in childbirth, although her newborn son survived. She was the only casualty during the long journey. There were several other births along the way.
The party crossed the deserts of what is now Arizona and California. They traveled north along the California coast and arrived at the San Gabriel Mission in early February 1776. The party continued north and arrived in Monterey on March 10. Anza went ahead of the colonists and arrived at San Francisco on March 27, 1776. After selecting sites for the presidio and the mission, Anza left California never to return.
After fulfilling his commitment to the Anza party, Vicente Feliz moved his family to the San Gabriel Mission where he was assigned to the mission guard. He served under the command of the San Diego Presidio, which supplied soldiers to protect the San Gabriel Mission. Feliz achieved the rank of corporal and was placed in charge of small detachment.
On August 18, 1781, Corporal Feliz was still assigned to the San Gabriel Mission when the tired band of colonists arrived from Los Alamos. The pobladores consisted of eleven families led by Lieutenant Jose de Zuniga. Their 1,000-mile journey lasted seven months. They came with intentions of establishing a pueblo near the mission. Felipe de Neve, the Governor of Alta California, was there to greet the weary travelers. It was Governor de Neve who ordered the founding of the pueblo along the Porcuincula River (now the Los Angeles River) about eight miles southwest of the mission.
Corporal Vicente Feliz and three privates, Roque de Cota, Antonio de Cota, and Francisco Salvador de Lugo were assigned to escort the pobladores to their new homesite. They followed a route what is now Mission Road and crossed the Los Angeles River at a point near Aliso Street, where they stopped just west of the river. Here a cross was erected and Mass was said in honor of the founding of the pueblo of Los Angeles on September 4, 1781.
Feliz met with each patriarch of the founding families and pointed out their designated lots and planting fields. The corporal and his three privates remained with the new settlers for a few months and served as protectors of the small pueblo. In time Feliz developed a talent for managing pueblo affairs and assumed the duties of its unofficial director. He became known as "The Little Father of the Pueblo."
On January 13, 1787, Governor Pedro Fages appointed Feliz to the office of Comisionado of Los Angeles. This made him the highest authority in the pueblo answering only to the governor via the Commandant of the Santa Barbara presidio (although he was assigned to the presidio at San Diego). In a sense he was the city manager, controlling, guiding and directing the official duties of the alcalde (mayor) and regidores (town council). This position also held the responsibility of law enforcer and judge. It was his obligation to ensure that the settlers complied with all laws, enjoyed their privileges and performed all their required tasks. He also had to make sure the native Indians were treated fairly by the citizens of the pueblo, who often hired them as laborers.
Feliz served as comisionado for over ten years with the exception of some time between 1795 and 1796, when the position was held by Javier Alvarado. Feliz retired from civil service by 1800. For the many years of faithful service to the crown, he was granted a 6,600-acre rancho, which was situated just north of land set aside for the pueblo. El Rancho Nuestra Señora de Refugio de Los Feliz (Our Lady of Refuge of the Feliz Family), as it was called, may have been given to Vicente Feliz as early as 1795. It is possible that he received permission to graze his livestock on the land at this time and later obtained a formal grant prior to 1800. The grant was issued by Governor Fages, a former military commander.
Property descriptions of early California ranchos were no where near formal. In fact, they were absent of legalese and quite crude. They were recorded by means of roughly sketched maps called disenos. Unfortunately, this led to future difficulties when grantees or descendants of grantees had to prove their land claims to the Mexican government, and later, the United States government. The boundary lines of Rancho Los Feliz were simply described in the following manner; "Commencing at a point at the Los Angeles River, then southerly 3,150 varas more or less, thence westerly 6,200 varas more or less to a nopalera (cactus patch), thence northerly 5000 varas more or less to a calera (lime kiln). Thence easterly 7,100 varas more or less to the place of the beginning."
Today, one can trace the old boundaries of Los Feliz by the means of using modern landmarks.
The eastern border nearly follows the course of the Los Angeles River from Riverside Drive, near the city of Glendale, then southward to a point where Forney Street ends at the west bank, near Elysian Park. From this point, a westerly line bisected the southern portion of Silverlake Reservoir and paralleled Fountain Avenue from Hyperion Avenue to Western Avenue. The western boundary headed north along Western Avenue from Fountain to Los Feliz Boulevard, where the a straight line continued north along the southwest boundary of Griffith Park, then along the east boundary of Forrest Lawn Cemetery, stopping at a point near Travel Town. Finally, a line from Travel Town headed back to the starting point at the river.
The Feliz rancho was a prime piece of land. It was just a little over three miles from the pueblo plaza. The main road heading north toward the Cahuenga Pass crossed the southwest section of Feliz's property. This was the primary trail linking Northern and Southern California. The northern portion of the rancho was mostly mountainous terrain, while the southern section was low foothills and flat meadows. The soil was fertile and the water supply was rich with sources including mountain springs and the Los Angeles River. It was ideal for cattle ranching.
Records indicate that Jose Vicente Feliz was still in possession of Rancho Los Feliz as late as 1816. The rancho was inherited by the Feliz children. The adobe on Crystal Springs Road was built by one of the Feliz heirs sometime in the 1830's. The home was situated on the east side of the rancho near the river.
In 1836, the rancho was the scene of a sensational murder. Domingo Feliz (possibly a son of Jose Vicente) was a resident of the Los Feliz rancho. His wife had run off with a ranch hand. The pair were captured and returned to Los Angeles. Domingo reclaimed his wife and took her back home on horseback. Somewhere between the pueblo and the rancho, Domingo was found hidden in a ravine, stabbed to death. The one suspected of the brutal slaying was his wife's lover. Domingo's wife and the ranch hand fled into the wilderness after hiding the body. The very first vigilante committee ever in Los Angeles was formed at the adobe town house of Don Juan Temple. A posse of fifty community leaders pursued and captured the man and woman. They were subsequently hanged when the alcalde refused to execute them for their despicable crime.
Dona Maria Ygnacia Feliz was the wife of one of the sons Vicente Feliz. She inherited the rancho when her husband died. She remarried a man named Juan Diego Verdugo and took the last name of her new husband. Dona Maria Verdugo received title to Rancho Los Feliz in 1843, but she may have been in possession of the rancho as early as 1841. On February 17, 1841, the common council of the pueblo of Los Angeles granted Dona Maria water rights to the Los Angeles River for the cultivation of her land. The United States Patent for Rancho Los Feliz was issued in the name of Maria Ygnacia Verdugo.
In 1853, Dona Maria divided the rancho among her daughters "for their progress and welfare." After the death of Dona Maria in 1861, her daughters failed to improve the land and sold their acreage for just $1.00 an acre. By 1860, Antonio Feliz, brother-in-law of Dona Maria, acquired the property, which included the adobe near the river. He had been living in the adobe with his sister and his beloved niece, Petronilla. Antonio died from smallpox in 1863 at the age of fifty-two. When he died, Petronilla counted on being her uncle's sole heir to the rancho, but Antonio's will had other stipulations regarding the dispersal of his assets. Don Antonio Coronel, an early Los Angles pioneer, be came his primary beneficiary. Petronilla was enraged by this and as she stood in the corredor of her uncle's adobe, she swore a curse upon the rancho. She shouted out vexatiously that the cattle and fields would become diseased and die; and that no one will ever profit from this land.
Whether or not one believes in the curse by the disgruntled niece, the Los Feliz area has had its share death and disaster. The river would flood during winter storms causing grazing land to be washed away. The drought of the mid-1860s destroyed a multitude of cattle. Vineyards would become diseased and rendered useless and great fires swept through the mountains and fields. Anyone trying to profit from the land would either fail or die by violent means. Many murder victims would turn up in the brush-covered hillsides and canyons in Griffith Park. On October 4, 1933 a brush fire claimed the lives of thirty-six fire fighters in Mineral Wells Canyon.
In 1863, Don Antonio Franco Coronel came into the ownership of Rancho Los Feliz. Don Antonio was born in Mexico in 1817. His was father, Ygnacio Coronel, was a soldier and an educator. The Coronel family came to California in 1834, settling in the Monterey area. They moved to Los Angeles in 1837, where Ygnacio Coronel started a school at his home near the plaza. In 1838, Antonio served as an artillery sergeant under the leadership of Carlos Carrillo. Carrillo led an unsuccessful revolt against the incumbent governor of Alta California, Juan Bautista Alvarado. In 1843 Don Antonio became the Justice of the Peace of the Los Angeles region. When insurgents ousted Governor Manuel Mitcheltorena in 1845, Don Antonio was the commissioner of the junta (council) which drafted the treaty forcing Mitcheltorena to surrender his office.
During the Mexican-American War, Antonio Coronel held the rank of Captain. In late November of 1846, he was sent to Mexico on the behalf of the Californios to solicit military aid and deliver correspondence regarding the status of the California theater of the war. Coronel took a band of horses and mules as well as the American flag captured from Captain William Mervine in San Pedro. He took the desert trail toward Sonora. Near the Colorado River, Coronel learned that a large body of American troops were marching west to California. This was the First Dragoons led by General Stephen W. Kearny coming from Santa Fe. Coronel dispatched a courier ahead to Mexico to notify authorities of the advancing army while he stayed behind to scout out Kearny's movements. The general was en route to San Diego to combine forces with Commodore Robert F. Stockton. On December 3rd at Aguanga, near Warner's Ranch, Don Antonio narrowly escaped capture by the Americans. Leaving behind his boots and serape, Coronel climbed a tree to hide. He watched as Kearny's men took his horses and mules.
After the American take over, Don Antonio took an active role in the politics of the new government, while most Californios had no interest in participating. In 1850, he served as the first Los Angeles County Assessor. In 1853, he became the mayor of the city of Los Angeles. He was responsible for establishing the first Department of Public Works and he was a member of the school board. From 1854 to 1867, Coronel served on the city council and from 1867 to 1871, he held the office of California State Treasurer.
Don Antonio attained great wealth and influence during his lifetime. He was a successful merchant and rancher. In 1848, he made some money in a mining venture. In the 1840s he began acquiring land in the San Juan Capistrano area and was granted Sierra de los Verdugos in 1846. In addition to Rancho Los Feliz, he owned vineyards and orange groves near his adobe home at 7th and Alameda Streets in Los Angeles. It was at this home where the novelist Helen Hunt Jackson visited Don Antonio and his wife, Dona Mariana in 1881. Coronel married Mariana Williamson in 1873.
The author was in California researching information regarding mistreatment of native American-Indians for her non-fiction work; "Century of Dishonor (ca. 1885)." While talking to the Coronels, Jackson got an idea for a romantic novel set in early California. Dona Mariana gave Jackson many ideas for her book, including the suggestion that she visit the home of Don Ygnacio del Valle called "Camulos." Don Antonio drove the writer to Rancho San Francisco in Ventura County to meet Dona Ysabel, the widow of Don Ygnacio. Jackson fell in love with the place and decided to use Camulos as the setting of her novel. The result was the Indian love story; "Ramona." When Helen Hunt Jackson published "Ramona" in 1883, she gave Dona Mariana the first copy of the book as a token of appreciation for all her help.
In 1883, Don Antonio helped to form the Historical Society of Southern California and served as one of the vice-president of the organization. Don Antonio was an avid collector of Spanish, Mexican, and Indian artifacts. Much of his collection is housed in the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History in Exposition Park. Coronel had many of his recollections of early California recorded, which provided an invaluable source for historians. Don Antonio Coronel died on April 17, 1894. Dona Mariana Coronel died on November 3, 1918.
Antonio Coronel deeded Rancho Los Feliz to James Lick, a wealthy businessman from San Francisco. James Lick was born in Pennsylvania in 1796. He worked as a piano maker and carpenter. He lived in South America for over twenty years. Lick sailed for California from Callao, Peru on the ship Lady Adams. He arrived in San Francisco on January 7, 1848, just prior to the Gold Rush. Lick had made a small fortune in South America bringing about $30,000 with him. He abstained from the gold mining craze and chose to invest in land in the San Francisco area. He purchased land at low prices and in later years, his property increased in value. By the early 1870s he was worth over $4,000,000. Lick also purchased some land in the San Jose area. On Rancho Ulistac, situated between the Guadalupe River and Saratoga Creek, he built a grand mansion with a brick flourmill. His mansion and the mill still stand along the west bank of the Guadalupe River, north of present Montague Road.
In June of 1872, Lick purchased the entire island of Santa Catalina, which was over 45,000 acres of land, for a mere $28,000. He was the sole owner of the island. In July of 1887, the estate of James Lick sold the island to George Shatto and C.A. Sumner for $200,000.
With the exception of an illegitimate son, Lick had no family to inherit the Lick fortune. By 1873, he began giving away his immense wealth. He made many charitable donations to educational and scientific institutions. He met Professor George Davidson, who at the time was the President of the California Academy of Sciences. Professor Davidson turned Lick on to astronomy. Lick became fascinated with stargazing. In 1874 he set up a trust of all his assets to be administrated by the University of California. He gave the University power to sell his land holdings to finance the construction of the famous Lick Observatory.
When Lick died in 1876, he bequeathed $700,000 for the observatory. The University began construction upon the crest of Mount Hamilton, about twenty miles east of San Jose. It was completed and opened to the public in 1888. Today, the Lick Observatory stands on over 3,000 acres of government reserve. The body of James Lick lies buried beneath the thirty-six foot refracting telescope. The telescope's 120-inch reflector is second in size to one at Mount Palomar.
In 1882, Colonel Griffith Jenkins Griffith acquired 4,071 acres of Rancho Los Feliz. The Lick estate still owned the southwest portion of the rancho and there developed the Lick Tract, which later became a part of Hollywood. Griffith was a successful mining engineer and businessman. He made a fortune in mining and real estate. He was a short, rotund man, and was a chronic alcoholic. He was seldom sober and while intoxicated, he was often delusional. He was pompous and he pranced around like a proud peacock. Griffith never served in any branch of armed forces in the United States, but he was given a courtesy title of "Colonel" from influential friends in the California National Guard. The title remained a permanent fixture to his name.
In 1884, Griffith sold water rights to the Los Angeles River to the city of Los Angeles for $50,000. Up until that time the city had free use of the river. Since the river coursed through his property, Griffith decided to capitalize upon the circumstances. On December 16, 1896 Griffith showed a change of heart when he donated 3015 acres of Rancho Los Feliz to the city of Los Angeles to be used as a park. Many of Griffith's opponents considered the donation to be a bribe to avoid paying an outstanding tax debt. City officials were hesitant in receiving the immense gift and delayed accepting the deed to the land until 1898. This land became Griffith Park, at the time the largest municipal park in the country.
For some time, the city considered the property unusable because of its rough mountain terrain. Other sections of Rancho Los Feliz were more desirable. Townsites in the southern and western sections of the rancho were developing at this time. The Lick Tract was previously mentioned; other settlements were Edendale, Ivanhoe, and Laughlin Park. These towns were eventually annexed to the city of Los Angeles becoming the Silver Lake and Los Feliz Districts.
In the summer of 1903, Griffith was involved in a bizarre attempt murder scandal. Griffith had many prejudices. One of his biased opinions turned into a paranoid obsession. He was fearful and despised the Roman Catholic Church. He believed church officials were conspiring to kill him and take his land. These feelings often peaked while he was inebriated. Strangely enough, his wife, Christina Griffith, was a devout Catholic. Christina was descendant of the Verdugo family, who owned Rancho San Rafael.
Griffith and his wife were vacationing at the Arcadia Hotel in Santa Monica when Griffith went on a drinking binge. In a drunken stupor, Griffith accused his wife of plotting with the pope to have him poisoned. In their room, he fired a pistol at his wife wounding her in the head. Christina was able to escape with her life when she jumped from a balcony and fell two stories to the roof of a veranda below. She suffered a broken leg and lost one of her eyes as a result of the ordeal. She was rescued by the hotel owner. Griffith denied guilt and stated that his wife accidentally shot herself.
Officials were willing to dismiss the incident as a mere domestic dispute and did not file charges. The Verdugo family insisted that Griffith be prosecuted. They hired the ex-Governor of California, Henry T. Gage, as lead prosecuting attorney. Griffith was convicted of assault and sentenced to two years in San Quentin State Prison. He only served one year of his sentence. After his release, Griffith continued his civic involvement. In 1912, he tried presenting the city a second generous gift. He donated land adjoining Griffith Park and attempted to give $100,000 for the construction of a 6,000-seat Greek style amphitheater. The gift was denied on the basis that Griffith was trying to buy his way back to an honorable position in local society.
Colonel Griffith J. Griffith died on July 6, 1919. He was sixty-seven years old. Griffith bequeathed $700,000 and his remaining Los Feliz acreage to the city of Los Angeles to be used for additions to Griffith Park. This time the city accepted his money. The park's acreage was increased to over 4,100 acres. In 1930, the Greek Amphitheater was built as designed by Griffith himself. Money from the Griffith estate was used to build an observatory at the peak of Mount Hollywood. In 1935, the Griffith Observatory and Planetarium was completed and opened to the public. Provisions in Griffith's will also included that a permanent endowment be in place to help maintain the theater and park grounds.
Today, Griffith Park offers a wide variety recreational uses. There is a large zoo, golf courses, tennis courts, athletic fields, hiking trails and equestrian trails. At Traveltown, one can ride on a miniature railroad and see actual rail cars or locomotives from bygone eras. Visitors can attend concerts under the stars at the magnificent Greek Theater, or study the stars at the Griffith Observatory.
Photo: LAOkay.com
The old Rancho Feliz adobe is still standing within the park boundaries at 4730 Crystal Springs Drive. Although, it has been substantially altered, it still radiates an aura of the past. The windows and doorways are recessed, exposing the thickness of the adobe walls. The terra-cotta roof tiles and exterior stucco gives the structure an appearance of a typical 1920s era Spanish style home, a look which is quite common around the Los Angeles area. Several kinds of palms and rose bushes grow all about the building. There is a plaque placed on one of the outside walls to the right of the main entrance. The plaque recognizes the adobe as a landmark and provides a brief history of Rancho Los Feliz, mentioning some of its illustrious owners. It was placed on the adobe by the Los Angeles Parlor #124 of the Native Daughters of the Golden West on June 30, 1949. Currently, the adobe is being used as the headquarters for the park rangers.
Los Feliz Adobe
Park Ranger's Headquarters
4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, CA 91711 Map
Park Hours: Daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Historic Adobes of Los Angeles County © 1997 John R. Kielbasa
Unless otherwise noted, photos © 2001-2004 LAokay.com