Betty Edmund: Feminist

by Westside Chronicles, Posted on March 17, 2020

Sculptor, Suffragette.

*Betty Edmund visiting Norrigewock, Maine, 1906*

Artist Betty Edmund moved to Santa Monica from Maine with her parents as an eight-year-old. Her father, as so many did, migrated to California searching for a warmer climate with the hope that it would improve his health. His wife’s cousin Frances Gillis lived in Santa Monica so the family bought a property in Rustic Canyon and built the first private residence adjacent to the Forestry Station. The family pitched a tent under a large oak tree on the floor of the canyon living there for a year while their house was built.

George Edmund was a Johns Hopkins trained geologist and his first job in California was an exhaustive study of the paleontology of the Santa Monica Mountains. In 1907 under the auspices of MIT he undertook a study of the geology of the Baja Peninsula.

His home, reached by a dirt road and behind the locked gate of the Forestry Station, was often a playground and camping site for his daughter, her cousins Adelaide and Dorothy Gillis, and their friends. Betty Edmund grew up with a love of nature and a talent for sculpture. She also grew up with a mind of her own and a strength of character that made her, in addition to an acclaimed artist in a male-dominated field, a dedicated feminist.

California was a leader in the Suffrage movement granting the vote to women in 1911, a full ten years before women were granted the national vote. Betty and her cousin Adelaide Gillis were strong supporters of the women’s suffrage movement both in California and in the United Kingdom. Family stories mention that Betty marched with the suffragettes in London while she studied there.

Unusual for a woman, Betty studied art seriously in Boston, New York at the Art Student’s League, and for two years in Paris. She trained as a sculptor as well as a painter. She was quickly identified for her talent. Her sculptures began finding their ways into exhibitions in Paris, London, and New York as well as Los Angeles.

Portrait of Frances McCormick as an infant
by Betty Edmund

As war broke out in Europe in 1913, she returned from Paris and set up a studio in Pasadena. Eventually, a friend from her Paris days, painter Helen Blum joined her in her repurposed barn studio. Both artists had exhibited in both Paris and London as well as Los Angeles. Betty’s work, “In Arcady,” a study of five young girls dancing in a garden was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1913. It was purchased by an English art collector.

In addition, she joined her fellow female artists in supporting the Suffragette Movement. An exhibition of female artists’ work was organized in a New York gallery during the Fall of 1915. Each artist donated a painting or sculpture to the show to be sold with the funds to be used to support the Suffragette Campaign. Betty Edmund was an enthusiastic member of this group and sent a sculpture from California to be sold. The artists also offered portraits to those who came to the exhibition at half price with the funds going to the Movement.

When the United States entered World War I, Betty volunteered to go to France and use her sculpture skills to create War Masks for soldiers with facial wounds or burns from the war. Plastic surgery was in its infancy and these masks, plaster or copper reproductions of the faces of soldiers who had facial deformities from wounds, were one of the only remedies available to help the men return to some semblance of normalcy.

Since Betty was a talented sculptor and was also fluent in French she was accepted for the program. When her friends queried her choice to go overseas and into a war zone, she told them that if she had been a man she would already be serving in the war and her feminity did not disbar her from service. She was required to have her tonsils removed before going overseas. Unfortunately, she died from this supposedly minor operation. She was 28 years old with a bright future ahead of her in her chosen field.

After her death, her fellow artists organized a memorial exhibit of 21 sculptures from her oeuvre to honor her memory. Held in Exposition Park, the exhibit included sculptures loaned by a number of collectors who had recognized her talent. The exhibition was well-attended and her work was much praised by the local art critics who mourned her short life and her loss as an exceptional sculptor.

Relief of Robert C. Gillis, Santa Monica Entrepreneur — Exhibited, Memorial Exhibition for Betty Edmund 1919
Exposition Park, Los Angeles

The Edmunds continued to live in Rustic Canyon until the 1920s when George’s widow sold the property to the members of the Uplifters for use as their clubhouse. Eventually, the house burned down and a new more purpose-built clubhouse replaced it. Over the years Uplifter members bought lots and built homes, many of them log cabins, near the original Edmund home changing the canyon from a wild natural setting into an upscale suburb of Los Angeles. The Uplifter clubhouse and grounds including the original Edmund property are now part of the Rustic Canyon Recreation Center.

Playa Del Rey–The Beach of the King

by Westside Chronicles, Posted on November 1, 2016

Rancho la Ballona, an area of 13,919.90 acres situated in what is now western Los Angeles County, was originally a concession for grazing rights given by Spain to Felipe Talamantes and Jose Ygnacio Machado and his brother Augustine in 1821. Machado was born in the Santa Barbara area in 1797; his parents were part of the Fernando Rivera y Moncada expedition coming from Mexico in 1781. Jose’s father was not able to obtain grazing rights for any land during his lifetime, but he and Augustin joined forces with Felipe Talamantes and his son gaining the concession to graze their cattle on the land while they lived in the original El Pueblo Los Angeles. Tomas named the land Rancho Ballona. The name was perhaps a tribute to Talamantes family home in Spain—Bayona—or alternatively is a corruption of the Spanish word for whale.

The area stretched from present-day Marina del Rey, Venice, Mar Vista, Palms, Playa Vista to include some of Culver City. Accordingly, it now includes some of California’s most desirable residential regions.]

The land was mostly salt marsh and mud flats until the early 20th century. In 1852, fifty inches of rainfall put the whole area under water, and the area was used for duck hunting for several years. Two creeks, Ballona and Centinela, divided the land.

In 1868 a court decree divided the land into 23 sections, with each of the parcels to have three types of land: pasture, irrigable, and bay. The largest allotment, leading to the Ballona Creek outlet to Santa Monica Bay, was awarded to the heirs of the Machados.

A squatter called Will Tell built a shack on the land sometime in 1870 and created a sportsman’s retreat for hunters at the mouth of Ballona Creek. In 1888 Moses L. Wicks and his partner Louis Mesmer purchased the land from the Machado heirs and formed the Ballona Development Company to develop a commercial harbor called Ballona Port: the first attempt to dredge a harbor for Los Angeles. Three years later, after repeated failure by dredging companies to dredge the harbor completely, the company collapsed.

The Ballona marsh languished until Moses H. Sherman, Eli P. Clark, and Robert Conran Gillis formed the Beach Land Company in 1902 with a group of fifteen investors including Arthur H. Fleming and Frances (Frank) Alderman Garbutt.

Gillis, originally from Nova Scotia, was a pharmacist who arrived in Santa Monica in the mid-1880s. Along with his brother he owned a drugstore before he was bitten by the real estate bug. He began buying the stock of the Santa Monica Land & Water Company in about 1900 as part of a group of investors that included Roy Jones, Henry M. Gorham, and Charles LeRoy Bundy. At this time, the company owned about twenty thousand acres of land—the Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica and some of the Rancho Boca de Santa Monica. The company eventually developed numerous neighborhoods that are now desirable areas of West Los Angeles — including Brentwood and Pacific Palisades.

*Frances Gillis and Mrs. Maddington on the beach at Playa Del Rey*

One of Gillis’s partners in the new enterprise was Moses H. Sherman. The Vermont-born Sherman started his career as a teacher in the territory of Arizona. He was the first school principal in Prescott, Arizona and was appointed state Adjutant General of Education by John C. Fremont, then Governor of Arizona. Known thereafter as General Sherman, he and his brother-in-law Eli P. Clark created a successful business in Prescott, Arizona and developed a railroad that ran from Prescott to Seligman. In 1890 Sherman and Clark went to Los Angeles to introduce the electric trolleys that were successful in New York City. They created the Los Angeles Consolidated Railway and the first local interurban railroad—the Pasadena & Los Angeles Electric Railway. They then built the Los Angeles Pacific Rail, a line that ran from downtown Los Angeles through Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Redondo Beach and back to Los Angeles via Palms. The line stopped at beach resorts and included the Sunset Boulevard studio of popular painter Paul de Longpré, the bean fields of Beverly Hills, the Old Soldiers’ Home in Sawtelle (Now the Veterans’ Administration Medical Center), the Camera Obscura at Santa Monica, and the Playa del Rey Pavilion for a fish luncheon. The route was extremely popular and cost only $1 for a round-trip.

Arthur Henry Fleming was born in Ontario, Canada. An attorney by profession, he switched to the timber business when he came to California in 1896. He was married to Clara Fowler, a niece of farm equipment tycoon Cyrus McCormick. Her father, Eldridge Merick Fowler, was an investor in the Madera Sugar Pine Company. Both Clara and her father died in 1904, leaving Fleming a single parent and trustee of his wife’s fortune. One of his first ventures in Los Angeles was The Beach Land Company.

Frank Garbutt was born in 1869 in Mason City, Illinois and came to California with his father, Francis Clarkson Garbutt. He was a founder of Union Oil and Paramount Pictures and invested in the aviation company that became Lockheed Martin. But it was his enthusiasm for amateur sports that helped him put his mark on Los Angeles. He was an early member of the Los Angeles Athletic Club and worked with Alphonzo Bell to create the Riviera Country Club. He invested in Playa Del Rey along with Sherman, Fleming, and R. C. Gillis. His interest in auto racing led to the creation of the Los Angeles Motordrome.

beach-land-co-letterhead001 — *The letterhead of The Beach Land Company showing some of the men involved in the company.*

In 1902 the new company began developing La Ballona, renaming it Playa Del Rey: “the Beach of the King.” The group originally planned something like Venice, Italy. But the actual development comprised a pavilion, a hotel, a pier, the lagoon, and a wooden speedway. The three-story pavilion included a restaurant, a dance floor, bowling alley and skating rink. The hotel was designed by architects Sumner Hunt and A.W.Eager. About a hundred housing lots were sold. An incline railroad was built to provide access for the home owners to and from the lagoon.

Soon several thousand tourists were flocking to Playa Del Rey each weekend via Sherman’s the later renamed “Balloon Route.” Luncheon at the hotel was part of the package. Other attractions were added over the years, but gradually Abbott Kinney’s Venice (perhaps influenced by Sherman’s original plan) became more popular. Lack of funds, fire, and storms eventually wiped out the pier and the other attractions were eclipsed by Kinney’s Venice and amusement parks in Ocean Park.

Playa del Rey’s unique feature was the Los Angeles Motordrome built in 1910. A wooden one-mile circular track, in its day it rivaled the Indianapolis Speedway. It was a project of Frank A. Garbutt and a syndicate of automobile racing enthusiasts.. Called the “pie pan” and made up of thousands of two by four inch boards, it was very fast and extremely dangerous. Barney Oldfield did a record ninety-nine miles per hour on it soon after it opened. There were a number of fatalities over its three years of operation before the Motordrome was destroyed by fire in 1913.

Moses Wicks’ 1888 dream of a Ballona port finally died when the Army Corps of Engineers in 1916 declared the area too expensive to develop. But the 1920s saw much housing development and Loyola College (now Loyola-Marymount University) relocated nearby in 1929. In the 1950s, Wick’s vision refocused as a marina for small craft. In 1956, however, the County of Los Angeles and Congress came up with the funding to build Marina del Rey nearby; it was dedicated in 1965. The largest man-made small-craft harbor in the world, it includes a tiny park and hotels, homes, and multiple-unit dwellings with beach views—echoing the original Playa del Rey proposal of 1902.

30 years later, the Playa Vista development also echoed the original Playa del Rey proposal. Situated on the Howard Hughes industrial property north of the Marina, it was planned as a dense, high-rise complex resembling Century City. In the 1990s, after a compromise agreement with the local council member and much vigorous protest, it was created as a mixed-use development committed to energy efficiency, green environmental and marine preserves, low-density housing, creative businesses and a walking community. Playa Vista is just the latest iteration in the transformation of a 19th Century Mexican land grant from marsh and ranch lands to a gathering of desirable Los Angeles residential neighborhoods and technology hubs. ✪

This article written by Jan Loomis appeared in the October 2016 issue of the Los Angeles City Historical Society newsletter. It is reprinted here by permission. The mission of the Los Angeles City Historical Society is to research, study and disseminate knowledge of the rich and diverse multicultural history of the city of Los Angeles; to serve as a resource of historical information; and to assist in the preservation of the city’s historic records.

Jan Loomis is the archivist for the Santa Monica Land and Water Company Archives. The archives contain correspondence, photos, business records, and ephemera related to the developments of the company. Loomis has written three books based on this material—Brentwood and Pacific Palisades (Images of America) and Westside Chronicles—Historic Stories of West Los Angeles.

Los Angeles to the Rescue

by Westside Chronicles, Posted on September 22, 2016

Today, in a world addicted to 24/7 news, an earthquake shaking Italy is broadcast worldwide just minutes after it happens. Relief is on its way shortly thereafter. It wasn’t quite that way on Wednesday April 18, 1906 when a violent earthquake shook San Francisco apart. The earth rocked and rolled for 40 seconds and when it settled every line of communication but two within the city and connecting it to the outside world had been destroyed. (A single line to New York and an underwater cable connection to India were all that remained.) For all practical purposes the shattered city was totally cut off from the world and the help it desperately needed.

The earthquake struck at 5:12 a.m. and while the Richter Scale did not yet exist the best guess is that the quake was at least an 8.25 magnitude shaker. It was obvious that this was one of the most powerful quakes ever recorded. The City Hall crashed down, buildings new and old crumbled to rubble, the Fire Chief was fatally injured and many others were killed outright—the ultimate toll is estimated at over 3,000 dead. Injured and terrified residents spilled into the streets and parks looking for shelter. In a city of 450,000 people over half were suddenly homeless, thirsty, and hungry. The water mains broke destroying the water system. Fires broke out almost immediately adding another layer of horror to an already horrific morning.

One of the first critical tasks was to restore communication to the rest of the country and summon aid. Sometime between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. the Army Signal Corps was able to reestablish some telegraph lines and began to send out news of the devastation. By mid-morning Los Angeles received the news of San Francisco’s plight and by noon the word had spread across the city. (There are varying reports of the earthquake being felt as far south as Los Angeles and San Diego. If so it probably was considered just a small tremblor.)

In 1906, San Francisco was the premier city in California already known for its sophistication and power. Los Angeles by contrast was considered a brash backwater. However, many business men spent time in both cities and many Anglenos had family and friends in San Francisco. That morning the California Supreme Court justices were holding court in Los Angeles. Their wives and children were in San Francisco. Gen. Moses H. Sherman’s (who owned the trolley cars rapidly stitching Los Angeles together) wife, daughters, and nieces were in San Francisco and many others were in the same position. There was no way to determine their well-being.

The justices immediately cancelled court and started looking for a way to get to San Francisco. Pandemonium had overtaken the railroads as they were the only possible way to reach the stricken city quickly. Long lines of people were demanding tickets and the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe were scrambling to add as many cars as they could to each scheduled train. Sleeping compartments and every available seat were quickly sold. The justices missed the first train north and started looking for a Special train. However, the situation with the tracks was totally unknown and the railroad decided not to send the Special train.

Gen. Sherman was known for his forceful personality as well as his streetcars, and he lived up to his reputation that day. In short order the city fathers had organized a Supply Committee and by afternoon they had assembled 14 rail cars of supplies and another nine carloads to go by ship from San Pedro. Gen Sherman used his contacts with the Southern Pacific to charter a train, loaded the Supreme Court justices, doctors, and other Angelenos who needed to find their loved ones along with the supplies and started north. In all 28 people accompanied Sherman on his rush north.

Besides the judges, the group included Gen. H. G. Otis, Harry Chandler (Los Angeles Times), E.P. Clark, R.P. Sherman (Sherman’s brother in law and son), R. C. Gillis (Santa Monica Land & Water Company,) the Attorney General, Secretary of State, and other prominent Angelenos. The train had no dispatcher. There was no way of knowing the state of the track—was it damaged or intact—officially the line was closed. There were wild rumors of bridges being out and tunnels falling in. There was no way to know what was happening in San Francisco. Each stop on the run through the San Joaquin Valley yielded wild rumors such as, “Chicago had sunk into Lake Michigan” and “The whole of Long Island swallowed by the sea.” Running through the night, the train reached Oakland Thursday morning in record time. It was the first outside relief to reach the crumbled and burning city.

The men and women were expecting the worst looking at the inferno the city had become from the pier in Oakland. However, the ferry was waiting to take them across the bay, and they were able to begin their search for their loved ones. Finding a lumber wagon they hitched a ride to Van Ness Avenue and spread out toward their homes. Sherman found his wife and daughters at their home which was so far untouched. They were frantic with worry since it was rumored that Los Angeles had sunk into the sea.

Fortunately, all the men and women who made the wild ride north with Sherman to San Francisco found their families and friends had survived the quake although many had lost their homes.

At a banquet held a year later on the anniversary of that frantic trip north the men who make the trip reminisced about their experiences and praised Gen. Sherman for his efforts to help San Francisco and to find their loved ones. As a token of their appreciation for his efforts a silver pitcher and a silver presentation cup were inscribed with their names and presented to Gen. Sherman. Pictured below they are now part of the Sherman Library Archives located in Corona Del Mar.

The silver cup presented to Gen. Sherman has distinctive antler handles and is inscribed on the front of the cup. “To General M.H. Sherman in Grateful Remembrance of all his kindness on April 18^th 1906.” The back of the cup has the signatures of the California Supreme Court judges that went north on Sherman’s relief train. B. McFarland [Thomas B. McFarland], William H. Beatty, Frederick W. Henshaw, Frank M. Angellotti, Lucian Shaw, G. Lorigan [William G. Lorigan], and M.C. Sloss

The pitcher is inscribed with a similar presentation and the names of the others who made the trip to San Francisco on the relief train. “To General M.H. Sherman with Grateful Remembrance of all his kindness April 18th 1906.” Maria A. Wilcox, Mary W. Longstreet, Caroline M. Hicks, Elizabeth C. Hicks, John J. Gaffey, Harry M. Gorham, R. C. Gillis, Alfred H. Wilcox, Frank S. Hicks

(Photos courtesy of the Sherman Library and Garden, Corona del Mar, CA)

Early Santa Monica Business

by Westside Chronicles, Posted on June 17, 2016

Bank-of-Santa-MonicaLetterhead-1890001 Santa Monica was founded in 1875 with a well-advertised and well-attended land auction. The site on the mesa above the bay; the climate; and the promise of a new town ensured plenty of buyers and sales. Lots on Ocean Avenue went for $400-$500. Lots further back from the bluff went for as little as $75. By the end of the three day sale about a $100,000 ($2,631,578 in today’s money) worth of property had been sold and Santa Monica was on its way. Two months later almost 100 homes were going up; two hotels were full of guests; businesses were springing up to service the new town.

The growth continued thru various booms and busts and by 1888 the town was robust enough to support a bank. The First National Bank of Santa Monica was formed by a group of prominent citizens including early settlers, E. J. and W.S. Vawter and Nathan Bundy. The bank opened its doors in the Central Bank-of-Santa-Monica-Interior001 building Third Street, but immediately began planning for a new building of its own. In February 1889 the bank moved to its brand new two story building built especially for its needs. In 1893, the Vawter’s sold their interests in the bank to Senator John P. Jones and changed the name to the Bank of Santa Monica. Their stationary shows an engraving of their building and a list of the directors of the bank. The building is gone now, but it must have been an imposing addition to the young growing town. The interior sported carved wood, brass spittoons, and the Water office.

In that same year, the Keller block at the corner of Broadway and 3^rd was completed. It still exists and even now retains some of the grandeur that it must have contributed to the new town. The three story building housed a hotel on its upper floors and a drugstore owned by W.T. Gillis on its ground floor. The Outlook described the building in an article published soon after it opened.

5x7_005 “The entrance is at the corner of two thoroughfares which the store faces. The main Third Street front consists of two immense plate-glass windows, while there is a still larger window next to the entrance on Utah Avenue. These windows and the glass doors expose the entire interior, which is as beautiful as any picture ever conjured from the busy brain of an artist…It is an establishment that is a noted ornament of the town and we are sure you will all join us in its praises.”

This photo of the drugstore was taken at night no doubt to showcase the electric lighting and displays of goods behind the plate glass windows. Note the stone curbs, cobbled street, and apothecary sign. There are carriages pulled up to the side of the building. The drugstore occupied the ground floor corner under several owners until 1907. The hotel operated on the upper floors was still open in 1960.

Remember the Maine

by Westside Chronicles, Posted on May 27, 2016

Certificate given to Los Angeles school children who gave to the fund to rebuild the Battleship USS Maine blown up in Havana Harbor in 1898. — **Certificate given to Los Angeles school children who gave to the fund to rebuild the Battleship USS Maine blown up in Havana Harbor in 1898**.

Memorial Day has become synonymous with the start of summer—picnics, beach sand, warm weather, shorts, sales—are the prevailing images that come to mind. There are usually a few op-ed pieces pointing out the meaning of the day and maybe a glimpse of a wreath laying ceremony at Arlington or at another military cemetery. Ho hum, pass the hot dogs. It wasn’t always that way.

With 600,000 dead after the Civil War memorializing the dead was a large part of life in the United States for the next few years. Decoration Day, now our Memorial Day, was conceived of as a day to decorate graves and remember the war dead. Gradually as time passed it became a day for parades and placing flags on Veterans graves. Mourning gave way to patriotism and nationalism.

In 1898, the country found itself once again at war—this time with Spain over Cuba. Cuba had been wracked with revolutions and civil discord for many years. The government had invented the concept of concentration camps and was breaking new ground in the oppression of its people. The many Americans who lived and worked in Cuba were being threatened and harassed. The newspapers of the day were clamoring for intervention and the annexation of the Spanish territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific. The government decided to send the USS Maine to protect American interests and perhaps to influence the situation.

The USS Maine was a large battleship commissioned in 1895 as part of a ship building push to match the ships being launched by Brazil and other South American countries. The ship sailed into Havana harbor in January 1898. The evening of February 15, 1898, the Maine blew up with a might roar. Over 260 sailors were killed in the inferno and the ship rapidly sank to the bottom of the harbor. The cause seemed to be an underwater mine floated up against the hull of the ship by the Spanish. The country was immediately up in arms and demanding vengeance.

“Remember the Maine. To Hell with Spain,” quickly became the rallying cry and with William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal and Joseph Pulizer’s New York World leading the charge, the country demanded war to avenge the Maine and toss the Spanish out of the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific. Young men quickly volunteered to serve and volunteer units were raised all over the country. (Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders are the best remembered.) Patriotic Americans all wanted to do something for the cause.

Given this atmosphere, the Los Angeles City Public Schools followed the lead of two Cincinnati school boys and started a children’s fundraising campaign. Students were encouraged to collect their change, and rob their piggy banks to contribute to a fund to rebuild the USS Maine. The new battleship was to be named The American Boy. Each child who made a donation received a certificate as proof of their contribution and patriotism. The certificate pictured is still in its patriotic frame decorated with small blue stars and was given to Santa Monica resident Arthur L. Loomis. As Arthur was only three years old at the time the donation no doubt came from his parents. In June the Los Angeles Times reported that the enthusiastic and patriotic students of Los Angeles had raised over $2,500 (over $65,000 in today’s money.)

The Spanish American War was a speedy affair. War was declared April 20^th and the fighting ended August 12^th. The peace treaty signed in December gave independence to Cuba and ceded Puerco Rico a December. The Maine was considered avenged and honored by numerous monuments in succeeding years. The mast of the ship was placed atop the mausoleum housing those killed in Arlington National Cemetery. A large monument still stands at the end of Central Park. Plaques made from the Maine’s armor plate were sent to cities who had contributed troops to the war. Other bits and pieces of the ship are scattered across the country. Veterans of the Spanish American War eventually became residents of the Soldier’s Home in West Los Angeles. The Civil War veterans called them “bamboos.”

A new USS Maine was built and commissioned in 1903; today the name is carried by a submarine. However, The American Boy was never built and the money collected seems to have been returned to the school districts or used to fund organizations that helped the families of the fallen. The Maine itself became one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the 20^th century. Even after many investigations there is still no consensus as to what destroyed the Maine—a coal dust explosion, an underwater mine, or sabotage. Over a 100 years later, Puerto Rico and Guam are still American territories; the Philippines were given their independence after WW II; and Cuba remains a problem off the coast of Florida.

Arthur Looms was three years old whenthis picture was taken with his parents on North Beach in Santa Monica. — **Arthur Loomis was three years old when this picture was taken with his parents on North Beach in Santa Monica.**

Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park

by Westside Chronicles, Posted on May 16, 2016

carrillohouse — ***Leo Carrillo’s ranch house in Carlsbad. Note the brand on the chimney.***

Although he maintained his main residence in Santa Monica Canyon, west of Los Angeles, Leo Carrillo also wanted a hacienda and a foothold in San Diego County. In the hills above present day Carlsbad, Leo Carrillo built his dream home and lived the life of an early California Don. Leo Carrillo was a well-known actor and showman best known today for his last role, playing Pancho to the Cisco Kid in the popular 50s TV series. Carrillo’s family arrived in San Diego in 1769, and he was a descendant of Don Juan Bandini, the Estudillos and other early San Diego residents. In addition to his ties to San Diego his father was a judge in Santa Monica and his great grandfather was Governor of Alta California in 1837-38. Another member of his family was mayor of Los Angeles.

***The courtyard of the Carrillo Hacienda***

Carrillo's swimming pool with its white sand beach. — **Carrillo’s swimming pool with its white sand beach.**

In 1937, Carrillo purchased a ruined adobe and 2,538 acres of land in North San Diego County and began constructing his dream rancho as a weekend retreat. He built a low slung adobe house, a swimming pool with a white sand beach, a barn, a bunkhouse and added 600 head of cattle and horses.

Once complete Carrillo invited his Hollywood friends to join him for “fandangos” and enjoy his hacienda. Carole Lombard, Clark Gable, Duncan Reynaldo, Jane Withers, and many more celebrities visited and enjoyed Carrillo’s legendary hospitality.

Carrillo died in 1961 and his daughter continued to live on the ranch until 1978. The ranch fell into disrepair and Carlsbad began to change into the current community ofhomes and business parks. The Carrillo Ranch Partnership acquired most of the land and began developing it for residents. However, 10.5 acres including the house and outbuildings were deeded to the City of Carlsbad for a park. In 1990, Alan Kindle created the Friends of Carrillo Ranch, Inc. in order to help the city develop Leo Carrillo Historic Park. Thanks to his efforts, Rancho de los Quiotes, is open to the public and maintains an award winning educational program and schedule of events.

The house and outbuildings have been repaired and once again the rancho looks as it did when Carrillo and his family owned it. Walking tours are laid out and tour guides are available on weekends Saturday. 11 am to 1 pm; Sunday, Noon to 2 pm and allow visitors to see the inside of the house and hear its history. Some of the original furnishings have been found and returned to the house. The park has hiking trails and is replanted with native flora and a flock of peacocks roams the grounds. The house is available to rent for parties, weddings and other events. The Old Hay Barn serves as a visitor center and a small theater that screens a video about the history of the ranch.

Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park is located at 6200 Flying Leo Carrillo Lane, Carlsbad, CA 92009; 760-476-1042

President Visits LA

by Westside Chronicles, Posted on March 21, 2016

President McKinley arrives back at Sawtelle after his speech at the Soldier's Home in 1901. — **President McKinley arrives back at Sawtelle after his speech at the Soldier’s Home in 1901.**

These days the mood in Los Angeles is anything but celebratory when the president of the United States arrives for a visit—snarled traffic and blocked off streets cause delays and aggravation instead of jubilation . It wasn’t always that way though. In May 1901, the entire city, population about 100,000, turned out to welcome newly re-elected President William McKinley. Contemporary accounts of his arrival on May 8^th, 1901 tell of “shouts of welcome from thousands of people heard all over the downtown district.” The din included long strings of Chinese firecrackers exploding in the Chinese quarter, canons booming and steam whistles.

McKinley had been reelected for a second term and inaugurated in March. Almost immediately he planned a seven week tour through the Western states. It would be the first time a president would use the railroads for a national tour. Travelling by private rail car with his wife and entourage, he went first through the South to New Orleans. From there he traveled on the Southern Pacific tracks thru Texas with stops in College Station, Austin, and El Paso where he met with Mexican president Porfirio Diaz. His wife who accompanied him on the tour crossed over into Juarez for an event making her the first first lady to leave the United States while her husband was in office. The next stop was Los Angeles.

The Merchants and Manufacturers Association had invited the president to Los Angeles and timed his visit to coincide with the Fiesta de Las Flores—an event designed to promote Los Angeles for businesses and tourism to the rest of the country. One of the chief promoters of the visit (and the Merchants and Manufacturers Association) was Harrison Grey Otis, the president of the Los Angeles Times. Otis served with McKinley in the Civil War and fought in the Philippines during the Spanish American War. He was appointed a General by McKinley—a title he used for the rest of his life.

The pictures of the day show McKinley and his wife seated in a flower bedecked carriage drawn by white horses moving along the parade route on Broadway. Later in the day they reviewed the parade from the grandstand and then attended a reception at the Van Nuys Hotel. McKinley and his wife spent the night at General Otis’ home.

The next day the president boarded the Mermaid, General Moses Sherman’s private streetcar, to deliver a speech at the Pacific Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers most of whom were fellow Civil War veterans. McKinley fought with distinction during the Civil War receiving a battlefield commission and rising to the rank of major—the title he preferred all his life. His interest in the veterans ran deep.

The photos show a large crowd gathered in front of the Soldier’s Home Dining Hall to hear the speech. Among those present were six year old Dorothy Gillis and her grandmother—Mary Clark Lindsey. “Dana” as she was known in the family was the widow of Stephen Decatur Lindsey, a congressman from Maine. She and her husband had known President McKinley in Washington hence her invitation to the event. Why she took her small granddaughter to meet the president is lost to time, but Dorothy remembered shaking the president’s hand and talked about it all her life.

This photo, printed from a glass negative, shows the Mermaid parked at the station in Sawtelle, the town that grew up around the Soldier’s Home. McKinley, at the center of the photo in his top hat, is apparently getting ready to board the Mermaid for the trip back to Los Angeles. One man climbed the ladder to give his daughter a better view and there is a photographer, also elevated above the crowd, behind the carriage.

Books About West Los Angeles

by Westside Chronicles, Posted on March 21, 2016

bookcovers
Street names, neighborhood names, city names–they all started out as an idea, a project, a dream. We use them every day as directions, addresses, places to go, but we don’t really think about how they came about. First there were the ranchos. Their names are still part of the landscape. San Vicente Boulevard harks back to the Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica, the ranch granted to the Franciscdo Sepulveda in 1839. Rancho Buenos Ayres became Bel Air; a play on developer Alophonzo Bell’s name as well as a bow to the original rancho. Bell traveled extensively in Italy and gave the streets in his new community the names of his favorite Italian towns. The alphabet streets in Pacific Palisades were transformed from letters to the names of Methodist ministers. The streets of the Palisades area of Santa Monica are named for the daughters of the developers. There’s a story behind each name and many of the stories are in my books. If you are interested in the history of your community these books are a good place to start.

Images of America-Brentwood

Images of America-Pacific Palisades

Westside Chronicles