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Rancho El Escorpión was a
/ref>LoC-HABS: Leonis (1963); p.3
/ref> Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park (SSPSHP); Ethnohistory
; p. 46. The half league square shaped Rancho El Escorpión was located at the west end of the San Fernando Valley on Bell Creek against the Simi Hills, and encompassed parts of present day West Hills (previously
Chumash- Ventureño Chief Odón Eusebia (1795–), his son-in-law Urbano (1799–), and Urbano’s son Mañuel (1822–), were the grantees of Rancho El Escorpión, formerly San Fernando Mission (Mission San Fernando Rey de España) lands.
Joaquín Romero (1821–), the son of Domingo Romero, who was an overseer at San Fernando Mission from 1816 to 1820, received the El Escorpión de las Salinas rancho lands (non-land grant) from the Mission. He obtained a 5/12 section of land which lay adjacent to Rancho El Escorpión on the northern side (now the Chatsworth Reservoir area).
Odón and Juana Eusebia's daughter, Maria del Espíritu Santo Chijulla (1821–1906), married José Antonio Menéndez (m.1856–1859. In 1857 they had a son, Juan José Menéndez (1857–c.1923).
With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho El Escorpión was filed with the United States Public Land Commission in 1852, and the grant was patented to Odón Eusebia, Urbano, and Mañuel in 1876.
Miguel Leonis (1824–1889) was born in Basque Cambo-les-Bains-in the
LoC-HABS: Leonis (1963); p.4 In the 1870s he became feared and respected, known as the "King of Calabasas," "Miguel Grandé," and "El Basque Grandé."
LoC-HABS: Leonis (1963); p.5 In the 1880s his power diminished "from drought, taxes, drought, cattle rustlers, and losing court battles." Miguel Leonis died in 1889 in the Cahuenga Pass, returning alone from court in Los Angeles when his wagon ran over him. In his will, Leonis left the bulk of his estate to his siblings, a brother in Los Angeles and the rest in France, and denied that Espíritu was his wife. He described her there as "for many years my faithful housekeeper" and left her $5,000 while the estate was worth approximately $300,000.Calabasas Historical Society Bulletin; Winter—2010
/ref> In an 1887 court document he had claimed marriage. Espiritu contested the will and filed a motion for half of the Leonis estate. The complicated case went to the California Supreme Court three times over sixteen years. Her Attorney was Major Horace Bell (1839–1918), also her neighbor who owned the land where Rancho El Escorpión’s misplaced adobes were built in the 1840s. In 1905 the final verdict declared the marriage legal, making Espíritu the first common-law spouse to win legal rights in the state, and she inherited the rancho. However Maria del Espíritu Santo died a few months later in 1906. Her son and daughter-in-law, Juan José Menéndez (more commonly known by the surname, Melendrez) and Juana Valenzula de Menéndez, then inherited the property. In 1912 they sold Rancho El Escorpión, still , to George Platt. He established a dairy operation on renamed Platt Ranch variously called Ferndale, ‘escorpion’, or Cloverdale Dairy. The land was not incorporated into the city of Los Angeles until 1958, and Rancho El Escorpión remained open and undeveloped until 1960.
Library of Congress-HABS: Escorpion (1937)
— ''Parent directory.''
Library of Congress-HABS: Escorpion
— ''1937 photos index.''
Library of Congress-HABS: Leonis (& Escorpión)
— ''history index.''
CSUN Oviatt Library Digital Collections
— ''vintage Rancho El Escorpion images.''
Leonis Adobe Museum
— ''homepage.''
Library of Congress-HABS: Leonis (1963)
— ''Parent directory.''
Map of old Spanish and Mexican ranchos in Los Angeles County
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rancho El Escorpion Escorpion, El El Escorpion Simi Hills Tongva Tongva populated places History of Los Angeles History of the San Fernando Valley El Escorpion 19th century in Los Angeles Historic American Buildings Survey in California Canoga Park, Los Angeles West Hills, Los Angeles
Mexican land grant
The Spanish and Mexican governments made many concessions and land grants in Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish Concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an inducement fo ...
in present day Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is th ...
given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to three Chumash Native Americans - Odón Chijulla, Urbano, and Mañuel.LoC-HABS: Escorpion (1937); p. 2/ref>LoC-HABS: Leonis (1963); p.3
/ref> Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park (SSPSHP); Ethnohistory
; p. 46. The half league square shaped Rancho El Escorpión was located at the west end of the San Fernando Valley on Bell Creek against the Simi Hills, and encompassed parts of present day West Hills (previously
Owensmouth
Owensmouth, California, was a town founded in 1912 in the western part of the San Fernando Valley. Owensmouth joined the city of Los Angeles in 1917, and was renamed Canoga Park on March 1, 1931. Owensmouth was named for the 1913 Owens River aq ...
and Canoga Park
Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and the ...
) and Woodland Hills.
History
A former Fernandeño (Native American) village in this area was called ''Atɨ́'vsɨng'', which means "scorpions" in the Fernandeño dialect of theTongva language
The Tongva language (also known as Gabrielino or Gabrieleño) is an extinct Uto-Aztecan language formerly spoken by the Tongva, a Native American people who live in and around Los Angeles, California. It has not been a language of everyday conv ...
. This is where the name Rancho El Escorpión comes from in Spanish (''Scorpion Ranch'' in English). A peak in the area was also called ''kas’élewun'', which means "tongue."
Chumash- Ventureño Chief Odón Eusebia (1795–), his son-in-law Urbano (1799–), and Urbano’s son Mañuel (1822–), were the grantees of Rancho El Escorpión, formerly San Fernando Mission (Mission San Fernando Rey de España) lands.
Joaquín Romero (1821–), the son of Domingo Romero, who was an overseer at San Fernando Mission from 1816 to 1820, received the El Escorpión de las Salinas rancho lands (non-land grant) from the Mission. He obtained a 5/12 section of land which lay adjacent to Rancho El Escorpión on the northern side (now the Chatsworth Reservoir area).
Odón and Juana Eusebia's daughter, Maria del Espíritu Santo Chijulla (1821–1906), married José Antonio Menéndez (m.1856–1859. In 1857 they had a son, Juan José Menéndez (1857–c.1923).
With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho El Escorpión was filed with the United States Public Land Commission in 1852, and the grant was patented to Odón Eusebia, Urbano, and Mañuel in 1876.
Miguel Leonis (1824–1889) was born in Basque Cambo-les-Bains-in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; eu, Pirinio Atlantiarrak or ) is a department in the southwest corner of France and of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Pyrenees mountain range and the Atlant ...
, a traditional French département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety- ...
in the southwest of France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
. Fleeing prosecution there, he immigrated to Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
in 1854, and was naturalized in 1867. He first worked as a sheepherder for Joaquín Romero at Rancho El Escorpión de las Salinas. Later in the 1850s Romero sold his property to Leonis.
In 1871, Miguel Leonis acquired Odón Chijulla's holdings of Rancho El Escorpión, along with an adobe on ranch lands in Calabasas adjacent along the southern boundary. He used the land for cattle and sheep herds.
Leonis took control of the rancho and added land by bullying, litigating, or buying up homesteaders. Though illiterate and only speaking Basque, he was often in court, with over thirty property disputes recorded. He hired Mexican and Malibu Chumash gunmen to expand his lands by threatening homesteaders and squatters. In 1875, a dispute between Leonis and ex-Civil War soldier homesteaders resulted in a violent confrontation that raged on for two weeks through what is now Hidden Hills.LoC-HABS: Leonis (1963); p.4 In the 1870s he became feared and respected, known as the "King of Calabasas," "Miguel Grandé," and "El Basque Grandé."
LoC-HABS: Leonis (1963); p.5 In the 1880s his power diminished "from drought, taxes, drought, cattle rustlers, and losing court battles." Miguel Leonis died in 1889 in the Cahuenga Pass, returning alone from court in Los Angeles when his wagon ran over him. In his will, Leonis left the bulk of his estate to his siblings, a brother in Los Angeles and the rest in France, and denied that Espíritu was his wife. He described her there as "for many years my faithful housekeeper" and left her $5,000 while the estate was worth approximately $300,000.Calabasas Historical Society Bulletin; Winter—2010
/ref> In an 1887 court document he had claimed marriage. Espiritu contested the will and filed a motion for half of the Leonis estate. The complicated case went to the California Supreme Court three times over sixteen years. Her Attorney was Major Horace Bell (1839–1918), also her neighbor who owned the land where Rancho El Escorpión’s misplaced adobes were built in the 1840s. In 1905 the final verdict declared the marriage legal, making Espíritu the first common-law spouse to win legal rights in the state, and she inherited the rancho. However Maria del Espíritu Santo died a few months later in 1906. Her son and daughter-in-law, Juan José Menéndez (more commonly known by the surname, Melendrez) and Juana Valenzula de Menéndez, then inherited the property. In 1912 they sold Rancho El Escorpión, still , to George Platt. He established a dairy operation on renamed Platt Ranch variously called Ferndale, ‘escorpion’, or Cloverdale Dairy. The land was not incorporated into the city of Los Angeles until 1958, and Rancho El Escorpión remained open and undeveloped until 1960.
See also
* History of the San Fernando Valley to 1915 *Leonis Adobe
The Leonis Adobe, built in 1844, is one of the oldest surviving private residences in Los Angeles County and one of the oldest surviving buildings in the San Fernando Valley. Located in what is now Calabasas, California, the adobe was occupied ...
* Ranchos of California
The Spanish and Mexican governments made many concessions and land grants in Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish Concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an inducement fo ...
* List of Ranchos of California
References
External links
Library of Congress-HABS: Escorpion (1937)
— ''Parent directory.''
Library of Congress-HABS: Escorpion
— ''1937 photos index.''
Library of Congress-HABS: Leonis (& Escorpión)
— ''history index.''
CSUN Oviatt Library Digital Collections
— ''vintage Rancho El Escorpion images.''
— ''homepage.''
Library of Congress-HABS: Leonis (1963)
— ''Parent directory.''
Map of old Spanish and Mexican ranchos in Los Angeles County
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rancho El Escorpion Escorpion, El El Escorpion Simi Hills Tongva Tongva populated places History of Los Angeles History of the San Fernando Valley El Escorpion 19th century in Los Angeles Historic American Buildings Survey in California Canoga Park, Los Angeles West Hills, Los Angeles