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.
Vicente Feliz
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 Se?ora 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.
The Rancho
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.
Don Antonio Coronel
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.
James Lick
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.
Colonel Griffith and Griffith Park
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
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.
