| Rancho Camulos Museum Home of Ramona |
Timeline
1804 Kamulus is a Tataviam Indian village used by Mission San Fernando for
raising small animals and crops. The word "Kamulos" means juniper tree.
1819 Antonio del Valle arrives in Alta California from Compostela Mexico as a
military officer.
1825 Antonio's son, Ygnacio del Valle, arrives in Alta California from
ComposteIa Mexico at the age of 16 (b. 1808) as a cadet in the Mexican
military. Stationed at the Presidion in Santa Barbara
1837 Ysabel Varela (later del Valle) born in Los Angeles.
1839 Mexican government awards Lt. Antonio del Valle Rancho San
Francisco-part of Mission San Fernando for his services to the military.
Antonio is also the administrator of Mission San Fernando. He and his family
live at the eastern edge of the ranch near Castaic
1841 Antonio dies. Land divided among his wife and children. Ygnacio del
Valle receives the land surrounding Kamulos renamed Rancho Camulos.
Ygnacio has a son, Juventino, with Maria Lorenzana of Santa Barbara.
1842 Ygnacio del Valle builds a corral and stock it with cattle. Marries Maria
de Los Angeles in Santa Barbara. First documented gold-find in California on
Rancho San Francisco in Placerita Canyon.
1847 Maria de los Angeles dies in childbirth, no children.
1852 Ygnacio marries Ysabel Varela from Los Angeles; the couple lives near
the Olvera Street Plaza. Ygnacio is elected a member of the Los Angeles City
Council and the California Assembly.
1853 YGNACIO BUILDS A FOUR-ROOM ADOBE AT CAMULOS FOR HIS
RANCH FOREMAN. FOUNTAIN CONSTRUCTED.
1857 Earthquake. Ygnacio resigns from the City Council to devote time to
developing Camulos. Adds three rooms to the original adobe. Plants the first
orange tree seedlings, obtained from William Wolfskill, making Rancho
Camulos the first commercial ranch in what became Ventura County.
1853-1861 Five children born to Ygnacio and Ysabel.
1861 Family leaves Los Angeles and moves permanently to Camulos.
1861-1862 Floods. THREE MORE ROOMS AND A BASEMENT ADDED TO THE
ADOBE.
1862-1870 Seven more children born at Camulos. Of twelve children, only five
lived to adulthood: Reginaldo, Josefa, Ulpiano, Ysabel, Nachito (Ygnacio
Ramon).
1865 Drought. Thomas Bard purchases 42,216 acres of Rancho San
Francisco from del Valle heirs and sells 1,500 acre Rancho Camulos back to
Ygnacio.
1867 WINERY AND CHAPEL CONSTRUCTED. (some form of an earlier chapel
existed in 1861)
1870s WEST WING OF THE ADOBE EXTENDED TO THE NORTH. BELLS
BROUGHT TO THE CHAPEL.
1874 Stagecoach service established in Santa Clara Valley. Camulos on the
main stagecoach route.
1880 Ygnacio dies. Ysabel assumes control of the ranch operations.
1882 Author Helen Hunt Jackson visits Camulos.
1884 Publication of Helen Hunt Jackson's novel Ramona.
1886 Ulpiano, Ygnacio's third son, becomes the ranch manager at age 21
after graduating from Santa Clara College. Begins raising horses.
1887 Railroad service established through Santa Clara Valley.
1900 Ulpiano introduces new crops. Ysabel moves to Los Angeles to live with
daughter, Josefa.
1908 Ulpiano and siblings incorporate ranch as the del Valle Company to
raise crops and livestock, acquire water rights, and develop oil.
1910 BARN, GAS AND OIL HOUSE CONSTRUCTED.
1920 SMALL ADOBE CONSTRUCTED NEAR RANCH ENTRANCE.
1924 Sale of Rancho Camulos to August Rübel and family.
1925 Rübel family moves from Santa Paula to Camulos.
1930 Schoolhouse built for Rübel children.
1930s Aviary built to house Mrs. Rübel's tropical birds. Concrete and brick
paths added to connect the main adobe with the chapel and school house.
Play area established south of the schoolhouse, pond built nearby. Elms and
fruit trees planted at edge of south lawn.
1943 August Rübel dies in Tunisia during World War II.
1946 Mary Rübel marries Edwin Burger.
1968 Mary Rübel Burger dies. Mr. Burger closes the property to family and
public.
1994 Northridge Earthquake. Formation of the Rancho Camulos Museum.
2000 Rancho Camulos designated a National Historic Landmark.
1804 Kamulus is a Tataviam Indian village used by Mission San Fernando for
raising small animals and crops. The word "Kamulos" means juniper tree.
1819 Antonio del Valle arrives in Alta California from Compostela Mexico as a
military officer.
1825 Antonio's son, Ygnacio del Valle, arrives in Alta California from
ComposteIa Mexico at the age of 16 (b. 1808) as a cadet in the Mexican
military. Stationed at the Presidion in Santa Barbara
1837 Ysabel Varela (later del Valle) born in Los Angeles.
1839 Mexican government awards Lt. Antonio del Valle Rancho San
Francisco-part of Mission San Fernando for his services to the military.
Antonio is also the administrator of Mission San Fernando. He and his family
live at the eastern edge of the ranch near Castaic
1841 Antonio dies. Land divided among his wife and children. Ygnacio del
Valle receives the land surrounding Kamulos renamed Rancho Camulos.
Ygnacio has a son, Juventino, with Maria Lorenzana of Santa Barbara.
1842 Ygnacio del Valle builds a corral and stock it with cattle. Marries Maria
de Los Angeles in Santa Barbara. First documented gold-find in California on
Rancho San Francisco in Placerita Canyon.
1847 Maria de los Angeles dies in childbirth, no children.
1852 Ygnacio marries Ysabel Varela from Los Angeles; the couple lives near
the Olvera Street Plaza. Ygnacio is elected a member of the Los Angeles City
Council and the California Assembly.
1853 YGNACIO BUILDS A FOUR-ROOM ADOBE AT CAMULOS FOR HIS
RANCH FOREMAN. FOUNTAIN CONSTRUCTED.
1857 Earthquake. Ygnacio resigns from the City Council to devote time to
developing Camulos. Adds three rooms to the original adobe. Plants the first
orange tree seedlings, obtained from William Wolfskill, making Rancho
Camulos the first commercial ranch in what became Ventura County.
1853-1861 Five children born to Ygnacio and Ysabel.
1861 Family leaves Los Angeles and moves permanently to Camulos.
1861-1862 Floods. THREE MORE ROOMS AND A BASEMENT ADDED TO THE
ADOBE.
1862-1870 Seven more children born at Camulos. Of twelve children, only five
lived to adulthood: Reginaldo, Josefa, Ulpiano, Ysabel, Nachito (Ygnacio
Ramon).
1865 Drought. Thomas Bard purchases 42,216 acres of Rancho San
Francisco from del Valle heirs and sells 1,500 acre Rancho Camulos back to
Ygnacio.
1867 WINERY AND CHAPEL CONSTRUCTED. (some form of an earlier chapel
existed in 1861)
1870s WEST WING OF THE ADOBE EXTENDED TO THE NORTH. BELLS
BROUGHT TO THE CHAPEL.
1874 Stagecoach service established in Santa Clara Valley. Camulos on the
main stagecoach route.
1880 Ygnacio dies. Ysabel assumes control of the ranch operations.
1882 Author Helen Hunt Jackson visits Camulos.
1884 Publication of Helen Hunt Jackson's novel Ramona.
1886 Ulpiano, Ygnacio's third son, becomes the ranch manager at age 21
after graduating from Santa Clara College. Begins raising horses.
1887 Railroad service established through Santa Clara Valley.
1900 Ulpiano introduces new crops. Ysabel moves to Los Angeles to live with
daughter, Josefa.
1908 Ulpiano and siblings incorporate ranch as the del Valle Company to
raise crops and livestock, acquire water rights, and develop oil.
1910 BARN, GAS AND OIL HOUSE CONSTRUCTED.
1920 SMALL ADOBE CONSTRUCTED NEAR RANCH ENTRANCE.
1924 Sale of Rancho Camulos to August Rübel and family.
1925 Rübel family moves from Santa Paula to Camulos.
1930 Schoolhouse built for Rübel children.
1930s Aviary built to house Mrs. Rübel's tropical birds. Concrete and brick
paths added to connect the main adobe with the chapel and school house.
Play area established south of the schoolhouse, pond built nearby. Elms and
fruit trees planted at edge of south lawn.
1943 August Rübel dies in Tunisia during World War II.
1946 Mary Rübel marries Edwin Burger.
1968 Mary Rübel Burger dies. Mr. Burger closes the property to family and
public.
1994 Northridge Earthquake. Formation of the Rancho Camulos Museum.
2000 Rancho Camulos designated a National Historic Landmark.
| Rancho Camulos Museum We are a 501(c)3 organization. Donations made to Rancho Camulos Museum are tax-deductible. For further information about Rancho Camulos write to: Rancho Camulos Museum P O Box 308 Piru CA 93040 or call 805-521-1501 |
| The Tataviam Indians, a fairly small group that occupied the Santa Clarita Valley by AD 500, were members of the Uto-Aztecan language family and spoke a Takik dialect. Their neighbors in the Antelope Valley, the Kitanemuks, and their neighbors in the San Fernando Valley, the Gabrielinos (or Tongva), also were members of the Uto-Aztecan completely unrelated language and probably inhabited Ventura County well before the arrival of the nearby Uto-Aztecan speakers. |
From the beginning...
| Juan José Fustero, who lived in the Piru-Camulos area, billed himself as "the last of the Piru Indians." Possibly the last full-blooded Tataviam Indian — a topic of some dispute — Fustero died on June 30, 1921, at or near Rancho Camulos. |
| Early views of South Veranda |
| The Placita (Plaza) commonly known as Large Adobe Courtyard |
West Wing Corridor facing Placita
1880 Chapel
| Click on Plaque to view NRHP application |
| All Rights Reserved 2009 Rancho Camulos Museum |
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