Chapter 3 – Early Settlement of Simi Valley

If you live in Ventura County, you are surrounded by names that are the last remnants of the Chumash culture that was predominant along much of the Southern California coast before the arrival of Europeans. Point Mugu, Piru, Malibu, Ojai, and Simi Valley are all variations of original Chumash words.

The first Native American presence in Simi Valley may have occurred as much as 12,000 years ago, but evidence suggests that the Chumash people did not arrive until about 3,000 years ago. Chumash settlements extended from modern San Luis Obispo County in the north to Los Angeles County. Among the few Native American cultures to regularly travel on water, the Chumash also inhabited several islands off of the Southern California coast.

Although primarily hunter-gatherers and fishermen, the Chumash people also engaged in trade with other villages and tribes. Besides providing acorns, wild game, and a variety of tuberous marsh roots for food, Simi Valley was well situated along Chumash trade routes.

The western end of Simi Valley (now Moorpark) had a generous supply of fused shale, a mineral similar to obsidian glass that could be chipped into spear points and cutting tools which would have been a valuable commodity.

Three main settlements existed in Simi Valley prior to the arrival of Europeans; they were called Ta’apu, Shimiyi, and Kimishax, variants of which can still be found in names like Tapo Canyon, Simi, and Quimisa Road all of which are roughly located on the prior spots of their namesakes.

After the arrival of Spanish missionaries in the late 18^th century, European diseases cut the valley’s Chumash population from roughly 250-400 to only 130.

European Influence

In 1795, Spanish Governor of Alta California, Diego de Borica, granted the use of 113,000 acres to a Spanish soldier named Santiago Pico. The land, called El Rancho Simí, encompassed the entire Simi Valley, as well as what is now Moorpark and part of Chatsworth. The land was worked by Chumash converts to Catholicism in order to raise livestock and agricultural products to support the chain of missions running the length of California, particularly the nearby missions of San Fernando, San Buenaventura (in modern Ventura), and Santa Barbara.

The California Gold Rush and the admission of California into the United States did not affect migration immediately and in fact brought prosperity to El Rancho Simí in the form of brisk cattle sales to gold miners in the north, however that would quickly change. By the 1860’s drought wiped out the Rancho and soon, American speculators began buying up land in the valley and selling it to farmers. For nearly a century, from the 1860’s until the 1950’s, farming would dominate the Valley.

Migration into the valley was slow until the 1880’s because farming methods, which still relied on rainfall for irrigation, left the valley useful for little more than raising livestock. By the 1880’s, as farming methods improved, small orchards began springing up throughout the valley. When the Simi Land and Water Company formed in the 1880’s, it advertised in the east, claiming (much of the time falsely) an abundance of good land with plenty of water and a perfect climate for growing. Many young Midwestern farmers came west for new opportunities.

Two separate towns began growing in the valley, Simi (originally Simiopolis) to the west and Santa Susana to the east. By the turn of the century, as technology improved which allowed farmers to draw water from the valley’s artesian wells for irrigation, the valley floor began to be carpeted by apricot, citrus, and walnut orchards, as well as fields of barley. The valley’s population remained relatively low throughout the first half of the 20^th century as the valley remained dedicated to agricultural production. Even as late as the late 1950’s, Simi Valley looked remarkably like the picture on the “Simi Brand” label.

As Simi Valley approached the decade of the 1960’s it was still a place where everyone knew everyone else’s name. However, that was about to change drastically.

Sources:

Johnson, John R. PhD. “Chumash Indians in Simi Valley.” Simi Valley: A Journey Through Time. Simi Valley: Simi Valley Historical Society and Museum, 1997. pp 5-21.

Havens, Patricia and Bill Appleton. Simi Valley: A Journey Through Time. Simi Valley: Simi Valley Historical Society and Museum, 1997. pp 23-231.