Early History
The early history of the area where the Halfway Station is located does not have much documentation.
There are some stories that are from old timers and from some archeologists.
The Native American tribe of the Chumash traveled over the property quite a lot. The canyon to the
west of the Halfway is called Tinta Canyon and a short way in the Rancho Nuevo Canyon splits off of it,
these both have forest service trails in them. It is known that the Chumash used these canyons as trails
to travel from the coast to the interior. There are at least two sites way back in that have paintings. It is
rumored that there was a Chumash Village site just to the east of the Halfway. An arrow head and some
chippings have been found to the north as well.
Rancho Nuevo Campground
The First Residents of the Area
The Reyes family started running Cattle in the area as early as 1852. Rafael Bertram Reyes and his
brothers, Pablo Toribo Reyes and Jose Manuel Reyes, did this for over 20 years with a lot of success.
Stories heard by my father are that they ran cattle from Fillmore to San Emigdio in those early days and
that they were supposed to be getting a Mexican Land Grant for much of it, including the land where the
Halfway Station sits, but it never came about. Their cattle would have grazed from time to time on the
grass of what is now the Halfway Station. They moved permanently to the Reyes Ranch in the Ozena
Valley in the 1880 and continued to run cattle over all of the area until the late 1880s early 1990’s when
the homesteaders started to arrive. The following is a biography of the Reyes family.
The Brands used by Don Rafael Reyes
Rafael Bertram Reyes
Rafael Bertram Reyes was born 7 February 1834 or 1840 in Los Angeles, Alta California, Mexico. He
married on 15 October 1868 at Mission San Buenaventura to Maria Ygnacia Francisca Ortega born 5
June 1852 in Ventura and died 11 December 1840 in Ventura County, California. They had 10 children,
Jacinto Damian born 23 February 1871 in Ventura and died 1 December 1953 in Ventura, Eugene M.
born 1873 and died between 1900 and 1909 in Ozena, Rafael E. born 5 August 1875 in Ventura and died
11 March 1960 in Ventura, Gerard Victor born 24 September 1875 in Ventura and died 28 August 1947
in Taft, California, Rosa L. born 12 October 1878 in Ventura and died 14 October 1948 in Taft, California,
3
Esmeralda Victoria born June 1883 in Ozena and died 1 April 1931 in Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo Co.,
California, Pedro Miguel born 31 May 1885 in Ozena and died 15 November 1966 in Ventura, Rudolpho
Solomon born 22 October 1888 in Ozena and died 10 August 1973 in Ventura, Anselmo Reginald “Bud”
born 8 September 1889 in Ozena and died 26 January 1952 in Ventura Co., California and Mary K. born
February 1892 in Ozena and died unknown.
In 1851 Rafael Bertram Reyes and his two older brothers, Pablo Toribo Reyes bp. 23 March 1830 at San
Gabriel Mission and died 20 July 1894 Los Angeles and Jose Manuel Reyes bp. 4 July 1825 Los Angeles
Plaza Church and died 9 August 1885 Los Angeles, begin raising Cattle in Ozena (actually from Ojai to San
Emigdio). His family ran cattle at their ranch, Rancho Las Virgenes, near present day Agora Hills;
however, a severe drought that year, led Rafael Reyes and his brothers to seek better grazing lands to
the north. They drove 2,000 head of cattle and 1,000 horses over Tejon Pass and down Lockwood Valley
to Reyes Creek.I have heard that before the War with Mexico they were supposed to have received a
Land Grant from Mexico for the whole area but since it was not issued by Mexico the United States
didn’t grant one. They would run cattle over the area for 30 years. I have heard that it was 1872 when
Rafael Bertram Reyes and wife moved to the Reyes Ranch from Ventura, Ca. but some evidence
contradicts this information. The legal notice for the sale of his portion of the Los Virgenes/Triumfo
Land Grand appeared in the Los Angeles Herald on 23 November 1879. He sold it to Miguel Leonis a
relative for $800. He inherited this property from his mother Maria Antonia Machado de Reyes. The
1880 Census says that they are living in Ventura, with a servant F. Manriquez. It is possible that they
were living at both places and traveling back and forth periodically. From another legal notice listed in
the Los Angeles Herald on 2 August 1881 we learn that Rafael sells to William S. Hubbard his portion of
the Rancho El Conejo Land Grant for $300. It is clear that they moved to Ozena by 1883 to prove up
their homestead application. On 20 June 1888 Rafael Reyes was granted his Homestead, which is today
the old Reyes Ranch. On 19 April 1894 Rafael Reyes was granted a second Homestead located right
beside the other now comprising the old Reyes Ranch. On 5 August 1918 the Oxnard Daily Courier
reported the officers for the Ozena Election District and Mary Y. Reyes was the Inspector. The family
farmed and ran cattle on the ranch for many many years. Rafael Bertram died 22 May 1907 in Kern
County and he is buried in Ivy Lawn Memorial Park, Ventura, Ventura Co., California and Maria Ygnacia
died 11 December 1940 in Ventura County possibly on the Ranch. “Maria Reyes was originally
buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in Ventura, California, in 1940. Her "traveling marker" ended
up at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park about a year ago where it was photographed. The closing of
St. Mary's Cemetery was a controversial one; the relocation (and in some cases
disappearance of markers of pioneers and loved ones) made the episode somewhat
notorious in the city's history. Some markers were later discovered in an assortment of
locales including Surfer's Point, Olivas Golf Course, and private gardens. Whatever the
bizarre journey has been for Maria's engraved stone, her marker is in a lovely area of
flowers and wood chips to the front/right side of Ivy Lawn. Rest in Peace, Maria Ygnacia
Ortega Reyes.” Copied from her Find-A-Grave page.
One interesting story that my father, Dale Lingo, was told was that one of the bandits that
used the name of Juaquin Marietta (not sure if it was the real one but there were several
bandits that used his name) was some relation to the Reyes’. One night he showed up at
the Ranch house and of course was invited in. Sometime during the night a posse showed
up looking for him. They searched the house found nothing and went on their way headed
toward Ojai looking for him. It seems that there was a hidden room behind the cupboard
4
and he was hiding there the whole time. I am not sure of the accuracy or even the truth of
this story but it is a good one.
I am sure that there are many other stories and adventures of Rafael. I will add them to
this project as I receive them.
Reyes Family of Cuyama By Virginia D. Wegis When Don Rafael Reyes first came to upper Cuyama in 1854, it was still an unexplored wilderness. Cougars and bobcats stalked their prey as they had for thousands of years. Coyotes yapped and howled at night. There were brown and black bear and even a few California Grizzlies which had retreated there ahead of the ever advancing human migration. The Reyes had owned the Triunfo Ranch at Calabasas but several dry years had left them without feed for their stock so they drove their herds of cattle and horses over the Tejon Pass and into the head of the Cuyama Valley where they settled. The new ranch had springs and a small stream of water, still known as Reyes Creek, which never went completely dry even after a series of years without much rainfall. In 1870 Rafael married Maria Ygnacia Ortega, a daughter of the famous family that traces its ancestry to Captain Jose Francisco Ortega, a native of Guanajuato, Mexico, who accompanied Father Serra to California when he founded the missions. Rafael and Maria Ygnacia had ten children and they made their home in Ventura for twenty years. Each summer as the boys grew older they would ride up the steep trail to Cuyama to help their father with the ranch work. Finally, the entire family rode up on horseback to make their home there permanently. The Reyes ranch house was constructed in the usual California Spanish style. It was made of adobe bricks with thick walls and deep tunnel windows. The rooms were side by side, each one having a door that opened onto the courtyard. Several of the rooms were heated with fireplaces. A short distance from the house was the "horno" or oven, a dome-shaped structure of adobe. In order to cook in this oven, wood was burned in it until reduced to coals. When it was judged hot enough, the coals
5
were raked out and the bread and meat put in. Then the iron door was closed and the food left in until it was done. This oven was still standing until the 1960's when subsequent owners of the property tore it down. Although she was born in California, Senora Reyes never learned to speak English. The children, of course, learned it in school but in their isolated mountain home they continued to speak Spanish. An amusing anecdote is told in connection with this. With such a large family there was always a crowd at the dinner table. In addition, there was often a guest or two. One day at lunch a noisy conversation in English was taking place. "Tia Nacha" (Aunt Nacha), as Senora Reyes was known to her friends, wanted the salt. "Pasa la sal" she requested quietly. In the general hubbub no one heard her so she repeated it. Still no one heard her. At that point she called out in a loud voice. "Pass the salt" There was a surprised silence and "Tia Nacha" got the salt. The eldest son of the Reyes was Jacinto Damien, better known as J.D. He was appointed a U.S. Forest Ranger in the Cuyama District in 1900, and served in this capacity for thirty years. J. D. Reyes was a great talker. He especially loved to reminisce about the days when his Ortega uncles roped grizzly bears. He was capable of talking all day on the subject. Listeners would come and go, other conversations would take place around him, but as long as he could find at least one attentive ear, he would continue his monologue. The grizzlies were very destructive to stock, killing for the pleasure of killing as well as for food. Ramon Ortega, who was Senora Reyes' brother, hated the grizzles for this reason and would track one down, rope and muzzle it single handed and bring it home alive. In 1947 my husband roped a bear under somewhat different circumstances. He had put out a coyote trap on our ranch in the upper Cuyama and he and a friend drove down the road to check it. In it he found a half grown black bear. He threw a noose on the bear. At that point he did not know whether he had the bear or the bear had him. Finally, he managed to tie it up, and with the help of the friend, they pushed it head first into the trunk of the car. They closed the trunk lid, leaving the trapped foot out, and then removed the trap. He brought the bear to the house and improvised a cage. We fed the creature and it soon settled down. Later we let him go free. Another Reyes son, Peter, had a contract to bring the mail up from the coast once a week. The mail was taken from Ventura to Matilija where Peter picked it up and brought it on up the mountain on a pack mule. This was just after the turn of the century and the mail continued to be delivered in this way for several years. Since there were no native fish in Reyes Creek, Pete would stop on his way home with the mail and catch fish -- sometimes in Matilija Canyon, sometimes in Cherry Canyon. He would put them in a can of water and bring them home to stock the family creek. In time he built up a sizeable fish population in the stream. Peter was a lifelong bachelor. Another brother who never married was Rafael Jr. Rafael, in addition to being a splendid vaquero was an expert trapper. He lived in a little shack apart from the family dwelling. Over the door was a sign that said "Salsipuedes", get out if you can. There was considerable meaning to this name since Rafael kept numerous bottles of liquor stashed away under the bed and in various cubby-holes. Rafael was a happy, friendly person. He was also very hospitable, with the result that many of his guests after sampling the contents of his various bottles were literally lucky ‘to get out if they could’.
6
7
From The Quarterly – Historical Society of Southern California December 1945 p. 132 & 134
California Cattle Brands and Earmarks by Ana Begue De Packman
(there are more brands of the Reyes family but none of those are related to Cuyama)
Original Reyes adobe home to right with an add-on in front of it and two story home added in early
1900’s. Photo taken in 1998 by BKK. Photo courtesy of Bonnie Kane
8
9
10
11
12
Outlaws
There are also several stories about Joaquin Murrieta and Ozena. One was told to Dale Lingo in the
1980’s by one of the Cuyama Valley old timers. According to him, Joaquin Murrieta (one of them) was a
relative of the Reyes’s. He showed up at the Reyes Ranch at about dinner time one night. The posse
was hot on his trail. There was apparently a hidden room behind the sideboard. Joaquin hid in that
room while the posse searched, found nothing and left. This is possibly long before the Reyes Ranch
house was built, unless there was a ranch house there in those early cattle raising years. Another
possibility is that their relative was just using the name. History has shown that there were several
Joaquin Murrieta’s over the time between 1850 and 1880. There is another story about Joaquin
Murrieta and the R---- Hacienda. According to it Murrieta showed up at the Hacienda during a
celebration, made advances to a young woman betrothed to another young man. Well if this story is
true there is a small grave on one of the mesa’s overlooking the valley on the trail over the hill is where
Joaquin Murrieta is laid to rest, this would make the story of the posse taking his head later wrong. The
story also mentions several other gang members that have no documented evidence of their accuracy.
That story is found in the Los Angeles Herald newspaper on 2 June 1901. Besides these stories it is also
known that the bandit Tubercio Vasquez used the Valley to travel from the Northern part of the state to
the Southern part, which would have brought him right by where the Halfway Station is today.
Joaquin Murrieta Tiburcio Vasquez
Grizzly Bears
This particular area of the mountains was just filled with Grizzly Bears. One of the stories about Ramon
Ortega states that he was riding home, Potrero Seco located in the mountains to the south west of the
Halfway, from a relatives who lived on the Cuyama Rancho. When he got to a location where there
were a great number of willow trees in the Cuyama River, it is believed to be somewhere near the
Halfway as the river to the west of there is filled with willows. Ramon would have turned to the west
just about there also so it must have been there. He was attacked by a very large grizzly bear and was
thrown from his horse and lost his rifle and pistol. He then picked himself up and had a knock down
drag out fight with the bear with only a knife. In the end he had very few injuries to himself and the
bear was dead. This next particular story was recreated in Mines, Murders & Grizzlies by Charles
Outland. “On August 24th (1882), Ortega and his son were out looking for cattle when three grizzles
came out of the brush fifty yards away. Ortega dropped the largest of the grizzlies with one shot and
felled the second moments later. The third took to the brush; and Ramon turned his attention to the
runaway horse, which had stepped on the bridle reins and pulled up some on hundred yards away.
After checking to be sure that the grizzlies were dead, Ortega sent the boy on foot to bring back his
horse. The lad had not reached the frightened animal when the Ortega dog came howling out of the
brush with a very angry grizzly sniffing at his heals. Seeing the boy, the bear forgot the dog, reared on
his haunches, and prepared to attack. Ramon fired and knocked the bear down, but the enraged animal
was only wounded and now more dangerous than before. Ortega fired again and put the bullet through
the bear’s head. The grizzly fell backward, rolled down the hill, and disappeared in the brush still alive.
He was found and killed later.”
14
The Lost Padres Mine
The Lost Padres Mine was a legendary Spanish mine that was lost and then found several times. There
are several supposed locations for the mine. One being in the Lockwood Valley which is 15 miles away
as the crow flies. The other more likely location is in the San Emigdio Mountains about 18 miles away as
the crow flies. The story that relates to the Halfway Station is the one of an old Apache Indian that
supposedly lived at the Reyes Ranch in the Ozena Valley, about 5 miles away. It is said that in lean times
this old Indian would leave the Reyes Ranch, after he had done it several times he was followed at a
distance by Vaqueros, and travel along the Cuyama River, taking him right over or past the Halfway
Station property. He would travel down the valley to where what is called Apache Canyon today. He
would travel up Apache Canyon and then to what is today called Apache Saddle on the Hudson Ranch
Road. This is the road to the Pine Mountain Club. This is the point where the Vaqueros would lose him
and supposedly why it is called Apache Saddle. When the old Indian would arrive back at the Reyes
Ranch he would have a small bag of gold with him. This gold was said to have come from the Lost
Padres Mine.
The Lost Padres Mine stories have been enticing people to head to the mountains to look for it since
before 1850. They are at least a hundred different stories about it and way too way to list here. The
stories that are the most prevalent are the ones printed in the Bakersfield Californian in March of 1915.
In 1862 it seems a prospector was searching for gold in new places. He came across a canyon at the
southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and traveled up it. He made camp for the night and went to
sleep. In the morning he found that his horse and mule and wondered off. He look for most of the day.
He never did find his horse or mule but what he did find was a flat area covered with decomposing
granite and mixed in with the decomposing granite was large chunks of gold. He loaded up a bag with
gold and headed out across the tops of the mountains headed for Fort Tejon. By the time he arrived he
was all scraped up and almost dead. He was helped inside the store by the soldiers that were hanging
around and when they got inside some of the gold spilled out and the soldiers started grabbing. They all
said he had found the Lost Padres Mine. Samuel Bishop was called in and he made the soldiers put the
gold nuggets back in the bag. All of them did but one. He hid his in a horse blanket. They then nursed
the prospector back to health. For doing this he said he would take them to his find. So when he was
completely well Bishop returned and they prepared to travel to the Mine. When they saddled the
horses the prospector’s horse received the blanket with the soldiers gold nugget in it. When the
prospector mounted his house the horse bucked and they hi off. When he hit the ground he broke his
neck and died. Fulfilling the so called curse on the Lost Padres that no one after finding it will live to
return.
Then there was a Frenchman who found it a few years later. He too was traveling in thick brush. He had
tougher than the prospector as he lost all of his clothing. He arrived at the McKenzie ranch but was
afraid to go to the house with no clothes on. Mrs. McKenzie finally saw him hiding behind a tree. He
was clothed, fed and nursed back to health. He too had arrived with a sack full of Gold, lost his cloths
but not the bag of gold. On the way back to share his find he too died. Keeping the curse alive.
There was supposedly a very old Indian, over 100 years old, who knew where the mine was, they called
him Tucoya. He had been enticed several times to show people where the mine was but he would get
15
scared. He told them that the Priests had told the Natives that there was a curse on the mine and that if
any of them showed where mine was they would die. One day he decided that he would take Samuel
Bishop to the mine. There was an expedition set up and they headed for the mine. On the third day the
old Indian declared that he had had a vision of one of the long dead priests and he immediately left the
group and went back to his village. They never found the mine.
Just before the story “The Legend of the Los Padres Mine” appeared in the Bakersfield Californian two
peons sold an old map to J. W. Kelly, the owner of the famously rich mines in Ransburg, and H. B. Frank.
This map was supposedly to the location of the Lost Padres mine. J. W. Kelly looked for the mine for
many years without success. Harlan Noah Lingo, Harlan Dale Lingo’s father looked for the mine for
many many years but had no success. Harlan Dale Lingo also looked for the mine for many many years.
He found some things but never actually found the mine.
These are not the only stories of the Lost Padres Mine. Many people over the last 170 years have
looked. The elusive Lost Padres is still out there for the enterprising prospector/searcher to find.
16
The First Owner of the Land
The first person to own the land that the Halfway Station sits upon was Frederick Augustus Sprague. He
received the Cash Entry Patent on an “L” shaped piece of land that totaled 16 acres. Below is a
biography of him. In 1933 Highway 33 was completed and the highway cut of the 18 acre piece of the
property. The following is a biography of him.
Frederick Augustus Sprague was born in 1833 in Westfield, Medina Co., Ohio. He was married 23 Dec
1856 in Sacramento, California to Clarissa Elizabeth Smith who was born 1820 in New York. They had 5
children, Hartley born 23 Sept 1858 in Amador Co., Ca and died 9 Aug 1936 in Sespe, Clara Ida born 19
May 1860 in Placer Co., California and died 16 May 1936 in Ojai, Inez born 11 June 1861 in Placer Co.,
California and died in 1870 in Placer Co., California, Iva born 11 June 1861 in Placer Co., California and
died 8 July 146 in Fillmore, California and Nellie born 1 July 1863 in Placer Co., California and died 3 Oct
1872 in Sespe.
Frederick or Frank as he was sometimes called, moved from Placer Co., California to Dry Creek,
Sacramento Co., California in 1862 and back to Placer by 1866 working as a farmer and back to Dry
Creek by 1870 still a farmer. They then made to move to Sespe in about 1871. He must have made a
good impression on the people of Sespe because he was appointed Judge on 25 Feb 1873 in Ventura
County. Things were to go bad for him then because on 24 March 1877 a man by the name of William T.
More was murdered and although 12 people were originally charged Frederick was the only one
convicted on 12 Oct 1878. In the 1880 census he is sitting in the Ventura Jail. He was pardoned by the
Governor of the State of California 29 Dec 1886. Just after his pardon he must have started the Cash
Entry process on the land in Ozena. During this time he supposedly received a Homestead in Sespe that
was sold to W. A. Dorn 27 June 1889. On 4 Aug 1891 Frederick A. Sprague received the Patent on his
property, which today is the land right on Highway 33 encompassing the Halfway Station and the east
side of the highway. He probably never lived in Ozena as they were still in Sespe in 1891 and Clarissa
Elizabeth (Smith) Sprague died there in October 1892. Frederick disappears after this until his death in
1917 in Sonora, Mexico. In Mines, Murders and Grizzly’s by Charles F. Outland he is referred to as Frank
Sprague.
(for more of the story on the Murder look for either the People vs Sprague, or W.T. More Murder or
info on Rancho Sespe)
18
Frederick A. Sprague’s Cash Entry Patent, 18 acres of which were later sold and became the Halfway
Station property
4 Notable Neighbors
Joseph H. Deal/Diehl
Joseph H. Deal/Deihl was born 12 June 1843 Fredericksburg, Virginia. He married on 25 March 1880 in
Fayette Co., West Virginia to Rebecca A. Anderson born October 1846in Greenbrier, Virginia. They had
no children.
Joseph served in the Civil War on the Confederate side in Co C 60th Regiment Virginia Infantry and in the
3rd Regiment Wise’s Legion as a private. He moves to West Virginia after the war. It is not known when
Joseph moved to California. He arrived in Ozena in 1885 and paid the price and started the Cash Entry
process for his land. On 13 June 1891 he received the Patent on his property, located in the mouth of
Tinta Canyon, just across the river from the Half Way Station. It is possible he did not live on the Ozena
property. In a deed dated 30 January 1899 and recorded 4 February 1899 he sold the property to
Richard M. Lyman and either still lived in or moved to Santa Barbara where he was working as a farm
laborer. Lyman would Relinquish the property back to the government and later William Fischer would
homestead part of it. It is not known if he ever actually lived in Ozena. By 1920 he was living in Los
Angeles and retired. In 1930 he was living in the Confederate Veterans Home in San Gabriel. It was at
this time he and the other residents were asked to give a Rebel Yell that was recorded and included in
the re-release of D. W. Griffiths “Birth of a Nation” with sound. Rebecca died 6 November 1894 in
Wetzel, West Virginia. Joseph died 14 March 1936 in San Gabriel, Los Angeles Co., California and is
buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
20
Rebel Yell Nov 1930 Los Angeles, California, USA
From pg 10 of the Nov 1930 version of Screenland, Magazine, referring to the 1930 re-release of Birth of
a Nation with sound. All pictures hear appear to be living at the Confederate Veterans Home (Dixie
Manor) at San Gabriel in the 1930 Census. The home opened in March of 1929 and was closed around
April-May of 1936 as all but one resident had passed on.
Joseph H. Deal’s Headstone
21
The highway in front of the Halfway Station is Highway 33. The highway from Ojai to Lockwood Valley
road, just a few miles south is called the Jacinto Damian Reyes Scenic Byway. Here is a biography of
him. He was also the Forest Ranger for the area for many many years and would have traveled by
where the Halfway Station is today many times. In 1905 he took President Theodore Roosevelt Grizzly
Bear Hunting and it is possible that they traveled right over or past the Halfway Station Property.
Jacinto Damian Reyes
Jacinto Damion “J. D.” Reyes was born 23 February 1871 in Ventura or near there. He married
Glendora G. Butke born 1 November 1877 in Hamilton Co., Ohio. They had one child Gloria J. born 2
July 1919 in Kern Co., California.
In September of 1900 Jacinto Damian Reyes was appointed Forrest Ranger, beginning what would be an
illustrious career. He was so esteemed that when President Theodore Roosevelt came to Santa Barbara
on 9 May 1903 it was J. D. who was picked to ride beside the President. On 31 December 1904 Jacinto
D. Reyes received his Homestead in Dry Canyon east. On 14 July 1911 Jacinto D. Reyes sold his lot in
Nordhoff to Francis A. Crampton. 1915 Aug 20 The Oxnard Daily Courier reported 20 August 1915
Ranger Ball and Reyes and fire guards Foley and Harold Bald were directed to fight against the Matilija
Canyon fire. On 20 March 1922 Jacinto D. Reyes Relinquished land to U.S Government in Trade for land
by Reyes Ranch. He remained on the Ranch in Ozena after retirement working as a farmer and rancher.
J. D. died 1 December 1953 in Ventura and Glendora died 15 August 1966 in Kern County. Jacinto
Damian is buried in Ivy Lawn Memorial Park in Ventura, Ventura Co., California. Glendora’s burial place
was not found. One source says that Frank, Mildred and Mo Reyes are his grandchildren. Not sure from
whom.
22
Jacinto Damien Reyes
For 31 years and two months, Jacinto Damien Reyes served as District Ranger of the Cuyama District in what is now the Los Padres National Forest of southern California. During Reyes' decades on the district -- considered at that time to be the longest stint by a Forest Service employee at any one station -- he witnessed a world of change.
Jacinto Damien Reyes was born in 1871 in San Buenaventura- by-the-Sea (Ventura), California, remained there through his schooling, then moved to his family's ranch in Cuyama where he worked and lived for the next 43 years (near what is now the Los Pinos Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest). He moved to nearby Ojai in his final decade. Reyes' great grandfather, Juan Francisco Reyes (1747-1809), was a member of the Portola Expedition that arrived in (Alta) California in 1768.
In his three decades as a ranger, Reyes served under six different Forest Supervisors, saw his Santa Barbara Forest Reserve change names at least three times, witnessed the transfer of his agency from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Agriculture, and escorted two U.S. Presidents -- William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.
Throughout his employment, Reyes' district was considered one of the most remote of any in the nation. He later recalled, "When I started in the work under the Interior Department we had a very limited mileage of trails in the district. In fact, one primary trail of low standard that led across the
25
Forest from my district to the town of Ojai was the most important, and the settlers in the upper Cuyama Valley obtained their supplies and mail by way of a pack train over this trail. The nearest town on the San Joaquin Valley side of the Santa Barbara that was of any importance was Bakersfield, but since that time oil has been discovered on the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley and the towns of Taft and Maricopa have sprung up where nothing but cattle grazed when I first moved into the country. The distance from my headquarters to Maricopa is approximately 37 miles, and we have a road to Maricopa that is passable most of the year, although it is simply a winding dirt road up the Cuyama River, crossing the creek many times.
Communication was practically nil when I went into the Service, and it required from a week to ten days to get mail from the Supervisor's office."
Several of Reyes' relatives were among the other pioneering Hispanics hired as rangers by the Forest Service. J.D.'s brother, Geraldo, was appointed in July 1902, and a cousin, Alfredo Ortega, also began in the early 1900s. According to the U.S. Department of the Interior's General Land Classification Book's List No. 31 (January 1905), which identified employees transferred to the U.S. Department of Agriculture along with the Forest Service, the agency appointed three other Hispanics to posts between 1900 and 1905. Each of these -- Hermogenes Ortega, Isidro Soto, and Alfredo de la Riva -- served on the Santa Barbara Forest Reserve where J.D. Reyes was stationed.
J.D. Reyes entered the Forest Service in September 1900, and retired on October 31, 1931, at the age of 60. In 1930 near the end of his tenure with the Forest Service, Reyes recalled how in 1854 his father ran 2000 head of cattle through Tejon Pass from Los Angeles to settle at the head of the Cuyama Valley. Reyes noted that Los Angeles, at the time of his father's youth, was "little more than a cluster of adobe buildings around the old Spanish plaza."
Sources:
"First Hispanic Employee in California Region 5," by Kathy Good, November 19, 1990.
"Old-Timer: Jacinto D. Reyes, Veteran Ranger, Who Has Served Continuously for Thirty Years" by William V. Mendenhall, from American Forests and Forest Life, July 1930.
"Ranger Reyes Retires," (retyped copy) from Forest Service Service Bulletin, vol. 15, no. 47, November 23, 1931.
"Thirty Years Fighting Fires in Our National Forests" by Jacinto Damien Reyes, as told to John Edwin Hogg, Touring Topics Magazine, July 1930.
"Twenty-Eight Years on One Ranger District" (photocopy) by Jacinto D. Reyes, from Forest Service Service
Bulletin, vol. 13, no. 13, April 1, 1929.
Written by: David G. Havlick, special projects, Forest History Society.
http://www.foresthistory.org/ASPNET/People/Reyes/Reyes.aspx
Jack Elliott's Santa Barbara Adventure
Gladiator Games of Bulls and Bears: Recollections of Jacinto Damien Reyes (1880)
This post is the second entry in a series of four:
First: Gladiator Games of Bulls and Bears: A California Blood Sport (1800s)
Third: Gladiator Games of Bulls and Bears: Lassoing Grizzlies (1904)
Fourth: Gladiator Games of Bulls and Bears: Sport of Roping Grizzlies (1911)
“When I came here this country was a howling wilderness. It was infested with wolves,
coyotes and grizzly bears; and they did a lot of damage to our livestock.”
—Jacinto Damien Reyes referring to his arrival in California’s upper Cuyama River
valley around 1887
Born in 1871, J.D. Reyes lived most of his life in Ventura
County’s upper Cuyama River valley. He spent over 30 years working as a US Forest
Service ranger patrolling the Cuyama District of what was then known as the Santa
Barbara National Forest.
During this time grizzly bears inhabited the forest and many of the few people that lived,
worked or recreated in the area respected them mostly out of fear and considered them
little else but a nuisance.
In 1939, the Automobile Club of Southern California published an interview with J.D.
Reyes in which he recounts memories of growing up in the unpopulated and wild
hinterlands of Ventura County. His anecdotes reflect the prevailing social attitude
toward grizzly bears in nineteenth century California.
Reyes tells of his three uncles who “could all ride like burrs in a horse’s tail.” He
elaborates on the adventures of his uncle Ramon Ortega in particular, who was the best
vaquero of them all, and whose “favorite sport was tying up grizzly bears.” A pastime he
came to appreciate because of the damage they inflicted to the family’s livestock.
Ramon would ride after every bear whose trail he crossed, track it down and “just rope
Mr. Bear and plug him with a six-shooter.” Once after a grizzly had killed three horses
he rode out the following day on the hunt with rope and a six-gun. Several hours later he
returned with “one of the biggest grizzlies seen in the Cuyama country.” He had lassoed
the bear and hobbled and muzzled it by himself.
One day, when J.D. Reyes was nine, Ramon brought a grizzly back to the ranch and
began prodding Reyes’ father by saying the bear could whip one of his famous fighting
bulls. Reyes’ dad bred them for bull fights in Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles.
The argument ended with a bet and a plan to match the grizzly against a Reyes fighting
bull in the upcoming fiesta. People came from miles around to see the animals attack
each other and cheer them on.
“At first, the bull did not seem to realize what it was all about. He danced around the
corral shaking his head and horns at the bear until the bear began to take it seriously
and made several clumsy swings at him. That seemed to anger the bull a bit, and he
made several vicious lunges at the bear without doing any serious damage. Finally the
bear got in a jab with his forepaw that took the bull down the face. His claws started
the blood. There were wild cheers from the audience and cries of “Sangre! Sangre!” For
a moment the bull stood there licking the blood from his nose. Then the blood got into
his eyes and he was furious! With a bellow that was almost a squeal of rage he lunged
at the bear. The bear met this charge standing erect, and it rolled him flat on his back.
Like a streak of lightning the bull was astride the fallen bear with his forelegs, and
with lowered head ripped a horn into the bear’s chest. That was the end of the bear.”
Thirty Years of Fighting Fires In our Forest.
Recollections of the life of a forest ranger in California, by one who has seen service in
the Santa Barbara National Forest Ranger District since the turn of the century.
By Jacinto Damien Reyes, as told to John Edwin Hogg.
(Jacinto is the nephew of Pablo Reyes, Great Grandfather to Frank, Mo and Mildred
Reyes)
There are only a few officers who have been in the United States Forestry Service for
as much as thirty years, on one district. I've lived in the Santa Barbara National Forest
all my life, and more than half my life has been that of a ranger in this, the Cuyama
District. The duties of a forest ranger are many and of considerable variety. I've lived
through a period of history that California will never see again and I've seen the
Forestry Service grow from a groping, experimental and more or less disjointed,
organization to the highly efficient, civil service branch of the Federal Government that
it is today. Thirty years is a heap of time on one forestry job, so it is only natural that
I've had a few experiences that could hardly happen to men in other walks of life.
People often ask me if I'm a Spaniard, and I have to admit that I am. My father, Rafael
Reyes, was born in Los Angeles in 1834. He was one of a family of five boys and five
girls. They owned the Triunfo (Triumph) Ranch, a Spanish land grant on which they
raised stock. In 1854 feed was short on account of a bad drought, so my father and his
brothers drove 2000 head of cattle and 1000 horses by way of the Tejon Pass into the
head of the Cuyama Valley and settled at the mouth of Reyes Creek. In 1870 my father
married Maria Ygnacia Ortega at San Buenaventura. I was born there in 1871, went to
school there until I was sixteen years old, and then came to the Cuyama, where I've
lived ever since.
How well I remember some of the tales my father told me, and some of the happenings
of my boyhood during the pioneering days in California. Of course, when my father
was a boy, Los Angeles was little more than a cluster of adobe buildings around the old
Spanish plaza. The streets were deep with dust during the summer and in the winter the
pigs, dogs and children played together in the mud puddles. Father was in Los Angeles
when General Fremont came, and I've often heard him tell how he lined up with the rest
of the Spaniards to jeer the bedraggled "gringo" soldiers as they marched through the
streets.
The land that was once the Triunfo Ranch has long since gone the way of the city
subdivisions, but as late as 1878 my father owned five acres of land that cornered from
the south and east upon now Seventh Street and Broadway. (L.A. or Hollywood).
Thinking it would never be worth anything he sold it for $1200.
When I came here this country was a howling wilderness. It was infested with wolves,
coyotes, and grizzly bears that did a lot of damage to our lives. Among the early settlers
were three of my mother's brothers, Juan, Teodoro and Ramon Ortega. These uncles of
mine were some of the greatest vaqueros who lived in this part of the country and could
all ride the burrs in a horses coat and Armon was the best horseman of the three. There
wasn't a horse in the country that could unload him. He was a powerful fellow with
very strong legs. When he got those legs over, the horse could do nothing but take....?
I've seen him practice horsemanship with a stunt that few men dared attempt. He'd
29
string a rope between two trees at a height that would just let the pommel of his saddle
pass under. Then, he'd get back on and gallop at the rope. The rope, of course, would
catch Ramon across the middle. Everybody who saw him do this trick expected to see
him dragged off the horse. But he'd brace himself, tighten his legs, and fetch up against
the rope bringing the horse to such a sudden stop that the animal would all but have the
wind knocked out of him. He used to perform this antic on every horse that refused to
be gentle after his first few rides. Once was usually enough for the horse to learn who
was the boss of Ramon Ortega's saddle.
One day Angel Reyes, my father's brother, went up the canyon and found three of his
horses that had been killed by a bear. The bear was a grizzly, and was just going away
when Angel got there. He had struck down two of the horses apparently for the sport of
killing them, and had eaten part of the third. Angel immediately went after the bear and
got a shot at him as he disappeared over a ridge. But the shot went wild and the bear
got away. Angel came back to the ranch--plenty mad and told Uncle Ramon about the
three dead horses. Ramon listened and then said: "Never mind, Angel, I'll go out in the
morning and bring you that bear." Next morning Ramon went up the canyon armed
only with a six-shooter and a rope. A few hours later he came back to the ranch--half
dragging--half leading one of the biggest grizzlies ever seen in the Cuyama county.
Single-handed he'd roped the bear, muzzled him, hobbled him, and brought him in. The
bear had made the mistake of meeting the vaquero when he came back to the dead
horses for a second breakfast.
From that time on Ramon Ortega's favorite sport was tying up grizzly bears. He wasn't
afraid of any bear that ever lived. When he found a fresh bear trail, the bear was about
the same as finished. Ramon would ride down any bear whose trail he could find. And
when he caught up with the bear he'd just rope Mr. Bear and plug him with a six-
shooter.
During the early days my father bred fighting bulls for the arenas. Bullfights were
popular in those days and "El Contesto de Toros" was usually the feature attraction of
every holiday fiesta. Father raised most of the bulls for the bullrings in Santa Barbara,
San Buenaventura, Los Angeles and other points all up and down the state. His bulls
were famous for their quickness and fighting spirit, and were matched against many a
celebrated matador. One day Ramon Ortega came into the ranch with a big grizzly he'
tied up and started an argument with my father, offering to make a wager that his bear
would whip the best fighting bull father might care to match against the grizzly. The
argument ended with them taking a bet, and arrangements being made to match the bull
and the bear in a contest to be staged at the next fiesta which came on the 16th of
September. I was only about nine years old at the time, but I well remember that day,
when the betting was about even between the bull and the bear.
The contest was staged in a corral down the canyon about three miles from here. All the
settlers for miles around came to celebrate the holiday and to see what promised to be a
show somewhat bigger and better than an ordinary bullfight. The spectators were
gathered around the bars of the corral when the bull and the bear were turned in
together. At first, the bull didn't seem to realize what it was all about. He danced around
the corral shaking his head and horns at the bear until the bear began to take it seriously
and made several clumsy swings at him. That seemed to anger the bull a bit, and he
made several vicious lunges at the bear without doing any serious damage. Finally the
30
bear got in a dab with his forepaw that took the buol down the face. His claws started
the blood. There wild cheers from the audience and cries of "Sangre!, Sangre!" (blood).
For a moment the bull stood there licking the blood from his nose, then, the blood got
into his eyes, and he was furious! With a bellow that was almost a squeal of rage he
lunged at the bear. The bear met this charge standing erect, and it rolled him flat on his
back. Like a streak of lightening the bull was astride the fallen bear with his forelegs,
and with lowered head ripped a horn into the bear's chest. That was the end of the bear.
Ramon paid his bet, and for a long time there was no more talk about a grizzly being
able to whip a Reyes fighting bull. Of course, it as a brutal entertainment as we think of
it now, but it goes to show how times have changed.
During my youth I worked on the range as a vaquero among my father's cattle, and it
was at this work that I gained a lot of experience that has been valuable since I came
into the Forestry Service in 1900. My first appointment in the Service was on a
temporary basis, and for a period of three months. I was assured, however, that if my
work was satisfactory and funds were available, my appointment would be made
permanent. This promised permanent appointment was received on Oct. 4th, 1900, and
I have been continuously on duty as the ranger in charge of this district ever since. The
forests at that time were being administrated by the Dept. of Interior. The Santa Barbara
National Forest was then under the direction of supervisor Willis M. Slosson. The
boundaries of my district have changed several times, and the boundaries of the forest
have changed with relation to my district. On the whole, however, my district is pretty
much the same as it was in the early days, except for being reduced by 50,000 acres in
1928. I still have 40,000 acres, and that's pretty big back yard.
When President McKinley was traveling in the west in 1901, Colonel Slosson called all
the rangers into Ventura and arranged for us to escort the President's carriage in the
parade that was to be held there. There we also met Secretary Hitchcock of the Dept. of
Interior, and Sec. James Wilson of the Dept. of Agriculture. In 1905 President
Roosevelt visited Santa Barbara and the rangers were again called in to escort a
president in a parade. On this occasion, the rangers stayed at the Potter Hotel, one of
the finest hotels in the West at the time, during all the pomp and ceremony of
entertaining the president. By special arrangement the rangers appeared at all times in
double breasted, blue flannel shirts, corduroy trousers and canvas leggings, then the
uniform of the forest service.
A forest ranger is sometimes a game warden, arbitrator, coroner, detective, court
witness, Red Cross Nurse, fireman, policeman, and what not.
To give an idea of the jobs that occasionally fall to the forest ranger, let me mention a
few examples. It was June, 1914, that Jack Warner a local settler came riding into my
station as a messenger of trouble. I saw him coming down the trail on a horse as if the
devil was after him. He rode up to the gate with his horse lathered with foam. I knew
something was in the wind even before I went to open the gate for him. In a few words
he told me his story. He'd come to me with a call for help from my uncle, Teodoro
Ortega. Teodoro had been riding the range at a point some twenty-eight miles from my
station, and stopped at a small stream to get a drink and water his horse. The stream
was low--a mere trickle of water through a rocky canyon and as the vaquero stooped to
get a drink, discovered blood in the water. He knew that the source of the blood could
not be far away, so went up the canyon to investigate. He didn't go very far until he
31
came upon the prostrate form of his brother, Ramon Ortega, lying in a pile of rocks
with his head spurting blood into the stream.
The once boisterous vaquero, with the burden of eighty-three years of life on him, had
apparently fallen from his horse while attempting to go over the rocks at the bottom of
the canyon. Warner assured me that Ramon was mortally injured and by the time we
could get to him it would be questionable where we'd have an injured man or a dead
man to pack out.
Warner had come to my station about two o'clock in the afternoon and, of course, it
was pitch black by the time we could make the trip with saddle and pack animals to the
place where Teodoro was waiting for help. I think that it was one of the blackest nights
I ever saw. We stumbled around over the country trying to keep on the trail, and when
we had to leave the trail to get into the canyon where Teodoro and Ramon were, we
almost had to feel our way up and down, over rocks and through heavy brush. To make
matters worse a terrible thunderstorm was brewing. Warner and I knew this country as
most people know their own homes, but even so, he began to doubt himself, and I
began to wonder if he really knew where he was trying to go before we found Teodoro
about eleven o'clock that night. Ramon Ortega was dead, having passed out several
hours after Teodoro found him.
Of all the dead and injured men packed out of the forest, getting out with Ramon
Orgtega's body was about the worst job I ever had. For many years the man had
probably realized that he might die in the forest someday, and he'd always had a horror
of having his body packed out hung over a saddle. He'd seen a good many men packed
out that way, and it wasn't his idea of how a good horseman should take his last ride. so
I decided to try to carry out the wishes I'd so often heard him express.
We went to work, and I split a couple of boards we'd brought along to make into a
stretcher in case we found him alive. These were broken to a width to put into a couple
of pack bags. We then took the most gentle horse we had and loaded poor old Ramon
onto the saddle. We lashed him to the boards, put the ends of the boards in the pack
bags, and blocked it in the rolls of blankets. We brought him out sitting upright in the
saddle just as he rode through all the rough and boisterous years of his long life. We
just about got him packed up when the thunderstorm broke. The rain came down in
torrents, the lighting flashed, and the thunder banged and roared. It was only when
lightning flashed that we could see much of anything, and every flash left us blinking
owl-eyes into total darkness. We stumbled and fell oall over the landscape until we
found the trail. Then we took the trail mule we had and tied a white scarf over his pack.
The mule, of course, could stick to the trail, and we followed the mule, all this time I
suffering agony from a pair of new boots that didn't fit. Tired, wet, cold, and hungry,
this strange general procession got back to my station shortly after dawn.
I know the horrors of forest fires only so well. I've fought so many fires it would take a
long time to mention them in any detail. So, I will only mention a few of the major
disasters. In June 1917, I fought the Matilija-Wheeler spring fire. With 200 men we
worked like demons for five days and five nights before we got the best of that blaze.
But it was not until 30,000 acres was a blackened waste. In that fire we had a terrific
battle to save the buildings of the Wheeler Springs resort and while we were busy at
that the fire burned out of the forest and into the town of Ojai. Many buildings, homes,
barns and improvements were destroyed.
32
In 1919 I took part in the Tujunga fire, which started in the Saugus District of the Santa
Barbara Forest and burned over in the Angeles Forest with the loss of 80,000 acres. In
1921, I had thirty-five consecutive days of fire fighting with the branch canyon and big
pine fires. The Branch Canyon fire took 10,000 acres and the Big Pine fire cleaned off
15,000 acres. In 1922, I fought the Kelly canyon fire for thirty-one days and when we
finally got it out 100,000 acres had gone up in smoke.
The nature of a forest fire depends on the topography of the country. And the sort of
stuff it finds to burn. I've seen such bolts of flame leap right out of the main fire with a
roar like thunder, shoot through the air and set fire to new tinder as much as a quarter of
a mile away. When a fire fighting crew gets caught in that sort of stuff, there's nothing
much to do but to run, and then try to check the flames at some more favorable point.
And if you really want to see what a good fire is like, you should see it get into a stand
of big juniper trees. Juniper trees can be as green as cienega grass, but they're all full of
resin and inflammable oil. When the fire hits 'em they go as if they're soaked with
gasoline. And, late in the summer when they get pretty dry they're about the same as
gunpowder. If you're near one when the fire gets closed ot it, you'd better high tail for
open ground. A dry juniper literally explodes in a hot fire, throwing burning embers in
all directions and with the most terrific heat imaginable. They also make a dense black
smoke, and that smoke seems to be largely gas that keeps on burning high in the air.
I'm rather proud of the fact that in all the firefighting I've done I've never lost a man. Of
course, I've had quite a number of men pretty badly burned and have been burned
plenty of times myself. But I've never had any of my men roasted alive as can so easily
happen. So any things can happen when a crew of men are fighting a fire. a ranger has
to watch his men every minute to keep them from getting into trouble, and this is
especially true when working with an inexperienced gang of fighters. A sudden change
of wind. Lowering barometer, or the fire jumping from one kind of vegetation to
another can change the whole complexion of that fire.
Jacinto Damien Reyes
For 31 years and two months, Jacinto Damien Reyes served as District Ranger of the
Cuyama District in what is now the Los Padres National Forest of southern California.
During Reyes' decades on the district -- considered at that time to be the longest stint by
a Forest Service employee at any one station -- he witnessed a world of change.
Jacinto Damien Reyes was born in 1871 in San Buenaventura-by-the-Sea (Ventura),
California, remained there through his schooling, then moved to his family's ranch in
Cuyama where he worked and lived for the next 43 years (near what is now the Los
Pinos Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest). He moved to nearby Ojai in
his final decade. Reyes' great grandfather, Juan Francisco Reyes (1747-1809), was a
member of the Portola Expedition that arrived in (Alta) California in 1768.
In his three decades as a ranger, Reyes served under six different Forest Supervisors,
saw his Santa Barbara Forest Reserve change names at least three times, witnessed the
transfer of his agency from the Department of the Interior to the Department of
Agriculture, and escorted two U.S. Presidents -- William McKinley and Theodore
Roosevelt.
Throughout his employment, Reyes' district was considered one of the most remote of
any in the nation. He later recalled, "When I started in the work under the Interior
Department we had a very limited mileage of trails in the district. In fact, one primary
33
trail of low standard that led across the Forest from my district to the town of Ojai was
the most important, and the settlers in the upper Cuyama Valley obtained their supplies
and mail by way of a pack train over this trail. The nearest town on the San Joaquin
Valley side of the Santa Barbara that was of any importance was Bakersfield, but since
that time oil has been discovered on the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley and the
towns of Taft and Maricopa have sprung up where nothing but cattle grazed when I
first moved into the country. The distance from my headquarters to Maricopa is
approximately 37 miles, and we have a road to Maricopa that is passable most of the
year, although it is simply a winding dirt road up the Cuyama River, crossing the creek
many times.
Communication was practically nil when I went into the Service, and it required from a
week to ten days to get mail from the Supervisor's office."
Several of Reyes' relatives were among the other pioneering Hispanics hired as rangers
by the Forest Service. J.D.'s brother, Geraldo, was appointed in July 1902, and a cousin,
Alfredo Ortega, also began in the early 1900s. According to the U.S. Department of the
Interior's General Land Classification Book's List No. 31 (January 1905), which
identified employees transferred to the U.S. Department of Agriculture along with the
Forest Service, the agency appointed three other Hispanics to posts between 1900 and
1905. Each of these -- Hermogenes Ortega, Isidro Soto, and Alfredo de la Riva --
served on the Santa Barbara Forest Reserve where J.D. Reyes was stationed.
J.D. Reyes entered the Forest Service in September 1900, and retired on October 31,
1931, at the age of 60. In 1930 near the end of his tenure with the Forest Service, Reyes
recalled how in 1854 his father ran 2000 head of cattle through Tejon Pass from Los
Angeles to settle at the head of the Cuyama Valley. Reyes noted that Los Angeles, at
the time of his father's youth, was "little more than a cluster of adobe buildings around
the old Spanish plaza."
Sources:
"First Hispanic Employee in California Region 5," by Kathy Good, November 19,
1990.
"Old-Timer: Jacinto D. Reyes, Veteran Ranger, Who Has Served Continuously for
Thirty Years" by William V. Mendenhall, (photocopy) from American Forests and
Forest Life, July 1930.
"Ranger Reyes Retires," (retyped copy) from Forest Service Service Bulletin, vol. 15,
no. 47, November 23, 1931.
"Thirty Years Fighting Fires in Our National Forests" by Jacinto Damien Reyes, as told
to John Edwin Hogg, Touring Topics Magazine, July 1930.
"Twenty-Eight Years on One Ranger District" (photocopy) by Jacinto D. Reyes, from
Forest Service Service Bulletin, vol. 13, no. 13, April 1, 1929.
Written by: David Havlick, special projects, Forest History Society
Other sites: National Park Service
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/5views/5views5h22.htm
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/newslog/march2003/history/reyes.html
34
HISTORIC SITES
Los Padres National Forest, Ventura County
Jacinto Damien Reyes (or J. D., as he was affectionately known) deserves public recognition for
his outstanding contributions to forest management and conservation in Ventura County. During
his 32-year tenure as a forest ranger in the Cuyama District of the Los Padres National Forest,
Reyes supervised firefighting units at such major disasters as the June 1917 Matilija-Wheeler
Springs fire, which burned 30,000 acres and threatened the town of Ojai; the 1919 Tujunga fire,
with a loss of 80,000 acres; the 1921 Branch Canyon and Big Pine fires, which together
decimated 25,000 acres; the 1922 Kelly Canyon fire, which destroyed 100,000 acres; and the
1928 Aliso Canyon fire, which ruined 43,000 acres. In addition to these major conflagrations,
innumerable smaller blazes were extinguished under Reyes' supervision.
Despite the destruction caused by these fires, the ever-present danger of injury or death, the
extreme heat, and the horrendous hours that usually extended into days (it took, for example, 35
consecutive days of firefighting to put out the Branch Canyon and Big Pine fires), as well as the
makeshift support facilities maintained for early firefighters, Reyes never lost a man from one of
his units. That is a remarkable record considering how many firefighting units Reyes supervised,
the number and intensity of the blazes they fought, and the often treacherous terrain, slashed by
canyons and ravines, over which the men moved. Experience in the field enabled Reyes to
explain:
A ranger has to watch his men every minute to keep them from getting into trouble, and this is
especially true when working with an inexperienced gang of fighters. A sudden change of wind, a
lowering barometer or the fire jumping from one kind of vegetation to another can change the
whole complexion of a fire quicker than a Spaniard can say "Hasta la vista. "If you do not watch
your business, you can get all your men trapped in the fire as easily as starting a forest fire. (J.
D. Reyes, Touring Topics, p. 55)
Reyes' concern for his men was matched by his concern for the environment. He was an early
advocate of reforestation, a policy not officially adopted by the Forest Service until
approximately 1910. But Reyes, a native of San Buenaventura whose father, Rafael Reyes, had
first migrated to the Cuyama Valley in 1854 in search of feed for his stock and whose maternal
uncles were noted vaqueros in the area, was intimately aware of the importance of the forests,
not only to native wildlife but to farmers in the San Fernando Valley. His conservation and
reforestation efforts created a debt that few have acknowledged and that none can repay.
Accepted by the Forest Service in 1900 as a temporary employee, Reyes received a permanent
appointment on October 4, 1900. The following year, Reyes and other rangers in the area
escorted President William McKinley through Ventura during a parade arranged in honor of the
President. In 1905, Reyes was again present at a parade held in honor of another President,
Theodore Roosevelt, and rode through the streets of Santa Barbara on "the right side of the
35
president's carriage." (Touring Topics, p. 54) While such celebrations no doubt provided a
welcome respite from the daily round of the ranger's duties, Reyes spent most of his time in the
Cuyama District itself. He lived with his mother and brothers on their homestead at the mouth of
Reyes Creek.
His father and uncles had built a set of adobe buildings on the land in 1855. After J. D.'s
marriage in 1915 to Glendora G. Butke, he and his wife built a home for themselves only a
quarter of a mile away from the Reyes' homestead.
During Reyes' tenure as a ranger in the Cuyama District, he witnessed and occasionally
implemented impressive changes in the area under his supervision. In an interview, copyrighted
in 1939 by the Automobile Club of Southern California, he described some of these changes:
When I went to work with the Forest Service, we had practically no roads and very few trails. In
fact when I became a ranger, we only had one primary trail and a pretty poor trail at that, that
led across the mountains to the town of Ojai. We and all the early settlers used to get out mail
and supplies over that trail by pack train. . . . Now we have a road that is passable for
automobiles most of the year although it is only a winding dirt road up the Cuyama River. . . .
(Reyes, Touring Topics, p. 55)
Reyes, although apparently a good story-teller, was a self-effacing man who never boasted of the
work he had done to open trails through the Cuyama District, preferring instead to comment that
"it is with considerable pride that I have watched the gradual development of the Cuyama
District. . . ." (Ibid.) Others, however, were quick to acknowledge the role he had played in
making the Cuyama District more accessible to the public. Forest H. Cook, Headmaster of the
Thacher School, wrote a letter at the time of Reyes' retirement, in which he noted:
that for twenty years Thacher camping parties enjoyed J. D. 's hospitality and that the success of
their trips was due to his fine work in keeping the mountain trails open. The Thacher boys often
remarked that when they got into J. D.'s district, trails were well ditched and in good repair . . .
and J. D.'s career . . . has been a great lesson to Thacher boys. (Ibid.)
Similarly, Morgan Barnes, another Thacher teacher, noted "that the Thacher students look
forward to visits to the Cuyama and look backward upon these occasions with the most
delightful recollection." (Ibid.) Reyes obviously was popular with visitors to the Cuyama
District, and may be the only ranger in the service ever to have had an ode published praising his
work.
Certainly, the responsibility for campers, hunters, and fishermen is an important part of any
ranger's duty, but a good ranger, as Reyes knew, is much more: "coroner, detective, court
witness, Red Cross nurse, fireman, policeman," all rolled into one. What sets Reyes apart from
his contemporaries and from those who followed him was that he was the only ranger in the U.S.
Forest Service to work 30 years in one district, a district that included 450,000 acres (reduced in
1928 to 400,000).
36
Chicanos have made important contributions to the entire community by their work in a variety
of fields, and Reyes is an outstanding example of a Chicano humanist, environmentalist, and
conservationist. His efforts to preserve and protect the Los Padres National Forest deserve
recognition.
Los Padres National Forest (right), Ventura County
The Reyes family homestead at Ozena in the Upper Cuyama Valley from “Touring Toppis” July 1930.
They were doing an article on J.D. Reyes as the first Forest Ranger in that portion of the National Forest
(1900-1932). More in Bonnie Kane’s book #4, pgs. 165-172. The Forest was fist called the Pine Mountain
Forest Reserve in 1891, Santa Barbara National Forest in 1908 and Los Padres National Forest in 1936.
37
Another notable neighbor was Paul Meloan, although he had moved to Taft by the time the Halfway
Station was built. He homesteaded property in Round Spring Canyon, which is just down the road from
the Halfway Station. He, along with his mother-in-law came out to California in about 1915 from Illinois.
He played Major League Baseball for the Chicago Whitesox and the St. Louis Browns. His biography is
below.
Paul B. Meloan
Paul B. Meloan was born 23 August 1888 in Paynesville, Pike Co., Missouri. He married on 14 January
1911 in Chicago, Illinois to Ruth Hazel Crowley born 13 May 1889 in Johnsonville, Illinois. They had one
daughter, Evelyn L. born 1 August 1915 in San Francisco, California.
In 1908 he started his professional Baseball career with the Jacksonville, Illinois Lunatics. In early 1910
he was playing with the Chicago Americans Baseball team and then at the end of 1910 he played one
game with the Chicago Whitesox. Then in 1912 he played the whole season with the St. Louis Browns
Major league Baseball team. His position was right field and his nickname was “Molly”. According to
Wikipedia he has a lifetime batting average of .253 with 3 Homeruns and 38 Runs Batted In. The moved
to California in 1913. In 1913 he played for the Venice Tigers in the Pacific Coast League. It was in 1915
or 1916 that he moved to Ozena with his wife Ruth, following his Mother-in-Law Emma Crowley. In the
1916 Ventura County City Directory he is still calling himself a Ball Player, but by 1918 he is a Rancher.
The Oxnard Daily Courier on 5 August 1918 listed the Officers for the Ozena Election District and R. H.
Meloan was one of the judges. A report comes from Miami, Oklahoma in the 27th of March 1920 that
Paul Maloan, a Sioux City Western League outfielder, had been sold outright to North Yakima in the
Pacific International League. It is interesting, and Baseballreference.com confirms it, but it would have
cost more than a minor league salary to travel from California back to the Midwest or to Washington so
this is interesting. His wife must have been living on the Ozena property for on 28 April 1920 Paul
Meloan received his Homestead located at Round Spring. But in the 1920 census they are living in Taft,
on Center Street, and he is working as a house carpenter, he must not have actually played for Yakima.
By 1930 they had moved to 531 Philippine Street in Taft and would remain there the remainder of their
lives. Paul Meloan died 11 February 1950 in Taft and Ruth died 20 September 1970 in Taft. They are
both buried in a niche inside the chapel in the Westside Cemetery in Taft.
38
1911 Paul Meloan Baseball Card
39
1912 Louisville, Kentucky – American Association Team
1913 Paul Meloan Baseball Card – Venice Tigers Pacific in the Coast League
40
http://.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Paul_Meloan
http://.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Paul_Meloan
41
42
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/meloapa01.shtml?redir
http://www/
43
Ralph Emerson Akin was born 24 January 1833 in Gosnell, Dukes Co., Massachusetts. He married 30
November 1905 in Chilmark, Dukes Co., Massachusetts to Jane Evelyn Flanders born 12 December 1884
in Ayer, Middleton Co., Massachusetts. They had 3 children, Ralph Emmerson born 1 November 1906
Chilmark, Dukes Co., Massachusetts and died 17 November 1993 in Santa Barbara., Ruth born 1908
Chilmark, Dukes Co., Massachusetts and Evelyn Stewart born 3 June 1909 Peace Dale, Rhode Island and
died 11 December 1909 Chilmark, Dukes Co., Massachusetts. Jane Evelyn married 2nd George Herbert
“Pop” Robertson born 18 January 1871 in Hinds, Mississippi. They had 2 children, George Herbert Jr.
born 2 August 1921 in Maricopa and died 17 February 2002 Tubac, Santa Cruz Co., Arizona and Nancy J.
born 21 December 1922 in Maricopa and died 8 March 1987 in Santa Barbara (She married Emery
Brandt).
In 1910 they were living in South Kingston, Washington Co., Rhode Island where Ralph was working as a
Chauffer for a private family. They must have left for California right after this as Ralph Jr. told me they
came in 1909/1910. He also said they road over the wagon road from Matilija to Ozena in a wagon. The
Oxnard Daily Courier on 23 July 1915 listed the Ozena Election District Officers and Mrs. Jane E. Akin was
the Inspector. Ralph Emmerson Sr. died 8 December 1916 and he is buried in the Midway Cemetery in
Taft, Kern Co., California. On 16 January 1919 Evelyn Akin widow of Ralph received her Homestead
located at what is today Hwy 33 at Round Spring Canyon. Although they were living on the Homestead
Evelyn was working as a Clerk in a Drug Store in Maricopa in 1920. In 1930 The Robertson’s were living
in Simi, Ventura Co., California where she was working as a Nurse for a private family and he was a
proprietor of a Service Station. Sometime after this, the early 1940”s, they moved back to the
Homestead and Pop converted an old outbuilding into a store called “Pop’s Place” or locally “The
Country Club”. He and his talking dog “Cry Baby” would greet customers. Robert Allbright has some
interesting notes in his book. “Pop would hide a piece of meat behind his back, and then ask ‘who was
that lady who used to feed you when you were a baby?’ Cry baby would lick his lips and mutter
‘MAMA.’ ‘I Know I Know, Pop would go on but whose Mama’ and cry baby would say ‘MY Mama.’ With
that he would get his reward.” Allbright also says that Pop’s specialty was making rattlesnake necklaces
by boiling the snake then taking out the bones and separating them and putting them on a string. Pop
would also claim that he was the biggest liar in Ventura County adding his “By Jove”. Pop would live in
the store or with Walt Herrington and Jane lived in the ranch house. Scotty Duling ran the store when
Pop lived with Herrington. Jane Evelyn died 25 December 1961 in Santa Barbara and George Robertson
died 8 October 1963 in Santa Barbara. They are both buried in the Santa Barbara Cemetery.
This is the old Coke Machine from Pop’s Place that was moved across the river to Pete Reyes Ranch
44
45
46
47
Apache School House
The trees just to the south of the property line by the road going into the Tinta/Rancho Nueveo Canyons
was the site of a well visited hunting camp between 1900 and 1915. This would also become the site of
the permanent location of the Apache School House. It was a one room school house where the
children of the Ozena Valley would come to school. Originally it was a movable building that moved
from one location to another but it finally settled there. It would later be moved to the side of the road
on the Powers property, at the mouth of Corral Canyon, and used as a home for many years by one of
the local families. It was torn down a few years ago when the owners sold the property. There several
stories from 1901 and 1905 where the teachers that would agree to work in the valley would have
harrowing experiences with either bears of Mountain Lions but it is not known if this happen right next
to where the Halfway is today or just in the area.
This is right about where the Apache School House was located, just outside the fence of the Halfway
Station Property. It was taken in 1910.
48
Highway 33
After many years of trying to get a road into the area from Ventura the State finally did build one which
was completed in October of 1933. The following pages are stories about the Highway.
The Maricopa Road by Sol N. Sheridan listing J. I. Wagy as backing the project.
49
Invitation to party at the completion of the Maricopa Road at Wagy’s Ranch
50
The Builders of the Halfway Station
The records at the Ventura County Recorder’s Office have not been fully searched yet as to the
progression of the ownership of the whole 10 acres. It is known that sometime in the 1940’s or possibly
earlier a man by the name of Tom Griffin bought the property. Since the 18 acres that the Halfway
Station sits on was separate from the rest of the Property sometime before 1948 he sold the 19 acres to
the Thiers brothers. They are the ones that in 1948 or 1949 built the Halfway Station, the house, cabins
and garage. They also had gas pumps installed. The following are biographies of the Theirs Brothers.
Edward Henry “Butch” Thiers
Edward Henry “Butch” Thiers was born 30 September 1907 in Carroll Co., Iowa. As far as I know he was
unmarried
In 1935 he was in Chicago, Illinois and moved to Los Angeles by 1940 with his sister Mae and his brother
Leo and 3 nieces, where he was working as a Service man in a used car lot. He fought in World War II as
a Tec 5 in the 48th Tank Battalion. Butch and Lee bought 10 or 18 acres from Tom Griffin, who now
owned the Sprague Homestead in Ozena, in 1948 and in 1948 and 1949 built the Halfway Station Café
and its gas pumps, now gone because of Ventura counties ridiculous fees, and garage. In 1957 he was in
the Taft, California City Directory as being the owner of Ed’s Trading Post 370 California Street Maricopa,
California. Butch died 1 December 1969 in Ventura and is buried in the Westside Cemetery in Taft,
California.
51
Leo Joseph “Lee” Thiers was born 30 April 1901 in Carroll Co., Iowa. He married Edith Emily Darling
born 1906 in North Dakota. They had 3 children, Rosemary born 1926 in Chicago, Illinois, Arlene born
1927 in North Dakota and Estelle born 1929 in Chicago.
In 1930 he and his wife and children and his brother Edward were in Chicago, Illinois where he owned
his own automotive repair shop. He and his first wife split sometime around 1934. In 1935 he was living
in Tucson, Arizona but had moved in with his Brother Edward “Butch” and Sister Mae in Los Angeles,
where he was working as a mechanic in a repair shop. Lee and Butch bought 10 or 18 acres from Tom
Griffin, who now owned the Sprague Homestead in Ozena, in 1948 and in 1948 and 1949 built the
Halfway Station Café and its gas pumps, now gone because of Ventura counties ridiculous fees, and
garage. In 1957 he was in the Taft, California City Directory as being the owner of Ed’s Trading Post 370
California Street Maricopa, California. He married 2nd 18 October 1969 in Imperial Co., California Virdie
Lou Hopper born 16 October 1917 Banks, Bradley, Co., Arkansas died 15 July 1996 Yolo Co., California.
He married 3rd 8 March 1971 in Madera Co., California Donna Murchant born 1911 and married 4th 20
June 1973 in Kern County to Hazel Olivia Calloway born 19 December 1907. Lee died 8 October 1993 in
Waldron, Scott Co., Arkansas. Hazel died 14 August 1985 in Taft and both Lee and Hazel are buried in
the Westside Cemetery in Taft.
Transcript of Obituary from the Daily Midway Driller from westcemetery.com
Graveside funeral services will be held in the West Side District Cemetery Friday at 1 p.m. for former
Maricopa resident Leo J. Thiers, 91. The Rev. De. Neil M. Hudson will officiate at the services. Mr.
Thiers was born in Iowa April 30, 1901 and passed away in Arkansas Oct. 8. He was employed as
an auto mechanic for 50 years. He had lived in Maricopa for over 20 years before moving to
Arkansas. His survivors include three daughters, Rose Marie Hall of Waldron, Ark., Arlene Kahler of
Montesano, Wash., and Estella Craig of Yelm, Wash.; six grandchildren; and 15 great grandchildren.
The services are under the direction of the Erickson & Brown Funeral Home.
Leo Joseph “Lee” and Helen Olivia (Calloway) Thiers headstone
52
Subsequent Owners
Dan and Helen Morrow owned Morrow's Shoe Repair in Port Hueneme, Ventura County from 1953 to
1966. After retiring from the shoe repair business, Dan and Helen bought, owned and operated the Half
Way Station Restaurant on Highway 33. It is not known exactly when they bought the Halfway Station
but it was sometime between 1966 and 1975. They and their son Dan ran the Café, Garage and Gas
Station for at least 10 years all total.
53
Dan and Helen Morrow
The Halfway was then sold to Jeane Klokow, not sure of spelling, a nurse who also owned property on
the other side of the Highway up in Corral Canyon. I believe she ran it for a short time and then leased it
to Vickie Thomas.
Vickie Thomas ran it for a while and then made arraignments to buy it. I believe that it was Vickie that
started the placing of bumper stickers on the rafters in the Bar. This was very well received by the
patrons who would sometimes go out of their way to stop by and drop off an interesting bumper sticker.
54
She also organized quite a few “Blow Out” weekend parties that drew hundreds of people from all over
the state. She hired a very colorful bar tender by the name of Rob Wheeler who was just the right
character. Then in 1991 she was forced to sell.
Harlan Dale Lingo, Dale or the Old Fart, as many of the locals called him, ran the Halfway from 1991
until his death in 2008. Times were slow but he was retired from P. G. & E. and only needed to make it
break even. So to do this he kept on Rob Wheeler giving him free rent and board. This was a great
situation for both of them. As I said he was the he was the perfect person to run the bar. Dale was the
handy man that kept things running. Dale was the one who started putting the hats on the ceiling. He
also figured out that it was not good business to keep it open all week and found that Friday Saturday
and part of Sunday was the best times to be open. The locals all knew that if they could catch him or
Rob at home they could get sodas or beer to go. He also started the idea of a free spaghetti dinner with
French bread on Mondays. They would have Monday Night Football on the T. V. during Football season
and play a movie the rest of the year. Dale would be the cook and everyone in the bar could eat for
free. The locals liked it so much that they started bringing Salads and Desserts. I not sure if this was
legal to do but it was very popular. He would recoup the price of the Spaghetti and bread on the first
round and it turned out to his most profitable day. In the middle 1990’s even though it had always been
called just the Halfway State the County of Ventura said that the gas pumps needed to be called
something else. So Dale being Dale sent in the form calling it Old Fart Gas, and they accepted it. SO it
became the Halfway Station and Old Fart Gas. Now you know why they started calling him the old Fart.
Somewhere in the late 1990’s the County of Ventura said he needed to pull the gas tank out of the
ground and replace it, this was because of a new State Law. So he complied and removed the tank,
which even though had been in the ground since 1949 did not leak, and was going to install another one.
The County of Ventura gave him so much trouble saying there was a leak when the Kern County
inspector even said there was not, how he had to put the new one in and exorbitant fees that he
decided to just leave them out. It wasn’t worth it. Dale also created the private camp ground. An
official campground demanded a high cost from the County but a private one cost nothing. Many
“Friends” spent an enjoyable night or weekend as his guest. Dale and Vickie ended up living together
for many years at the Halfway and were eventually married and that is how she became the owner
again at his death in 2008.
55
Jacinto Damien Reyes