Kandice Howland

His 101-21 6PM

August 5, 2015 @11:59pm
Local Historical Site Paper: Rancho Los Cerritos

The adventure began when I started looking for historical places to visit on the internet. I

had no idea that there were so many official historical places to go within Los Angeles County.

In addition to the fact that they are all pretty close, a lot of them are free! That included the place

I picked, Rancho Los Cerritos. Right next to Virginia Country Club near Bixby Knolls, it is

quaintly tucked away. You would have no idea that it is even there if you were just looking at the

surrounding area! When I walked into the main office, two ladies dressed in costume greeted us

with a warm welcome and said they were about to get another tour going for the next round of

guests that had arrived. After watching a short introduction video, the tour guide led the way.
Rancho Los Cerritos (Ranch of the little hills) began as a Native American village

where they lived off the land, gathering fruits, vegetables and other produce. The original

boundaries of the land stretch as far North as Downey, as far East as Lakewood, as far South as

the Port of Los Angeles (Long Beach), and as far West as Bixby Knolls, just before the city

limits of Compton and Carson. The land that used to lie within these boundaries totaled 4.7

acres. Having been introduced to Christianity, newer beliefs began to develop among the Native

Americans, as opposed to just believing in a higher being when they were encouraged to move to

San Gabriel Mission. California had not yet been established until 1769 when the Spanish

government moved in and claimed the grounds. Manuel Nieto, a Spanish soldier, was given

300,000 acres of this land as a prize for serving in the military. Although it was greatly reduced

later on into 6 parcels in 1834, it became a useful piece of land for generations to come.
Next came the cattle era and sheep ranching era. In 1843, the land and existing properties

on it were sold to John Temple (Spanish knew him as Don Juan) who self-constructed the two-

story adobe style ranch house. In order to obtain this land, Don Juan had to become a Mexican
citizen because the land was still considered Mexican territory. John didnt know how to speak

Spanish, but learned it from the natives. The house was used as his summer headquarters (his

main home resided in Los Angeles) for his huge cattle industry where he participated in the trade

of his cattles hide and tallow (fat). When the Gold Rush began, Temple moved his cattle north

in order to feed the hungry miners, but shortly had to sell the property when they had three

months of flooding and six years of drought, killing most of the cattle and therefore a steep

decline in the cattle ranching era in the 1860s. It wasnt until then that Mr. Temple dug a cistern

for a more steady water supply. Shortly after, the land was sold to the Flint, Bixby &Co. for

$20,000 when Mr. Temple retired.

The sheep ranching era prospered from 1866 to about 1881. Thomas and Benjamin Flint

and their cousin Llewellyn Bixby were the founders of the Flint, Bixby &Co. in 1854. They,

along with over 30 ranch-hands raised and sheared sheep. Llewellyns brother, Jotham Bixby,

was assigned the task of managing the ranch, which he later bought into along with forming his

own company. At this time, the ranch kept approximately 30,000 sheep per year that were

sheared two times a year, providing wool for trade. The following years at the ranch house

created many memories for family and younger generations including Sarah Bixby Smith (said

to be our tour guide). It wasnt until Jotham started selling off portions of the land as the sheep

ranching era came to a close in the late 19th to early 20th Century that the adobe house eventually

became misused, neglected, and abandoned because many tenants had since lived in it. The

adobe ranch house underwent restoration in 1930 to become a living history for how we see

Rancho Los Cerritos today.

The current ranch house has a double door entry into the veranda, which has a pond,

flowers and shady trees. This entrance used to bring in horses and carriages, not at all used for

pretty landscaping as it is now. Yet, gardens and orchards were an important part of the ranchs
ability to live off the land. With a water tower and windmill installed by Jotham Bixby and his

wife Margaret, they were able to bring the gardens and orchards back to life. Each room was

detached from the others and had a door to the outside because the adobe wasnt strong enough

to hold up the door frames within the interior walls. Quite often the weather affected their way

of living because if it was raining, the rancheros would have to walk outside to go to the next

room. Beds made of ropes, woven in a grid-like formation and pulled tight with a wooden frame

were thought to have coined the term sleep tight. The mattresses along with the pillows are

filled with straw. The kitchen used a wood burning stove. The cooks were two Chinese men

who also did all of the laundry in between the six meals that were served each day. The

blacksmith used coals with a pump for stoking the embers to make the fire hotter in order to

make horseshoes and branding irons for the cattle. The rest of the house was used for sleeping

quarters and leisure, including a library filled with many historical books. The grounds have

been well kept since restoration and are run by various volunteers.
Rancho Los Cerritos is a historical, hidden gem located in the midst of the popular and

well-urbanized city of Long Beach. It was the beginning of many dairies and farms in the

surrounding area, which had a major cultural impact on the people living there. Dutch dairymen

settled Bellflower and Artesia (1930s), some of whose ancestors still reside today, like me.

Although no celebrities arose from here, an important part of West Coast, Southern California

history did.