ANCIENT TRAILS
The Chumash moved about using established trails. By the mid-Eighteenth Century, those trails had been used for thousands of years. The locations of those trails is problematic in that little evidence of them exists today. However, there are some hints of their existence through names and the assumptions that can be made about the force of historic inertia - even down to the present. With the event of the rancho system, the Chumash Indians became the sheepherders and the vaqueros. They learned Spanish, and later English, but still retained memory of their collective past. It is quite natural that their Chumash names were retained to be carried over into the Spanish, Mexican and Anglo-American cultures. For most of our historic period up until the 1890s, they were virtually the only ones on the land. Our present bears the historic continuity of the past. Some trails, of course, ceased to exist with the passing of their reasons for being. Those names naturally are no longer with us.
Certain Chumash trails existed because people repeatedly wanted to go from one point to another. Those trails were intraregional routes and often connected one village with another. Trade, familial contacts, intervillage ceremonies and fiestas, and travel to exploit resources resulted in trails.
During the early historic period, there were two villages in the “Simi” (the geopolitical unit recognized by the Chumash. The were Simi' or Shimiji, Kimishax (Quimisac) and Ta'apu. Ta'apu was the premiere village in that it was about twice the size of Simi' and Kimishax (Quimisac) (in Moorpark) and it had the only resident chief (wot) during the historic period. Ta'apu was located in Tapo Canyon near the present day Tapo Canyon Regional Park. And, yes, the name "Tapo" is derived from the name of the village. A trail went north from Ta'apu over the head of Tapo Canyon and down the northern side of the Santa Susana Mountains to the village of Camulos (a Tataviam [Alliklik] village with a Chumash name). The canyons on both sides of the mountain are still called "Tapo Canyon," including on the U.S. Geological Survey map. This is what I mean by “historic inertia.” Those canyons were the trails to Ta'apu, for trails were usually referred to by the name of the places to which travelers were going.
The trail to Simi' ran down Tapo Canyon, westerly north of the first ridge on the northern side of Simi Valley, and then down Dry Canyon. From the mouth of Dry Canyon, the trail followed the foot of the mountains westerly to the mouth of Sand Canyon, and from there to the southwest to the village of Simi'. No Indian name for this trail remains. That trail later became the Noriega Trail between the Simi Adobe and the Tapo Adobe. The Noriega Trail is reflected on the 1858 survey map of the Simi Valley area. Another trail, called the Dominguez Trail, extended northeasterly over the high rolling plateau country to the head of Brown's Canyon and then down into the San Fernando Valley. It is probable that another trail ran south to the mouth of Tapo Canyon and then east southeasterly to Santa Susana Pass (Kashiwe). At least during the protohistoric period (1542-1769) there was a great deal of contact and intermarriage between the Fernandenos and the Ventureno Chumash. That trail persisted into the Spanish/Mexican Period and probably became the section of "Tapo Road" that ran from the present day intersection of Tapo Street and Alamo Street to the mouth of Tapo Canyon.
While there is no historical evidence of the existence of a trail directly between the village of Quimisac and Ta'apu, it is likely that one ran westerly from Ta'apu across the foot of the Tripas (a large valley in the interior of the Santa Susana Mountains) to the head of Happy Camp Canyon. Quimisac was the closest source of fused shale (used for making arrowheads) in the area, and the chief of Ta'apu held hegemony over
Quimisac.
A trail seems to have existed between the Noriega Trail, over the Whiteface escarpment (Cuchillo de Huarace), to the Tripas. The existence of that trail is suggested by the name of the escarpment, which implies that if you plan to cross the escarpment, you should plan to ear sandals.
Besides the Noriega Trail, which connected Simi' with Ta'apu, the trail to the west from Simi' to the village of Quimisac was called the Quimisac Trail. The village of Quimisac ceased to exist during the first decade of the Eighteenth Century. However, according to an 1834 report (translated from the Spanish), entitled "Investigative Report on the Santa Barbara Presidio District," there was a road that ran westerly from Simi Valley along the Arroyo Simi towards present-day Moorpark roughly along the route now followed by Los Angeles Avenue. (It's ironic that Los Angeles Avenue was the name given historically to the road that ran between Ventura and Los Angeles.) The name of the road was "Quimisa." "Quimisac" or "Quimisa" is the name listed in the San Fernando Mission baptismal records for the Chumash village located in Happy Camp Canyon in Moorpark. The name of the trail was carried over into the Spanish/Mexican period from the Chumash name for the trail to Quimisac. During the early Anglo-American period of settlement, the name of the road was effectively lost because the land was subdivided into farms. No road existed – only fences dividing farm parcels. Only later was Los Angeles Avenue established. Today, the short road between Los Angeles Avenue and Oak Park (the County park) is named Quimisa Road. Just how the name survived is a mystery.
The old historic road, leading between the Conejo and the Simi valleys through Wood Ranch, was called the "Simi Road" and is listed in the 1834 report. A trail is shown on the 1858 survey of the area in the pass between Wood Ranch and the Lang Ranch. (At one time, First Street was planned to be extended through the pass to connect with Westlake Boulevard, Avenida de los Arboles, and Sunset Hills Boulevard.) A dirt road is shown on the 1950 Thousand Oaks and the 1951 Simi U.S. Geological Survey maps and seems to reflect the old road. It is likely that the old Indian trail was originally called the Simi' Trail, because it led to the Chumash village of Simi'. There is still visible, worn and cut into the rocks, an ancient Indian trail running from the Simi side to the top of the hill to Lang Ranch in Thousand Oaks not far from the historic wagon road. (When I first found the trail, there was still visible a couple of tool knapping stations along the trail.) However, that trail, while important, for reasons that I do not want to discuss here, probably was not part of the everyday intraregional travel route.
The Spanish name for present day Happy Camp Canyon was Canada de Somis. Somis is the modern day version of the Chumash village of Somna, which was located where present day Somis is. The name of the trail leading from the village of Quimisac was the Somna Trail, because it lead to the village of Somna.
A trail probably ran between Simi' through the Tierra Rejada Valley and points west. As far as I known, there is no direct evidence of that trail.
We know that a native American trail ran from the Fernandeno village near Stoney Point over Santa Susana Pass (from the notes collected by John Peabody Harrington from a Fernandeno informant). That trail ran through present day Chatsworth Park up Devil’s Slide to Lilac Lane and then down the canyon over the railroad tunnel into Simi Valley. The same route was used for the El Camino Real and still later for the Stagecoach route. Indeed, that route served as the main way in an out of Simi Valley to the east until the late-1890s.
An old Spanish trail existed over the hill from the San Fernando Valley side down from the top of Woolsey Canyon and down through a hanging valley that is about half way up Black Canyon Road and down through the east branch of Meier Canyon into Simi Valley. I have seen horse shoes and a number of Spanish names carved in the rocks along the way. Orrin Sage, the former owner of the Sage Ranch, reported his memory of a large stylized cross carved into the cavity of a large oak tree in the hanging valley. He indicated that the tree was destroyed in a brush fire. There is an old story relating to the use of that trail during the 1830s. It is likely that the trail was used by the Indians because it would have afforded travelers access to water most of the year.
Mike Kuhn
11-1-04