Old Stagecoach Trail
Encyclopedia
The Old Santa Susana Stage Road or Santa Susana Wagon Road is a route taken by early travellers between the San Fernando Valley
and Simi Valley
near Chatsworth, California via the Santa Susana Pass
. The main route climbs through what is now the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park
, with a branch in Chatsworth Park South.
It was an important artery linking the Los Angeles Basin
and inland Ventura county
, and was part of the main route for travel by stagecoach
between Los Angeles and San Francisco from 1861 until the opening of rail traffic between the cities in 1876. The Old Santa Susana Stage Road is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. Part of the stage road is also a Historic-Cultural Monument of Ventura County and of the City of Los Angeles under the name Old Stagecoach Trail.
in 1861 disrupted mail service along the Butterfield Overland Mail
's southern stagecoach route from St. Louis, Missouri
via El Paso
, Fort Yuma
and Los Angeles
and on to San Francisco via the Tejon Pass
, which had begun its run in 1858. To compensate, the government contracted the Butterfield Company to carry mail between Los Angeles and San Francisco via the new wagon road over the Santa Susana Pass. The first overland mail stage run through the pass took place on April 6, 1861. The new route diverged from the Tejon Pass route at the north end of the Cahuenga Pass
, following the old coast road (El camino Viejo, the former El Camino Real
to San Buenaventura (Ventura)
and Santa Barbara) as far as the Rancho Los Encinos
before striking northwest across the San Fernando Valley toward the Santa Susana Pass.
The precipitous portion of the route on the San Fernando Valley side was called the Devil's Slide; horses were usually blindfolded and chains were used to augment brakes on the steep descent. Passengers debarked and walked.
The Santa Susana Pass Road
continued in use as an alternative to the route along El Camino Viejo from 1861 to 1875, replacing the older road as the main route between Los Angeles and San Francisco. William E. Lovett acquired the mail contract in 1867 and carried mail and passengers via the Santa Susana Pass and between Los Angeles and San Diego. In 1876, the Southern Pacific Railroad
opened a tunnel through the Newhall Pass, enabling rail connections from Los Angeles north to San Francisco, and rail travel soon replaced travel by stagecoach between Los Angeles and San Francisco. From this time the stagecoach traffic to Santa Barbara once again used the coast route, and the Santa Susana Pass road was relegated to local traffic.
A new wagon route bypassing the deteriorating Devil's Slide was opened in 1895. Initially called El Camino Nuevo (the New Road), it was later named the Chatsworth Grade Road, which continued in use until Santa Susana Pass Road (now Old Santa Susana Pass Road) was built in 1917.
Hikers in the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park can still see the deep ruts made by the wagons on the 'Devil's Slide' section. A plaque was embedded into the sandstone rock by the Native Daughters of the Golden West in 1937, commemorating the Old Santa Susana Stage Road.
A branch of the Santa Susana Pass
stagecoach road was designated as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument
#92, 'The Old Stagecoach Trail', by the City of Los Angeles on January 5, 1972. A 174 acre (0.70415364 km²) parcel containing the stagecoach road was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1974. The stage route was also declared Ventura County Historical Landmark #104 on October 24, 1986.
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
and Simi Valley
Simi Valley, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Simi Valley had a population of 124,237. The population density was 2,940.8 people per square mile...
near Chatsworth, California via the Santa Susana Pass
Santa Susana Pass
The Santa Susana Pass is a Southern California mountain pass in the Simi Hills connecting the San Fernando Valley and town of Chatsworth, to the Simi Valley and city of Simi Valley.-Natural history:...
. The main route climbs through what is now the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park
Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park
Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park is a California State Park of approximately located on the boundary between Ventura and Los Angeles Counties, between the communities of Chatsworth and Simi Valley. Geologically, the park is located where Simi Hills meet the Santa Susana Mountains...
, with a branch in Chatsworth Park South.
It was an important artery linking the Los Angeles Basin
Los Angeles Basin
The Los Angeles Basin is the coastal sediment-filled plain located between the Peninsular and Transverse ranges in southern California in the United States containing the central part of the city of Los Angeles as well as its southern and southeastern suburbs...
and inland Ventura county
Ventura County, California
Ventura County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. It is located on California's Pacific coast. It is often referred to as the Gold Coast, and has a reputation of being one of the safest populated places and one of the most affluent places in the country...
, and was part of the main route for travel by stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
between Los Angeles and San Francisco from 1861 until the opening of rail traffic between the cities in 1876. The Old Santa Susana Stage Road is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Part of the stage road is also a Historic-Cultural Monument of Ventura County and of the City of Los Angeles under the name Old Stagecoach Trail.
History
In 1859, the California Legislature appropriated $15,000 for improving an old wagon road through the Santa Susana Pass. Additional funding was provided by the Counties of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. The outbreak of the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
in 1861 disrupted mail service along the Butterfield Overland Mail
Butterfield Overland Mail
The Butterfield Overland Mail Trail was a stagecoach route in the United States, operating from 1857 to 1861. It was a conduit for the U.S. mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri, meeting Fort Smith, Arkansas, and continuing through Indian Territory, New Mexico,...
's southern stagecoach route from St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
via El Paso
El Paso
El Paso, a city in the U.S. state of Texas, on the border with Mexico.El Paso may also refer to:-Geography:Colombia:* El Paso, CesarSpain:*El Paso, Santa Cruz de TenerifeUnited States:...
, Fort Yuma
Fort Yuma
Fort Yuma is a fort in California that is located in Imperial County, across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona. It was on the Butterfield Overland Mail route from 1858 until 1861 and was abandoned May 16, 1883, and transferred to the Department of the Interior. The Fort Yuma Indian School and a...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and on to San Francisco via the Tejon Pass
Tejon Pass
The Tejon Pass is a mountain pass at the southwest end of the Tehachapi Mountains linking Southern to Central California.-Geography:The apex of the pass is near the northwesternmost corner of Los Angeles County, north of Gorman...
, which had begun its run in 1858. To compensate, the government contracted the Butterfield Company to carry mail between Los Angeles and San Francisco via the new wagon road over the Santa Susana Pass. The first overland mail stage run through the pass took place on April 6, 1861. The new route diverged from the Tejon Pass route at the north end of the Cahuenga Pass
Cahuenga Pass
The Cahuenga Pass is a mountain pass through the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains in the Hollywood district of the City of Los Angeles, California....
, following the old coast road (El camino Viejo, the former El Camino Real
El Camino Real (California)
El Camino Real and sometimes associated with Calle Real usually refers to the 600-mile California Mission Trail, connecting the former Alta California's 21 missions , 4 presidios, and several pueblos, stretching from Mission San Diego de Alcalá in San Diego...
to San Buenaventura (Ventura)
Ventura, California
Ventura is the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States, incorporated in 1866. The population was 106,433 at the 2010 census, up from 100,916 at the 2000 census. Ventura is accessible via U.S...
and Santa Barbara) as far as the Rancho Los Encinos
Rancho Los Encinos
Rancho Los Encinos was a Spanish grazing concession, and later Mexican land granted cattle and sheep rancho and travelers way-station on the El Camino Real in the San Fernando Valley, in present day Encino, Los Angeles County, California...
before striking northwest across the San Fernando Valley toward the Santa Susana Pass.
The precipitous portion of the route on the San Fernando Valley side was called the Devil's Slide; horses were usually blindfolded and chains were used to augment brakes on the steep descent. Passengers debarked and walked.
The Santa Susana Pass Road
Santa Susana Pass
The Santa Susana Pass is a Southern California mountain pass in the Simi Hills connecting the San Fernando Valley and town of Chatsworth, to the Simi Valley and city of Simi Valley.-Natural history:...
continued in use as an alternative to the route along El Camino Viejo from 1861 to 1875, replacing the older road as the main route between Los Angeles and San Francisco. William E. Lovett acquired the mail contract in 1867 and carried mail and passengers via the Santa Susana Pass and between Los Angeles and San Diego. In 1876, the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
opened a tunnel through the Newhall Pass, enabling rail connections from Los Angeles north to San Francisco, and rail travel soon replaced travel by stagecoach between Los Angeles and San Francisco. From this time the stagecoach traffic to Santa Barbara once again used the coast route, and the Santa Susana Pass road was relegated to local traffic.
A new wagon route bypassing the deteriorating Devil's Slide was opened in 1895. Initially called El Camino Nuevo (the New Road), it was later named the Chatsworth Grade Road, which continued in use until Santa Susana Pass Road (now Old Santa Susana Pass Road) was built in 1917.
Hikers in the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park can still see the deep ruts made by the wagons on the 'Devil's Slide' section. A plaque was embedded into the sandstone rock by the Native Daughters of the Golden West in 1937, commemorating the Old Santa Susana Stage Road.
A branch of the Santa Susana Pass
Santa Susana Pass
The Santa Susana Pass is a Southern California mountain pass in the Simi Hills connecting the San Fernando Valley and town of Chatsworth, to the Simi Valley and city of Simi Valley.-Natural history:...
stagecoach road was designated as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are sites in Los Angeles, California, which have been designated by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission as worthy of preservation based on architectural, historic and cultural criteria.-History:...
#92, 'The Old Stagecoach Trail', by the City of Los Angeles on January 5, 1972. A 174 acre (0.70415364 km²) parcel containing the stagecoach road was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1974. The stage route was also declared Ventura County Historical Landmark #104 on October 24, 1986.
See also
- History of the San Fernando Valley to 1915History of the San Fernando Valley to 1915The history of the San Fernando Valley from its exploration by the 1769 Portola expedition to the annexation of much of it by the City of Los Angeles in 1915 is a story of booms and busts, as cattle ranching, sheep ranching, large-scale wheat farming, and fruit orchards flourished and faded...
- Old Santa Susana Stage Road Historic-Cultural Monument
- Santa Susana PassSanta Susana PassThe Santa Susana Pass is a Southern California mountain pass in the Simi Hills connecting the San Fernando Valley and town of Chatsworth, to the Simi Valley and city of Simi Valley.-Natural history:...
- Santa Susana Pass State Historic ParkSanta Susana Pass State Historic ParkSanta Susana Pass State Historic Park is a California State Park of approximately located on the boundary between Ventura and Los Angeles Counties, between the communities of Chatsworth and Simi Valley. Geologically, the park is located where Simi Hills meet the Santa Susana Mountains...
- Spahn Movie RanchSpahn RanchSpahn Ranch, also known as the Spahn Movie Ranch, was a movie ranch used for filming generally Western-themed movies and television programs. With mountainous terrain, boulder-strewn scenery, and an 'old Western town' set, Spahn Ranch was a versatile filming site for many scripts...