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The Apeta Momonga Mission Trail

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #1177

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This presentation will cover the following topics, which were also

presented to the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission in

September and November of 2018:

•Statement of Significance

•Background and Site Introduction

•Summary of the approval process

•The History of the Apeta Momonga (“Trail to” Momonga)

•The History of the Mission Trail

•The Trail as it exists today

The Apeta Momonga Mission Trail

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #1177

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Statement of Significance

•The Apeta Momonga Mission Trail is an integral piece of our Native American and

Spanish heritage, comprising two stories.

•First, it was a historic trail that was used beginning at least 3,000 years ago to travel

from Achoicominga (San Fernando) to the village of Momonga (Santa Susana

Pass/Stoney Point).

•Second, after Mission San Fernando was established in 1797, the trail was used to

travel from Mission San Fernando to the Simi Adobe to Mission San Buenaventura.

The Mission Trail became a part of the El Camino Real along the north end of the San

Fernando Valley, offering safe passage to travelers along its route.

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Background

•In 1987, Los Angeles

Councilmember Hal

Bernson and the Santa

Monica Mountains

Conservancy dedicated

the two-mile ‘Old Mission

Trail’ after funds were

used to restore the trail

and remove overgrowth.

1987 Dedication Photos

courtesy Millie Trafton

Statement of Significance

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Statement of Significance

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Site Location

•The trail runs from De Soto to Tampa, following a path parallel and just south of the 118

freeway. The trail remains a simple equestrian and hiking trail, with a view of the broad

San Fernando Valley to the south.

The Google Maps screenshot above identifies a section of the Old

Mission Trail, from Mason Ave to Porter Ranch Drive

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Site Location

•The 2 mile trail passes through 34 parcels, including a recently

approved 37 home development between Rinaldi and Porter

Ranch Drive.

An August 2017 Map of the Old Mission Trail, prepared by the LA

County Department of Parks and Recreation

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Site Location

•The equestrian and hiking

trail provides trail

connectivitity from

Chatsworth trails west of

DeSoto

to Limekiln Canyon Trail

to Mormon Canyon Loop

to Brown’s Canyon.

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Historic-Cultural Monument Approval Process

•In Sept 2018, a PowerPoint presentation was made at City Hall to the Cultural Heritage Commission

by Dean Wageman and Ray Vincent, with Darlene Wageman and Ann Vincent also attending. At that

meeting, the Commission voted to take the property, “The Chatsworth Old Mission Trail” under

consideration.

•The Commission conducted a site inspection in October.

•Also in October, we met with the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. The discussion

centered around the naming of the Trail, and we agreed that the initial HCM name did not reflect the

history of trail usage by Native Americans. As a result, we proposed that the monument name be

changed to include the village site Momonga, which was a significant ceremonial site with extensive

rock art, and would have been a destination point on the trail.

•In Nov 2018, a second PowerPoint presentation was made at City Hall, proposing a name change

from “The Chatsworth Old Mission Trail”, to “The Chatsworth/Momonga Mission Trail”. At that

meeting, the Commission approved the Monument, and voted to name the trail “The Apeta Momonga

Mission Trail”.

•It was approved by the PLUM (Planning and Land Use Management) Committee on Feb 26th, then

approved by the City Council on Feb 27th, 2019.

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Trail History Before Spanish Contact

•Before Mission San Fernando was established in 1797, there was a trail connecting the village

of Achoicominga (San Fernando) with the village of Momonga (Santa Susana Pass/Stoney

Point).

•At the time, Momonga was the largest community in the Santa Susana Pass area and

represented an intersection between three regional tribes, the Ventureño Chumash, the

Tataviam, and the Gabrieliño/Tongva.

•Archaeological information suggests that Momonga was occupied from the Middle Period

(1500 B.C. to 500 A.D.) until contact with the Spanish. The extensive rock art at the site

suggests that it had a significant ceremonial component which distinguished it from other

villages.

•Momonga was referred to as the Ranchería de la Piedras (Village of the Stones) in the Mission

San Fernando registers.

•Momonga was one of several Native American communities later incorporated into the Mission

San Fernando.

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Momonga

Ranchería de las Piedras

(Village of the Stones)

Stoney Point Outcroppings

L.A. Historic-Cultural Monument #132

The striking rock formations

located all along the

eastern flank of the Simi

Hills, between Chatsworth

Reservoir and the Santa

Susana Pass, are best

illustrated by Stoney Point.

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Trail History Before Spanish Contact

Source: Santa Susana Pass Ethnohistoric Study,

John Johnson

Documented village names from Mission

baptismal, marriage, and burial records

identified Momonga and Achoicominga.

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Momonga Rock Art

•The most striking example of the extensive

rock art at the site is the Chatsworth Main

Panel.

•The paintings are located in a very shallow

sandstone rock shelter that is not well-

protected from the elements, and most of

the panel has eroded away and is difficult to

see.

•When it was new and fresh, the main panel

may have been as impressive as the main

panel at Burro Flats Painted Cave, which is

listed in the National Register of Historic

Places.

•Given the size and shape of the rock face, it

appears that the main panel was once 3

meters wide and one meter in height

Chatsworth Site Main Panel

(digitally enhanced using D-Stretch) Source: Knight 2018

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Momonga Rock Art

• Excavations at the Chatsworth Site took

place during 1970-1974, and later in 1976,

and are curated at Pierce College.

•Recovered artifacts include bone awls,

steatite bowl fragments, manos, pestles,

metate fragments, blades, choppers,

beads (Olivella and steatite), pendants,

and projectile points made from rhyolite,

fused shale, chert, chalcedony and

obsidian.

•The presence of a sulfur spring -- often

considered sacred and medicinal –

coupled with the extensive presence of

rock art, clearly establishes a

sacred/ceremonial value to this site...

Chatsworth Site Main Panel

(digitally enhanced using D-Stretch) Source: Knight 2018

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History of the Mission Trail

•In 1542, California was claimed by the Spanish empire by Juan Cabrillo. It would be

another 227 years until Spain began to colonize California, to counter Russian exploration

and their early settlements in Northern California.

•The Spanish Colonial Period of Alta California began in 1769, with the first Mission in San

Diego in that same year.

•By 1823, the chain of Missions grew to 21 missions, 4 presidios (forts) and 3 pueblos.

• The road linking the missions, presidios and pueblos was known as the “El Camino Real”

(The Royal Road, or the King’s Highway).

•Travel along the road was mostly by foot, burro or horseback, on uneven terrain.

The use of the El Camino Real was important, as it connected travel and trade along

the entire coast, and also provided safe passage in an otherwise dangerous

wilderness.

•The San Fernando Mission has a separate room with beds for travelers.

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History of the Mission Trail

•As missions were added, the El Camino Real would be altered to include the new Mission

on the trail.

•In 1782, travel from San Gabriel Mission (est. 1771) or Pueblo de Los Angeles (est. 1781) to

San Buenaventura Mission (est. 1782) followed the route that is today’s highway 101,

between Cahuenga Pass and the city of Ventura.

•Fifteen years later, in 1797, when the San Fernando Mission was established, the route was

altered to travel north from San Gabriel or Los Angeles to San Fernando, then to the Simi

House (est. 1795), then to San Buenaventura.

•When the mission chain was completed, the distance between each mission was roughly

one day’s travel (the average distance was 39 miles, with only a few 60 miles apart)

•The distance between San Fernando and San Buenaventura was 62 miles; however a stop

at the Simi House (seen on the following map) made travel easier.

History of the Chatsworth Old Mission Trail

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From the Mexican era 1844 Duflot de Mofras map

above, the dashed line (highlighted in red) links:

1. Mission San Gabriel to

2. Pueblo de Los Angeles to

3. Mission San Fernando to

4. Simi House to

5. Mission San Buenaventura

5 3

History of the Chatsworth Old Mission Trail

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From the 1842 Diseño (map) del Rancho

Simi, notice the road marked

1. ‘Camino Real’ traveling from the east

end of the map past both the

2. ‘Casa Vieja’ (old house) and

3. The larger house to the left, today’s

Strathern adobe

History of the Chatsworth Old Mission Trail

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From the 1871 “Plat of the Ex Mission de San Fernando” (source: Huntington Library Digital

Archives), note:

1. San Fernando Mission (previously Achoicominga)

2. Mission Trail to Simi Valley and San Buenaventura in brown at ‘Base of Mountains’

3. Stoney Point and the Fernandeño village known as Momonga listed in the Mission

registers, also known as Ranchería de las Piedras (Village of the Stones)

History of the Chatsworth Old Mission Trail

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The picture above is an overlay of the 1871 Map on a 2018 Google Earth Map, with current streets

identified in yellow with names in white, and today’s Old Mission trail in blue.

Notice that today’s ‘Old Mission Trail’ highlighted in blue follows the 1871 map overlay, with trail in brown.

The Trail as it exists today

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•Sierra Canyon School enthusiastically supported Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument

status to The Apeta Momonga Mission Trail.

The photo above looking north from Rinaldi St, showing the state-of-the-art 12 foot wide horse trail

passing through the parking lot entrance of Sierra Canyon School’s Upper Campus.

April 2018 Trail Ride on the

Chatsworth Old Mission Trail

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•The following slides show some scenes from a video of a Trail

Ride coordinated and sponsored by ETI Corral 54, on the

Chatsworth Old Mission Trail

•Courtesy of Dean and Darlene Wageman

• The video is available on YouTube, search for “Chatsworth Old

Mission Trail”

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Crossing Corbin

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Crossing Corbin

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Heading to

Limekiln Canyon

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Heading to

Limekiln Canyon

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Almost in

Limekiln Canyon

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Limekiln Canyon

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1. The first stop was at Sierra Canyon’s Upper Campus

2. The second stop was at the Porter Ranch Drive Park & Ride

Oct. 11, 2018 site tour by the Cultural Heritage Commission

(photographs from the staff report)

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Oct. 11, 2018 site tour by the Cultural Heritage Commission

(photographs from the staff report)

The first stop was

at Sierra Canyon

Upper Campus,

we were met by

Shelley Deutsch.

(Ann Vincent and

a commission

member in photo)

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Oct. 11, 2018 site tour by the Cultural Heritage Commission

(photographs from the staff report)

Hiking up the trail at

Sierra Canyon

Upper Campus.

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Oct. 11, 2018 site tour by the Cultural Heritage Commission

(photographs from the staff report)

Greeted by an

equestrian (a

surprise to us all),

and we watched as

the rider crossed

Rinaldi.

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Oct. 11, 2018 site tour by the Cultural Heritage Commission

(photographs from the staff report)

Picture left looking west,

above on the trail, at

right looking east.

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Oct. 11, 2018 site tour by the Cultural Heritage Commission

(photographs from the staff report)

The second stop was

at the Park & Ride at

Porter Ranch Drive.

View looking east. We hiked west about 1/3 of a mile.

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Oct. 11, 2018 site tour by the Cultural Heritage Commission

(photographs from the staff report)

Approaching and entering a fenced part of the

trail hiking west. Looking back (east) at the fenced

part of the trail.

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Oct. 11, 2018 site tour by the Cultural Heritage Commission

(photographs from the staff report)

Continuing west along the trail The 37 homes will begin just past the

concrete swale in center of above picture

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1. The first stop was at Sierra Canyon’s Upper Campus

2. The second stop was at the Porter Ranch Drive Park & Ride

Oct. 11, 2018 site tour by the Cultural Heritage Commission

(photographs from the staff report)

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Cultural Heritage Commission Files

•Documents of the entire

process are available at

cityclerk.lacity.org

•Council File 17-0436-S1

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Cultural Heritage Commission Files

Audio recordings,

agendas, and minutes

can be found at

planning.lacity.org,

Commissions and

Hearings, Cultural

Heritage Commission.

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Sources/Acknowledgements

•Dean and Darlene Wageman, applicants for this Historic-Cultural Monument.

•Knight, Albert, 2018 Rock Art at Momonga (CA-LAN-357) July 20, 2018 (available at academia.edu)

•Johnson, John, 1997 The Indians of Mission San Fernando Southern California Quarterly, Vol. 79, No. 3,

Mission San Fernando Rey de España 1797-; 1997 (Fall 1997), pp. 249-290 (available at JSTOR.org)

•Johnson, John, 2006 Ethnohistoric Overview for the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park, Cultural

Resources Inventory Project. June 2006 Prepared for Southern Service Center State of California

Department of Parks and Recreation http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/21299/files/sspshp%20ethnohistory-

complete.pdf

•Knight, Albert, 2012 Three Chumash-Style Pictograph Sites in Fernandeno Territory, Albert Knight, Santa

Barbara Museum of Natural History, SCA Proceedings, Volume 26 (available at academia.edu)

Prepared by Ann & Ray Vincent, Chatsworth Historical Society, April 2019