Editing Thousand Oaks, California (section)

=== 19th century ===
[[File:José_de_la_Guerra_y_Noriega_(cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Thousand Oaks was part of [[Rancho El Conejo]], owned by Don [[José de la Guerra y Noriega]], founder of the prominent [[Guerra family of California]].]]
[[File:Egbert-Starr-Newbury-Founder-Newbury-Park.png|thumb|[[Egbert Starr Newbury|E.S. Newbury]] was one of the first to buy former [[Rancho El Conejo]] land.<ref>Sprankling, Miriam (2002). ''Discovering the Story of The Conejo Valley''. Newbury Park, CA: Conejo Valley Historical Society. Page 21. {{ISBN|0-9725233-0-8}}.</ref>]]

From 1804 to 1848, Thousand Oaks was part of [[Alta California]], which originally was a Spanish [[polity]] in North America. It was the Spaniards who first named it Conejo Valley, or Valley of Rabbits. The [[Spaniards]] and indigenous [[Chumash people|Chumash]] clashed numerous times in disputes over land.<ref name="Maulhardt, Jeffrey Wayne 2010 Page 7">Maulhardt, Jeffrey Wayne (2010). ''Conejo Valley''. Arcadia Publishing. Page 7. {{ISBN|9780738580395}}.</ref> Conejo Valley was given the name El Rancho Conejo in 1803. This year, Jose Polanco and Ignacio Rodriguez were granted El Rancho Conejo by Governor [[José Joaquín de Arrillaga]] of Alta California. The land contained 48,671.56 acres. [[Rancho El Conejo|El Conejo]] was just one of two land grants in what became [[Ventura County, California|Ventura County]], the other being [[Rancho Simi]].<ref name="Maulhardt, Jeffrey Wayne 2010 Page 7"/>

As a result of the [[Mexican War of Independence]] in 1822, Alta California became a Mexican territory. In 1822, Captain [[José de la Guerra y Noriega]] filed Conejo Valley as part of the [[Mexican land grant]]. It remained a part of Mexico until the short-lived [[California Republic]] was established in 1846. It became a part of the U.S. after California gained statehood in 1850. The valley was now known as Rancho El Conejo.<ref name="Brien, Tricia 2017">O'Brien, Tricia (2017). ''Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village''. Arcadia Publishing. Page 7. {{ISBN|9781467125697}}.</ref> The ranch period began when the de la Guerra family sold thousands of acres through the 1860s and early 1870s.<ref name="Maulhardt, Jeffrey Wayne 2010 Page 7"/>

Two men owned most of Conejo Valley in the 1870s: John Edwards, who came from [[Wales]] in 1849, and Howard Mills, who came from [[Minnesota]] in 1870. While Edwards owned most of present-day Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park, Mills owned most of [[Westlake Village, California|Westlake Village]] and [[Hidden Valley, Ventura County, California|Hidden Valley]]. Edwards' home was located on an acre of land where [[The Oaks (Thousand Oaks, California)|The Oaks Mall]] currently is located, while Mills built his home where [[Westlake Lake]] sits today. The third person to buy former [[Rancho El Conejo]] land was [[Egbert Starr Newbury]]. He bought 2,259 acres of land here in 1874, land which stretched from Old Town Thousand Oaks and into today's Newbury Park.<ref>Bidwell, Carol A. (1989). ''The Conejo Valley: Old and New Frontiers''. Windsor Publications. Page 23. {{ISBN|9780897812993}}.</ref> He later established the valley's first post office in 1875: [[Newbury Park Post Office]].<ref>Maulhardt, Jeffrey Wayne (2010). ''Conejo Valley''. Arcadia Publishing. Page 119. {{ISBN|9780738580395}}.</ref> When the Conejo Valley School District was established in March 1877, there were 126 residents living in Conejo Valley.<ref>Begun, Ruthanne (2006). ''The Newburys of Newbury Park''. Conejo Valley Historical Society. Page 48. {{ISBN|9780972523332}}.</ref>

In the late 19th century, [[Newbury Park, California|Newbury Park]] was on the [[stagecoach]] route between [[Los Angeles]] and [[Santa Barbara, California|Santa Barbara]]. The [[Stagecoach Inn (California)|Stagecoach Inn]] (Grand Union Hotel) was built in 1876, and is now a [[California Historical Landmark]] and museum.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}