Ghost
Ranch
By Cindy Nunn
SOMEWHERE IN CALIFORNIA...
The Ghost Ranch isn't the official name of the location. It actually has two official names, the ranch name, and
the name of the last owner, but this information is being kept private in order to protect the property from
vandals and curiosity seekers.
The ranch is located in a canyon with fairly rugged terrain, with the only access being rutted dirt roads with
steep drops to the canyon floor below on either side. The drive to the location is not for the fainthearted or
those who are afraid of heights.
This area is rich in history, stretching all the way back to about 6500 B.C.E., when the Tongva/Kizh people
probably first settled the cave-filled canyons, using the sandstone shelters as homes. They inhabited roughly
4000 square miles of land in California, and at the time of European contact had a population of between
5000 and 10,000. Today, only 1,700 claim full or partial Tongva ancestry.
In the 1500's the Tongva people had limited, brief contact with the Spaniards marching through the area in
their unceasing search for gold and other resources to exploit. It wasn't until after 1770 that these native
peoples had any sustained contact with Europeans, which would end up having a mostly negative impact on
their way of life and culture.
This area, along with many other acres of land, became the property of the San Fernando Mission, under the
control of Franciscan priests, who treated the native population as slave labor. Once a native was baptized
they could be held against their will and forced to live at the mission. Soldiers were stationed at the mission
and were used to prevent anyone from escaping. Attempts to escape brought severe corporal punishment.
Multiple witnesses, mostly tough-as-nails construction workers, have seen the floating shadow figure of an
apparition dressed in a long, gray hooded cloak moving quickly through one of the fields on the property.
These same witnesses refuse to stay on the property once the sun goes down. We have a drawing of this
apparition provided by one of the witnesses, and the other witnesses concur with it.
In 1846 some of the Mission lands were secularized, with 116,858 acres becoming known as Rancho ExMission San Fernando. These lands were granted to Eulogio De Celis by Governor Pio Pico. Over time this
land grant was parceled out and sold to homesteaders.
This property was homesteaded by a woman who was living apart from her husband for many years. She
purchased the parcel in the late 1800's to early 1900's. When she passed away in 1939 the parcel was
purchased by its last owner, who passed away over 30 years ago, leaving the property to his common-law wife.
She held on to the property until her death over 6 months ago, in the year 2016.
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