City Focus: Los Angeles
More than 26 million visitors arrive in Los Angeles each year, and many are overwhelmed by its size, vistas, notoriety, diversity, neighborhoods, flavors, attractions, amusements, highways, styles, reputation, entertainment, quirkiness and other elements that make up this megalopolis.
Regardless if it’s their first or 10th visit, travelers enjoy exploring the places and events that are all part of the Los Angeles myth. Throughout the decades Angelinos have been storytellers who like to share their city’s life and experiences and aren’t shy in embellishing an otherwise ordinary happening and turning it into an epic milestone. After all, this is Los Angeles with its many intrigues and appeals, long history of colorful characters, and decades of tabloid and lead news items.
Perhaps one of the least told of the Los Angeles stories predates California’s statehood and the impact of Los Angeles’ explosive population. It’s about the city’s founding and the life and times of people who first made a home in the region. There are several sites and monuments that tell this important story. The earliest account of humanity, dating from 10,000-13,000 B.C., is found on the Channel Islands.
About 1,000 years ago its Tongva tribe settled in the Los Angeles-San Fernando Valley area and, like other Southern California tribes, lived quietly and had a friendly and active trade relationship with its neighbors. Goods included soapstone from Catalina Island, obsidian from Owens Valley and pitch from the La Brea Tar Pits. When Europeans arrived in the area, there were approximately 5,000 Tongvas living in 31 village sites.
Explorer Juan Cabrillo stopped here in 1542, but it wasn’t until the 1769 visit by Gaspar de Portola that the region was identified as viable for a Spanish settlement site. This was followed by development of the famed California Mission Trail led by Father Junipero Serra and the award of pueblo lands to prominent families for ranching and to communities for the civilian population.
Los Angeles County is home to more than 20 California Historical Landmark sites that date from this period. There are also museum exhibits, state historic parks and other venues dedicated to preserving these stories.
By Elana Anderson
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Courtesy of leisuregrouptravel.com
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