When I’m not visiting the Seattle area my days are spent in Camarillo, California. Camarillo was named after Adolfo Camarillo.

This is a statue of Adolfo Camarillo on one of his prized horses. This statue is in Old Town Camarillo.

The Camarillo Ranch was originally a 10,000 acre Spanish land grant created in 1837, patented to Gabriel Ruiz in 1866, then purchased by Juan Camarillo in 1875. His son Adolfo built the Queen Anne Victorian home in 1892. Later the barn and stables were added to support the agricultural work and house the renowned Camarillo White Horses. Today the ranch is owned by the City of Camarillo and operated by the non profit Camarillo Ranch Foundation.

Adolfo (1864-1958) married Isabel Menchaca (1861-1936) in 1888 and they moved into an adobe home on the Ranch, which was later destroyed by fire. They had seven children. In 1890, with the help of two Chumash Indian boys, he planted two rows of eucalyptus trees. The trees arched across Highway 101 in Camarillo for many years. Some of the trees still line the north side of the freeway. Adolfo also employed a number of Chumash Indians on the Ranch

The Camarillo House was built in 1892 by Adolfo and others using the services of Architects Franklin Ward and Herman Anlauf This three-story, 14-room home was built in the Victorian Queen Anne style

Adolfo also helped the community in other ways. He gave 50 acres of land for the first high school in Camarillo. It is named for him, “Adolfo Camarillo High School.” He also gave land for the building of the Southern Pacific Railroad through Camarillo (1904), the new Conejo Grade (Highway 101) in 1937, and the expansion of St. John’s Seminary to include St. John’s College.

This is the part of the 101 Freeway known as the Conejo Grade. Just last month this stretch from the top of the Conejo Grade to Lewis Road — was officially designated the Adolfo Camarillo Memorial Highway by state lawmakers.

In the year 1911 or 1912, a brilliant white colt with brown eyes was born.  As he frolicked at his mother’s side, it was unknown that he would become the foundation stallion for a breed of horse known as the Camarillo White Horse; which over the next 95 years would create a family tradition, a new breed of horse, and a legend as well. In 1921, when Sultan was nine or ten years old, Adolfo Camarillo (Founder of the city of Camarillo, California) discovered this “Stallion of a Dream” and purchased him from the Miller and Lux cattle ranch at the Sacramento State Fair.

Sultan, over the next few years, won many stock championships throughout California.  Adolfo bred Sultan to Morgan mares at the Camarillo Ranch.  Adolfo never sold his land or a white horse: however, on rare occasions, the Camarillo family would make gifts of the prized white horses.

The Camarillo White Horses became famous over the years as they paraded and performed at fiestas and other activities.  They became well known at the Pasadena Rose Parades; attended the parade to open the Oakland Bay Bridge; a Los Angeles parade to raise war bonds; and went to the Santa Barbara Fiesta parades since they began in the ’30’s. Often dignitaries would be seen riding the Camarillo White Horses, including: President Harding, Governor Ronald Reagan; John Mott; movie star Leo Carrillo; and the son of President Gerald Ford.

To read more about the history of these horses visit this History of Camarillo Site.

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ht: photos of the Camarillo White Horse from Camarillo White Horse Association.