Conejo Valley

The Conejo Valley is a region spanning both southeastern Ventura County and northwestern Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States.

The first human residents of Conejo valley were the native Chumash people. Local villagers' first contact with Europeans came in 1770. The Spanish exploratory party led by Gaspar de Portolá, returning from its journey up the coast as far as present-day San Francisco, entered the valley from the northwest. On the outward bound journey, the explorers had traveled up the Los Angeles River, ascended the Grapevine to Castaic Junction, then followed the Santa Clara River back down to the coast. On the return trip, they sought a shorter route to the San Fernando Valley, and were guided by natives up and over today's Conejo Grade. Franciscan missionary Juan Crespi kept a diary of the expedition, and gave Conejo Valley one name that survives today – Triunfo (Spanish for "triumph"). Crespi gave the name El triunfo del Dulcísimo Nombre de Jesús (in English: The Triumph of the Sweetest Name of Jesus) to a camping place by a creek – today's Triunfo Canyon Road begins between Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village.

Later, explorer Juan Bautista de Anza used Portolá's shortcut on his way north in 1774, mentioning in his diary a stop at "El Triunfo". On de Anza's second expedition (1775–76), diarist Father Pedro Font referred to "many watering places, like those of El Triunfo and Los Conejos". In 1803, the Spanish land grant in the area was given the name Rancho El Conejo.

In Spanish, conejo means "rabbit", and refers to the rabbits common to the region, specifically the desert cottontail and brush rabbit species. It is located in the northwestern part of the Greater Los Angeles Area.

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