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A re-enactment of the first meeting of Ramona and
Alessandro on the Camulos Rancho. The parts were
played by residents of Camulos for the benefit of
tourists.

romantic and patriotic past. " 22 One of their first fiestas like this two or three times a year. They usu-
items of business was to rename an old oak tree on ally lasted from three to five days with as many as
the rancho, "The Oak of the Golden Dream." IOO guests arriving and departing by train.
As wave upon wave of tourists descended on After 1890 Camulos became less of a tourist attrac-
Camulos, Reginaldo's mother continued to welcome tion when a number of authorities on local history
all strangers, giving away food, souvenirs and often began to question whether Camulos and the del
putting them up for the night. In one year she pro- Valles were in fact the inspiration for the Ramona
vided meals and lodging for about 2,500 people. novel. The major competitor was San Diego. Fr.
Reginaldo finally had to instruct his mother to " ... Antonio Ubach of Mission San Diego maintained
tell the tourists who come out of curiosity to see that he had known Ramona personally and that she
Ramona that we don't have a hotel and we can't put had been the child of a local Spanish grandee and
them up except in unusual circumstances. " 23 " ... one of the most intelligent mission Indians." 25
Fr. Ubach felt that Helen Hunt Jackson had omitted
certain sordid details in the Ramona story. The San
Diego Indians claimed Ramona as their own, want-
ing to get a piece of the Fantasy Heritage. Candido
Hopkins, an Indian Service Chief of Police on the
Cahuilla Indian reservation told reporters that
Ramona was his mother. In the 1890s she frequently
1:e del Valle hospitality furnished good primary was an exhibition at the San Bernardino Orange
material for guidebooks and promoters who were Show. 26 Cave Couts, a local San Diego rancher, held
enchanted with Spanish arcadia. In 1888 Walter Lind- that Ramona was really a Temecula Indian girl he had
ley wrote a detailed account of Camulos' annual known, named Matutini. 27 The Santa Fe Rail Road
Fourth of July fiesta. On this occasion the family advertised that the rancho inspiring the novel was not
celebrated a combined Mexican and American Inde- Camulos, which was near the Southern Pacific Line,
pendence day. The guests arrived by train. Senora del but Rancho Guajome, located four and one half miles
Valle welcomed them at the entrance to the garden. A from their tracks near Mission San Luis Rey and
servant showed them to their rooms to freshen up. Oceanside. Mr. A. McWhirter, owner of the rancho,
Then lunch was announced where Senator del Valle offered to conduct tours of Ramona's adobe for
presided. The meal consisted of roast pig, various interested tourists. 28
"Spanish" dishes, chiles, olives, a dessert, claret Of course, the Ventura and Los Angeles county
and white wine and black coffee. The afternoon's promoters preferred their version, Camulos was the
program consisted of horseback riding, walking, site and Ramona was a composite character drawn
hunting, singing, reading, mountain climbing or from the real life stories of Blanca Y ndart and an
sleeping. They served dinner at 7:00 p.m. in the Indian girl Guadalupe. According to legend Blanca
arbor brightly lit with lanterns. A roast kid meal and was an orphaned Spanish girl who had been given as
groaning board was preceded by a musical interlude a ward to Senora del Valle. Her mysterious father had
with piano, organ and guitar with song. The day entrusted a dowry to the safekeeping of the family.
ended with a fireworks display. 24 The del Valles had Secretly Isabel kept these "Ramona Jewels" under

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