Page 743 - scvhs2000minutes

Some other interesting buildings Joellen R. requested:

Mile 59.2 on Placerita Canyon Road,
The Ruins of the Reynier house
. ~~

Joseph Reynier was born in the
Southern Alps of France on March
30,1849. He spent a pleasant young
life with his eight brothers and one
0 sister. The family had a farm where
they raised cattle, sheep, pigs and
goats. During the time he was
growing up in the Champsaur Valley
there was a great deal of civil unrest
and crop failures.
Like many young men before them,
he and his brother Mattieu heard talk
of new opportunities in America and
were directed on a course of new adventure. They set sail from La Havre in 1864 along
with Mattieu's wife Marie.
Soon after arriving in New York and hearing all the talk of California they booked
passages around the cape to San Francisco. They remained in San Francisco for several
years and, after purchasing a herd of sheep, supplies and a wagon in 1867 they headed
out taking a route across the state, over the Sierras at Donner Pass. Dropping into the
Carson Valley, they continued into Bishop where they spent time letting the sheep graze.
Southern California was their ultimate destination, but all during the trip they were
looking for other favorable places to settle.
The trip was slow and arduous, taking one year to drive the sheep into Los Angeles.
Matthieu had decided to stay in the now growing community of Los Angeles, After
hearing of available land for homesteading in the Placerita Canyon area, Joseph set out
through the San Fernando Valley and up over the old Spanish trail to the mouth of the
Placeritos. He passed many active placer mining operations being fed by water from the
hand-dug flume that can still be seen in upper Placerita Canyon.