Sheriff Bill Ayub will announced the dedication of the Jef Dye Memorial Highway, to honor the service of Fillmore Search & Rescue Team member Jeffrey “Jef” Dye, who was killed on Interstate 5 on the Grapevine while providing medical aid to victims whose vehicle overturned during a winter storm on Feb. 2, 2019. During the rescue, a vehicle left the highway and struck several SAR Team members, including Jef, who died as a result of his injuries. Jef will be honored for his selfless service to the community.

Ventura County Sheriff's Department

The Fillmore Police Department would like to thank the community for the outpouring support and assistance over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. With the help of the community, the Fillmore Police Department responded to numerous crimes in progress, safely removed two subjects driving under the influence of alcohol from the roadway, and issued 24 citations for violations of illegal fireworks.

In total, 12 citations were issued to residents of Fillmore and 12 citations were issued to residents visiting our community from Camarillo, Oxnard, Moorpark, Sacramento County, and Los Angeles County.

Prepared by: Deputy J. Labbé
Approved by: Captain Garo Kuredjian

Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. The caller may remain anonymous. The call is not recorded. Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).

Back in June of this year the PEO (Philanthropic Education Organization) Fillmore Chapter GY enjoyed a brunch at Martha Gentry’s home. Pat Morris, PEO Award Committee Chair was delighted to present the 2021 Educational Award to Senior, Jordyn Blankenship. Jordyn’s mother Tonya and grandmother Margaret were also there for the presentation.

A second celebration took place that day, which was a birthday cake to honor member, Maxine Merry, for her 90th birthday. Her daughter, Jeanne was also in attendance for the events.

Grace Atmore
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Don Carlos Antonio de Jesus Carrillo
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Depiction of Adobe by Ynez Haase.
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Map of Rancho Sespe Land Grant.
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Courtesy Fillmore History Museum

Prior to 1833, the area which would become Fillmore and Bardsdale was under the governance of the Mission San Buenaventura. Few Europeans lived in the area and it was primarily used for cattle grazing. This changed in 1833. Mexico had gained its independence from Spain some years earlier and in 1833 the Mexican Government passed the Secularization Act which cancelled vast land concessions which had been given to the various Missions. Instead land was granted to individuals.

To apply for a land grant, one had to make a request in writing to the area governor, describing the land he was interested in and giving its dimensions and boundaries. This would be accompanied by a map or diseño, illustrating what was requested in the petition. If approved, the governor would issue a formal declaration and the property would be surveyed and the boundaries established. The recipient then was required to build a house on the land; stock it with cattle; plant some portion in vines, fruit trees or grain.

Don Carlos Antonio de Jesus Carrillo was the eldest of seven children born to José Raymundo Carrillo and Tomaso Lugo. They were married at the Carmel Mission in 1781 in a ceremony presided at by Junipero Serra. The Carrillos were a distinguished family, their line including an Archbishop of Toledo and a viceroy of Mexico.
Don Carlos had a military career but after leaving military service he served in the Mexican Congress. He was briefly Governor in 1837.

In 1829, prior to the Secularization Act, Don Carlos petitioned the Mexican government for Rancho Sespe. He already had extensive holding in what would become Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, including Santa Rosa Island. Because he had a large extended family (Ten children and at least 50 grandchildren) he needed additional lands to support them. His petition he requested land that ran “from an arroyo called Piru which at its mouth unites with that of Camulos, to the hill which faces another arroyo named Mupu.” This was basically from the Piru River to Santa Paula Creek.

He received his property in 1833 naming it Rancho Sespe. On the deed it specified 6 square. leagues or 54 square. miles or 34,560 acres. Two copies of the deed were filed, and this is what sowed the seeds of later disputes and even murder. On the second copy there was an erasure and instead of 6 square leagues it read 2 square leagues. This opened the door for later settlers to claim land which Don Carlos, and later owner, T. Wallace More, believed they owned. That dispute is another chapter in the story of Rancho Sespe. For further information go to https://www.fillmorehistoricalmuseum.org/rancho-sespe.

The grant extended from Santa Paula creek on the west to Piru Creek on the east, approximately 17 miles. The ranch was centered about where the Sespe River meets the Santa Clara River. Three years after Don Carlos and his family received the ranch it was supporting 3,000 head of cattle, three or four droves of horses and mules, and approximately 400 sheep.

An adobe was built as was required by the grant, but the Carrillo family did not live on Rancho Sespe. They were residents of Santa Barbara. Carrillo’s Mayordomo, Prudencio Ayala, who was in charge of the Rancho may have lived there. The Carrillos may have stayed there when they came to the Rancho for the “round-up” of the cattle. At that time there could have been as many as fifty family members and additional servants and guests. The adobe as it has been described could not have housed that many individuals.

Grace Atmore, who died in 1943, remembered playing at the ruins of the adobe on her way home from the Santa Clara School. She remembered it as being rectangular with six or seven rooms. Eventually the school trustees felt the structure unsafe and had it torn down.

According to some historians the adobe was just north of the Santa Clara River, west of the mouth of the Sespe and close to the historical sycamore tree on Hwy 126. Other writers of local history located the adobe just south of the point where the Sespe meets the Santa Clara.

1848 saw California becoming a territory of the United States. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo guaranteed the property ownership of the existing settlers, but the Federal government soon challenged the legal status of every Spanish/Mexican land grant. A Board of Commissioners was created to review the legal proof each claimant was required to submit. Don Carlos Carrillo filed his proof shortly before his death in 1852.

His wife, Josefa, was his primary heir, but she died in 1853. In April of 1853, the Board of Commissioners ruled that the land grant was valid and encompassed six square leagues. This would soon be challenged but by then the Carrillo family would not be in the picture.

In the summer of 1853, the probate court of Santa Barbara ordered that the ranch be sold at public auction with the proceeds to be divided among the Carrillo heirs.

The successful bidders were three brothers, T. Wallace, Henry and Alexander More, who bought it for $17,500, a little over $600,000 in today’s dollars. After twenty years, this ended the Carrillo involvement in Rancho Sespe.
The heirs of Don Carlos did not disappear from the historical record. Juan Jose Carrillo, grandson of Don Carlos, was the first police chief of Los Angeles and first mayor of Santa Monica. He then served as a judge. Juan Jose’s wife, Josefa Ramona Bandini Carrillo, along with her two sisters, created the first American flag used in California. At the time of the Mexican War, Commodore Stockton, with a battalion of American troops, entered the city of San Diego. The town had no American flag, and so the daughters of Juan Bandini proceeded to make one. The flag is preserved at Washington, D.C., among the relics of the Mexican war.

Their son was probably the most well-known offspring, the actor Leo Carrillo.

The final Fillmore & Western passenger run.
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trains.com / Published w/o permission

Fillmore & Western Railway has been sold. They owned seven locomotives and 30+ cars (passenger and freight). All cars range in years from the 1910s to 1970s. Due to a confidentiality agreement, no further information was available.

Buyer registration is now open for the 2021 Ventura County Junior Livestock Online Auction happening August 11-13, 2021. Register at: https://bit.ly/3q8jeEx

The Ventura County Fair has been cancelled for the second year in a row. Our local Ag Kids need your support now more than ever. Join us for the 2021 Ventura County Junior Livestock Online Auction to ensure the 146-year tradition of buying our local 4-H, FFA, Grange & Independent Ag Kids' livestock projects continues.

Auction Details:
This year's Ventura County Junior Livestock Auction will take place online at www.805AgKids.com. Enjoy a "Silent Auction Style" bidding format beginning August 11. The bidding ends Friday, August 13 at our in-person Final Bids Buyers' BBQ at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

Register now for free BBQ tickets & details: https://bit.ly/3q8jeEx

Learn more about this year's Auction in our Buyer's Guide, available at: https://bit.ly/378QMuM
Buyers' BBQ:
You're invited! Register as a Buyer to receive free tickets & details regarding our in-person Final Bids Buyers' BBQ on the evening of Friday, August 13 from 4-8 PM at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. Enjoy Marshall's Bodacious BBQ, a full bar, & getting together again on behalf of the best cause: our local Ag kids. The BBQ will take place during the last 4 hours of the online Auction, so come prepared to place your final bids!

Thank you for your support of our local Ag kids!

The Ventura County Fair has been cancelled for the second year in a row, however the Junior Livestock show will go on virtually this year. For more details visit www.805AgKids.com