Pre-historic Los Angeles

   Another fun topic to get things started are the fossils of prehistoric mammals of the Los Angeles region. La Brea tar pits and the Page Museum offer an amazing exhibit of all kinds of prehistoric mammals from the Los Angeles Region.  They also touch light on techniques possibly used by the Tongva and Paleo-Indian. The Tar Pits are more famously known for trapping animals, yet the tar pits provided an unbelievably useful resource for indigenous people. The Page Museum that houses the fossils found in the pits is a quite extensive and beautiful facility that is immensely informative. The site houses thousands of fossils found on location and the museum displays as many as they can. Providing a glimpse into the world of prehistoric studies and archiving methods. Furthermore, the museums focus aims to educate the public about the pre-history of Los Angeles. A few particular inhabitants of the post-ice age era in California caught me by surprise. The Colombian Mammoth and the California Saber Tooth Tiger that roamed the west coast nearly 10,000-40,000 years ago.

   The Californian Saber-Tooth Tiger also known as the American Lion is well known for its immense saber teeth, which are two enlarged canines. These big cats roamed the coast attacking giant sloths, mastodons, and even few mammoths. What really makes the Saber tooth Tiger impressive is the over ninety degree angle it can open its jaw to. Along with its powerful pounce and extremely sharp claws the Saber-Tooth already near five feet in length could leap five to ten feet to attack its prey. Another fun fact about the Saber-Tooth is that as a juvenile grows adult teeth this means during a small period in the cats life it actually has up to four canines (saber teeth).

   The Colombian Mammoth stands alone nearly twenty feet and length including the tusk can extend up too forty feet—the size of a small Recreational Vehicle.  This astonishing mammal’s full skeleton is on display at the Page Museum. The immense size of the animal makes one think about what California actually looked like as these mammals roamed around. The molars surface area covers at least eight inches by 5 inches and over a foot in length. The tusks are some of the most astonishing features with a diameter of nearly 8 inches and almost five feet in length fully grown sometimes even larger. 

   It truly is astonishing to drive up the coast and see the amazing change in landscapes. From Southern Californian fields with the aged live oaks, to the giant redwoods and sequoias. These animals once roamed the lands of our community before any evidence of civilization. It may be unfortunate—or maybe luckily—that modern civilization never had contact with these creatures. However, there are plenty of over indigenous animals that have disappeared from California. The Saber- Tooth tiger happens to be California’s official fossil. What is even more impressive than the animals and the indigenous people that are discussed in the Page Museum is the Museums history itself. In a Latter post we will examine how Rancho La Brea became the historical site that it is and the individuals responsible for preserving a vital historical resource in Los Angeles. We will also look at other tar pit regions within southern California and how the resource of oil effects the development of regions. 

Counting Down the Days

As we approach our first official post on July 4th, I would like to focus on the less daily aspects of how Los Angeles has changed since its founding in 1781. Over 250 years ago in the early eighteenth century Spanish explorers and Filipino merchants had discovered the coast of Alta-California. The land’s indigenous peoples known as the Tongva resided in what is now Los Angeles County with villages that spanned across the valley. Within decades Spanish authorities established the missionary system to organize settlements. By the turn of the century Spanish settlers known as pobladores had established secular communities, military forts, and 13 missions along the west coast. However, in the 1820’s California experienced a transition in government as Mexico fought for independence from Spain. The Mexican territory of California is known for the Vaqueros and the lasting cultural effects from the era. In the middle of the 19^th century, the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American war and annexed lands including California to the United States government. The United States has controlled the region since. Los Angeles remained a very small under populated region throughout the majority of the nineteenth century. Yet, a real estate boom exploded in the 1880’s and Los Angeles became the fast paced city it is today.

In the next few weeks to come we will be looking more in depth of the individual aspects of how Los Angeles became the city it is today. Looking at the diverse history of the many ethnicities and cultures of the region, the aim is to include the shapers and movers that built the city into the diverse community it is today. While also emphasizing the traditional cultures of settlers and how communities have evolved.

Introducing: Vestrus Communitabus

Hello and welcome to the tentative site for Vestrus Communitabus. This online historical magazine is brought to you by the Public History Initiative at UCLA. Yet, let me first start with a brief introduction of the project and myself as editor in chief.

My name is Trent E. Sneed and I devised this project with the inspiration from my involvement in the so called "underground" art movements. This day in age social media and self published independent magazines have gained much popularity, yet hardly offer much substance to the readers. This blog intends to offer historical information in honest and accurate techniques to deliver the depth of emotion conveyed throughout history. History is more than facts, figures, and numbers. That's the focus of this project to connect the reader to the events or the individual that helped create the communities we live in today. I encourage the reader to share their knowledge, question our understanding, and take action in their community.

This project intends to provide a modern and unique delivery of historical evidence to help personalize the connection between local history and residents ages fourteen to twenty-five. Through the use of social media and traditional print, this project will act as a publication for historical research that emphasizes the preservation, study, and discussion of historical features within the communities of the contributors. Articles will discuss individuals, landmarks, and ideologies that have developed locally to encourage the personal connection between residents and the events that have taken place. Articles will include comparison photos and maps providing both historical and modern images. Access to the publication will be concentrated on social media through an online blog posting. However, printed hardcopies of collected articles will be distributed to various museums and historical sites that the articles pertain to.