Gypsy Heart
Gold Member
The Toll Collector's Granddaughter
An Interview with Loisgene Kinevan
I have fond memories of the times Loisgene Kinevan graciously welcomed our students to hike on her property near the San Marcos Pass. We sampled apples from the orchard her grandfather planted, saw the paintings left by the Chumash Indians who once lived there, and sat in the sun drawing and writing in our journals. It was a place of spirits, legends and wonderful tales, and Loisgene is a link to many of these. She agreed to come to Vista de Las Cruces to tell us the stories she heard in her childhood, and to share her own memories of this good land. A warm and gracious lady, she wore a bright rainbow-hued sweater and carried a stack of pictures of the Indian paintings and the Kinevan ranch house to distribute to the students. It was a bright September afternoon, and we gathered around excitedly to be transported back to the old stagecoach days of Santa Barbara.
We've heard stories about Fremont's cannons and buried treasure hidden there at the ranch. What do you know about these?
There is indeed a legend that $50,000 in gold bullions were hidden on the ranch. Three men had robbed a ship in the harbor, and fled on horseback through the pass with a posse behind them. They stopped to pay the toll, and one was shot. The other two were put in jail in San Luis Obispo. One died shortly thereafter, but the third wrote to Sheriff Broughton, a one-armed sheriff in Santa Barbara, offering to tell where the gold had been hidden. Broughton got on his horse and rode up to San Luis Obispo and was told that the loot was at "Pat Kinevan's flat at the fork of the creek under the oak tree." No one ever found it. People still ask for permission to search.
Loisgene's Uncle Tom did find several Spanish gold coins in the orchard, not far from where the Indian paintings are. He gave these to the mission.
http://www.zacatecanyon.com/Interviews/loisgene_new.htm
An Interview with Loisgene Kinevan
I have fond memories of the times Loisgene Kinevan graciously welcomed our students to hike on her property near the San Marcos Pass. We sampled apples from the orchard her grandfather planted, saw the paintings left by the Chumash Indians who once lived there, and sat in the sun drawing and writing in our journals. It was a place of spirits, legends and wonderful tales, and Loisgene is a link to many of these. She agreed to come to Vista de Las Cruces to tell us the stories she heard in her childhood, and to share her own memories of this good land. A warm and gracious lady, she wore a bright rainbow-hued sweater and carried a stack of pictures of the Indian paintings and the Kinevan ranch house to distribute to the students. It was a bright September afternoon, and we gathered around excitedly to be transported back to the old stagecoach days of Santa Barbara.
We've heard stories about Fremont's cannons and buried treasure hidden there at the ranch. What do you know about these?
There is indeed a legend that $50,000 in gold bullions were hidden on the ranch. Three men had robbed a ship in the harbor, and fled on horseback through the pass with a posse behind them. They stopped to pay the toll, and one was shot. The other two were put in jail in San Luis Obispo. One died shortly thereafter, but the third wrote to Sheriff Broughton, a one-armed sheriff in Santa Barbara, offering to tell where the gold had been hidden. Broughton got on his horse and rode up to San Luis Obispo and was told that the loot was at "Pat Kinevan's flat at the fork of the creek under the oak tree." No one ever found it. People still ask for permission to search.
Loisgene's Uncle Tom did find several Spanish gold coins in the orchard, not far from where the Indian paintings are. He gave these to the mission.
http://www.zacatecanyon.com/Interviews/loisgene_new.htm
