F

Longhorn Cattle

Until the cattle industry was decimated by the flood and drought of the early 1860s, hundreds of thousands of cattle roamed California hills, a time when cattle was the primary source of income for Californio ranch owners. Although not as numerous, by 1880, thousands of cattle began to repopulate the hills and valleys of Los Angeles County. Like most ranchers during the 1880s, Miguel Leonis raised Texas Longhorn cattle, both on his Calabasas property as well as land he owned in the Elizabeth Lake region.

Texas Longhorns are descendants of cattle first brought over to the New World from Europe, specifically from Southern Iberia. The Longhorn breed evolved naturally in North America as a direct result of survival of the fittest on new American terrain. Longhorns are highly drought-tolerant, hardy, and disease and parasite resistant.

Leonis Adobe Museum Historic Home and Ranch
  1. The Leonis Adobe House
  2. Miguel Leonis, The Big Basque
  3. Espiritu Chijulla Leonis
  4. Marcelina Leonis
  5. Juan Menendez
  6. Living Room
  7. Corner Cabinets
  8. Piano
  9. Dining Room
  10. Kitchen
  11. Cellar and Pantry
  12. Upper Rear Hallway
  13. Menendez Room
  14. Espiritu's Bedroom
  15. Sewing Room
  16. Front Upstairs Veranda
  17. Outdoor Oven or Horno
  18. Oak Tree
  19. Poultry and Doves
  20. Guinea Hens
  21. Turkeys
  22. Barn and Blacksmith Shop
  23. Carriages and Buggies
  24. Miguel's Land and Property Map
  25. Bath House
  26. Laundry Area
  27. Well and Windmill
  28. Tank House and Water Tank
  29. Orsua Room
  30. Vineyard
  31. Fruit Trees
  32. Vegetable Garden
  33. Longhorn Cattle
  34. Merino Sheep
  35. Nubian and Angora Goats
  36. Percheron Draft Horses
  37. Farm Implements
  38. Wagons
  39. Outhouses
  40. The Plummer House