Branches on the Conejo Revisited

An expanded and revised edition of the original BRANCHES ON THE CONEJO: LEAVING THE SOIL AFTER FIVE GENERATIONS, (2001). Includes an introduction by Wyatt McCrea, grandson of actor Joel McCrea and President of the McCrea Ranch Foundation. A timely memoir of what life was like in Southern California before the land was paved and the memories lost. Anecdotal stories, reflections and events of the pioneer families who lived and farmed in the Conejo Valley from the 1880s until urban development began in 1950s. Highlights of Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park and Moorpark history through journals, personal history and photographs of the descendants who lived and farmed the Conejo Valley. The author is a descendant of Caspar Borchard Sr., a pioneer farmer and stockman in Newbury Park, and Nils Olsen, one of the founders of the Norwegian Colony. Included are expanded histories of the Pederson, Hansen, Nelson, Olsen and Anderson families that settled the Norwegian Colony and built the Norwegian Grade. A highly readable addition to early California social history.