RUSSELL RANCH

Originally part of the El Rancho Conejo of Agoura and Thousand Oaks, Andrew and Hannibal Russell purchased the nearly 7,000 acres of the Agoura/Westlake portion of the property in 1881 and named it the Conejo Ranch. Around 1913, when the Janss' bought their Thousand Oaks Conejo property and also named it the Conejo Ranch, the Russells changed the name of their ranch to "El Triunfo".

In 1925, all but 165 acres of the ranch were sold to William Randolph Hearst. The Russell family then leased back their former property from Hearst. In 1943, Fred Albertson purchased the Hearst property and 100 of the 165 acres of the Russell's. In 1969, the American Hawaiian Land Company purchased all of the property.

While the property has gone by the names of "Conejo Ranch", "El Triunfo" or "Triunfo Ranch", and "Albertson Ranch", it is best known by its popular name of "Russell Ranch".

DIRECTIONS: From Los Angeles, take the 101 Freeway west (north). Exit at Lindero Canyon Road and turn left (south). At Triunfo Canyon Road, turn right. The lake at Westlake is the location of the homestead of the Russell Ranch and where the main ranch buildings were located. Some sets were outside this immediate area, but no sets remain from the filming days.

SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY:

"The Lash" (First National 1930) Directed by: Frank Lloyd. Cast: Richard Barthelmess, Mary Astor, Fred Kohler, Marian Nixon, James Rennie, Robert Edeson, Barbara Bedford, Arthur Stone, Erville Alderson, Mathilde Comont.

"The Last of the Mohicans" (Mascot 1932) Directed by: B. Reeves Eason & Ford Beebe. Cast: Harry Carey, Hobart Bosworth, Junior Coghlan, Edwina Booth, Lucile Browne, Walter Miller, Bob Kortman, Walter McGrail, Nelson McDowell, Edward Hearn, Mischa Auer, Yakima Canutt, Chief Big Tree, Joan Gale, Tully Marshall, Al Craven, Jewel Richford.

"State Fair" (20th Century Fox 1945) Directed by: Walter Lang. Cast: Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine, Charles Winninger, Fay Bainter, Donald Meek, Frank McHugh.