Look Who it Was Random video

Towsley Canyon, Santa Clarita Woodlands Park, CA

3,121 views · Published 30 December 2010 · 5:18 · Indexed 22 October 2026

Channel: KennethKramm · 2010 · Education

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Towsley Canyon, located in the Santa Monica Mountains, California, offers visitors a peaceful haven away from urban life.  This beautiful canyon is rich with diversity.  Native American heritage and early California oil interests played an important role in the region's history.  

Some 15 millions years ago, the area was covered by a deep ocean.  Marine organisms accumulated in thick beds on the ocean floor, gradually being covered with sand and gravel as the waters shallowed and receded over time.  Subsequent uplift of the area explains the present occurrence of oil and gas bearing fields.

Attracted by tar seeps that bubbled to the surface, Tataviam Indians came to settle.  The residents used the asphalt for medicinal purposes and to waterproof their baskets.  Spaniards of the late 18th century covered the roofs of their adobe homes and missions with tar from Towsley and nearby locations.  

Darius Towsley arrived in the canyon at the close of the Civil War.  In1865 his claim to the canyon that now bears his name was confirmed by the San Fernando Petroleum District.  Towsley eventually sold to Pacific Coast Oil, which became Standard, then Chervron. 

Towsley Canyon was later the scene of some of the finest horse shows in the West.  The site was also a mecca for film makers, looking for rustic backgrounds.  Stars such as Clayton (Lone Ranger) Moore, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers rode through the canyon.

Park visitors will see a wide variety of plants and wildlife -- including mule deer, bobcat, coyote, grey fox brush rabbit and occasional mountain lion and black bear.   The park is also home to red-tailed hawk, turkey vulture, California thrasher, mountain quail scrub jay, rufous-sided towhee and many other birds. 

Videography by Ken Kramm:  Canon Vixia HF S20 Camcorder, Imovie11.  Filmed December 2010.

Creative Commons music by Kevin MacLeod and The Free Sound Project.

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