Santa Clarita Valley History In Pictures

Callahan's Old West
Agua Dulce (Saugus), California

About Callahan's Old West.

Robert E. Callahan's Old West Trading Post, aka Indian Village, at 13660 Sierra Highway in "Outlaw Canyon" was the equivalent of an amusement park of its day.

Callahan (b. Oct. 27, 1892; d. Jan. 10, 1981), an entertainer and novelist, exploited America's fascination with all things Western — especially the romanticized notions of Old California as presented by Helen Hunt Jackson in her seminal 1884 novel, "Ramona" — by collecting objects with a connection, real or imagined, to the novelist and her work, and enticing the public to experience them.

Callahan's initial visions of creating an amusement park to be called Ramona Village morphed into the Mission Village Auto Court, which he opened in 1926 at 5675 W. Washington Blvd. in Culver City. Along with a themed hotel, he erected teepees for travelers and put his collections on display, including a chapel, little red schoolhouse and kiva (a small sweat lodge).

Auto parks were big business as the automobile came into age in the 1920s. There were a few auto parks in the Santa Clarita Valley, most notably McIntyre's camp at Castaic Junction, which was wiped out in the 1928 St. Francis Dam disaster.

In time, L.A. city builders had a different vision for Callahan's Culver City property. By the early 1960s, Mission Village stood in the way of the coming I-10 Santa Monica Freeway. So in 1962 Callahan closed Mission Village and moved it to 13660 Sierra Highway. (The freeway was completed in 1965).

Note: In Callahan's day, that part of Sierra Highway was known as Saugus. The county of Los Angeles later included it within the Acton-Agua Dulce Town Council's sphere of influence. It is commonly considered part of Agua Dulce today.

In 1987, Callahan's widow, Marion, donated several artifacts from the former Indian Village — including the Ramona Chapel and little red schoolhouse — to the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society.

The main building remained on the property, and from From 1986-2000, Marion Callahan leased it to the Canyon Theatre Guild. In 2000 the CTG moved back to downtown Newhall where the community theatre had started.


SG0922: Photo by Nathan Caswell of The Signal.
CALLAHAN'S MISSION VILLAGE

thumbnail

Pollack Story

thumbnail

Callahan & Carrie Jacobs Bond in Ramona Chapel 1927

thumbnail

Ramona Cottage ~1930s

thumbnail

~1940s

thumbnail

Callahan with Hopi Indians Employees

thumbnail

Good Luck Charm

thumbnail

'Hopi Snake Dance' Booklet

CALLAHAN'S OLD WEST TRADING POST

thumbnail

Description 1965

thumbnail

1967 Visit x3

thumbnail

Tom Shubert Story

thumbnail

Ray Saniger Performs 1967/70 (Mult.)

thumbnail

Summer of 1967

thumbnail

1972 Horror Film

thumbnail

Outlaw Saloon

thumbnail

Hopi Shrine

thumbnail

Red Schoolhouse

thumbnail

Ramona Chapel

thumbnail

Main Building

thumbnail

Good Luck Charm
Wrong Address

thumbnail

Good Luck Charm
Correct Address

thumbnail

$1,000 Las Vegas Loot

thumbnail

Schoolhouse Origin

The Callahan Collection: Donation Records


thumbnail

Schoolhouse Arrives 1987

thumbnail

Ramona Cradle x2

RETURN TO TOP ]   RETURN TO MAIN INDEX ]   PHOTO CREDITS ]   BIBLIOGRAPHY ]   BOOKS FOR SALE ]
SCVHistory.com is another service of SCVTV, a 501c3 Nonprofit • Site contents ©SCVTV
The site owner makes no assertions as to ownership of any original copyrights to digitized images. However, these images are intended for Personal or Research use only. Any other kind of use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly publication in any medium or format, public exhibition, or use online or in a web site, may be subject to additional restrictions including but not limited to the copyrights held by parties other than the site owner. USERS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for determining the existence of such rights and for obtaining any permissions and/or paying associated fees necessary for the proposed use.