Local Myths and Urban Legends

It was a dreary, foggy night in Ventura when my companion and I decided to do some ghost- and myth-busting. We had heard a variety of tales about monsters and haunts in Ventura County and went in search of two of them: the ghost of Olivas Adobe and the Billiwhack monster of Aliso Canyon.

It has been said that Maria, a Native American servant girl, worked at Olivas Adobe in the mid-1800s. She allegedly was murdered by a visitor of the Olivas family when she complained about his advances. According to legend, he took his knife and cut out her eyes, raped and then strangled her. Her murderer was soon caught and killed, but to this day, there are stories of the eyeless ghost woman at Olivas Adobe. (No historical records exist that can prove or refute this story.)

Upon our arrival to Olivas Adobe, we decided try some scenarios as seen on Ghost Hunters on the SyFy channel.

Calling out for Maria, asking her why she was still there, trying a variety of taunts to irritate her, to communicate with her, there was no evidence of this ghost — with one exception. At one point, we voiced our skepticism, saying that she didn’t exist and it was all just a bunch of nonsense. At that very moment, something fell to the ground. It might have been some wild animal or a natural and explainable incident, but it spooked us nonetheless.

After Olivas Adobe, the search began for the Billiwhack monster (the story is included in the feature). A science experiment gone wrong at an old dairy, the Billiwhack monster is said to exist in the rural areas of Santa Paula, taunting teenagers and, in one instance, attacking one. In Santa Paula, traveling on some random road that led us through some lemon orchards, we ended up at a dead end — a ranch house off a dirt road.

Though there was no scientific evidence to prove that these stories exist, the journey was worth it. Next time, however, I think it would be a wiser decision to let veteran ghost hunter Richard Senate lead the way. He has a variety of ghost tours that run through the beginning of December — and he has plenty of stories to send shivers down one’s spine through the holiday season. For more information, go to cityofventura.net.

— Michael Sullivan

Legends in art: If you have your doubts about the various myths and tales of Ventura County, let local artists take your imagination for a ride. In an exhibition at the Museum of Ventura County, artists do their take on the urban myths and legends, open to the public through Nov. 27. This week, the VCReporter showcases the legends, the art and the inspiration behind the art. For more information on the exhibit, go to venturamuseum.org.

Stories compiled by Anna Bermudez and Charles Johnson

The White Lady of Highway 126

As Highway 126 winds around the citrus orchards between Santa Paula and Fillmore, there are several landmarks that dot the landscape. One of these is a large sycamore tree just off Highway 126 and between Hall and Sycamore roads. Legends speak of a white lady who appears to lone travelers at this spot. Some say she was hanged on this tree. Most of the local residents believe she was either killed in a tragic car accident near this spot or on the nearby railroad tracks.

The art, the inspiration, the artist: Susan Seaberry, Oxnard
I was on an adventure with Anna Bermudez (curator at Museum of Ventura County), driving through Fillmore and Santa Paula. Anna was telling me about her next exhibit as a curator for the fall show at the Ventura Mu seum representing local myths and legends. We came upon the huge and mostly dead sycamore tree on route 126. We pulled over to the roadside and the story of the White Woman followed. I could honestly feel a strange, unsettled energy surrounding the area. In the legend, a ghost is said to appear suddenly inside the car, between passengers. It was not difficult to imagine innocent travelers transporting a disembodied soul in their cars — and maybe with disastrous results. It’s said that the ghost is of a young woman who was killed on the road and then found hanging in the tree. Yikes!

I chose this story to paint, over others, because I felt I had experienced a paranormal sensation on the site. In addition, as I was explaining my experience and my plans to paint this experience to my hairdresser … she screamed!

Her father would tell his disruptive children in the back seat of his car to behave as they traveled route 126. Occasionally, he would look in the rear view mirror and be startled to see the White Woman sitting between the children. Well, my hairdresser chose not to attend the exhibit.

The Billiwhack Monster of Aliso Canyon

Isolated Aliso Canyon just west of Santa Paula is the home of one of the most famous of Ventura County’s legends.

First sighted in the 1940s at the abandoned Billiwhack Dairy owned by August Rubel, the monster is supposedly a genetics experiment gone awry.  Rubel was a mysterious man who was rumored to have been involved with the O.S.S. (Office of Strategic Services) and was conducting experiments for the government; more specifically, trying to create a “super soldier.” 

The monster is reported to have a very tall, muscular man’s body covered with gray-black hair and a long muzzle and ram’s horns on its head.

The art, the inspiration, the artist: Len Burge
As a child growing up at my grandmother’s house in Spokane, Wash., I was always intrigued (and a little frightened) by these items from the Billiwhack Dairy that she had hidden in her attic. In third grade I really wanted to impress everyone in my class for show-and-tell Friday so I smuggled the specimen case out of my grandmother’s house. hidden in an old shoebox. I showed my classmates throughout the day. A girl in my class was so disgusted that she dropped the case, in turn cracking the front plastic piece and releasing a smell that to this day I still can’t describe. To my horror, this attracted much of the faculty and they contacted my grandmother to come get the case and her suspended grandchild. One of the teachers must have called the Army because weeks later they were coming around asking Grams and teachers many questions. After that, the items disappeared.

Many years later as my sister and I were moving our grandmother into a home for the elderly, we stumbled upon the items again in a large, locked Army case in her basement. I knew she studied and practiced entomology and genetics but after reading dozens of letters she wrote to the O.S.S. I was shocked at the level they were at back in the late 1930s. Over the next few days I tried to talk with her about the experiments at the Billiwhack Dairy but she would always just kind of shut down and become very quiet. Not wanting to upset her, I would always change the subject.

On New Year’s Eve of last year we brought her over to a small family gathering and a few sips of champagne later, she started talking about the old days. Later that night I told her that I had read all the letters that she had written to the O.S.S.  and that if she ever wanted to tell me about the experiments I was very interested. She just went quiet for a moment. Then she looked at me and said, “Top secret. What’s done is done. The evil must remain top secret.”

I just hope people will come see the items at the museum. I have a feeling the government won’t let them remain at the museum for very much longer.

Editor’s note: Fact or fiction? Go to the museum and you be the judge.

Charman of Ojai

Many people have their own version of the Charman story about the ghost who haunts Creek Road in Ojai and one of the best-known spirits in the county.  He is the ghost of a man horribly disfigured in a fire. Some say the legend began with a forest fire in 1948.  Supposedly, he was a firefighter caught in a wall of fire. He ran into the woods engulfed in flames, and his body was never found. Another story is that he was a man badly burned in a car accident on Creek Road, and yet another version is that he actually lived in a cabin near Creek Road and was badly burned when his cabin caught fire and he tried to save his family.  

The art, the inspiration, the artist: Richard Flores, Ojai
Some years ago, a man who, very ironically lived near where I live now was helping others out of their cabins during a woodland fire; and after he ignited he was last seen running into the woods aflame, and no one ever found any trace of him ever again. The other irony of this story is that I was critically burned in a fire. That coupled with the fact that we resided in the same spot at different times gave me a desire to make this nested urn (the lid is another small urn, as is the lid to that urn, etc.) in a deep blood-red glaze with encompassing handles and all a lit in flame.

 This piece is made of high-fired stoneware with a copper-red glaze and titanium-tipped flames fired to cone 10 in a reduction atmosphere. The Charman Urn was fabricated by throwing clay forms on the potter’s wheel and then finishing and assembling those forms together with hand-built parts and details added.

Hueneme, the Lady of Mugu Rock

Recent sightings of a ghostly Chumash maiden at Mugu Rock give credibility to the tale of Hueneme. 
Hueneme was a beautiful young Chumash woman who was the daughter of a great Chumash chief. She was a very kind woman whose beauty was renowned. Although she had many suitors, she fell in love with a very handsome man and they were married. Her husband attracted the attention of another woman, who grew jealous and envious of Hueneme and sought out the skills of a sorcerer to teach her spells to destroy the marriage. 
The wicked woman’s skills were so great that she bewitched Hueneme’s husband and took him away with her. Hueneme was distraught but after a time she went looking for the pair. When she eventually found them, the wicked woman laughed at Hueneme. Hueneme felt defeated and walked away, but her husband broke through the evil spell at last and followed his beautiful wife to their home at Point Mugu.
Unfortunately, Hueneme could never recapture the love and happiness they had felt before and threw herself into the sea. Hueneme turned to stone, which is now known as Mugu Rock. Her now-repentant and distraught husband followed her into the sea, and his hair became the seaweed that now encircles the rock. 

The art, the inspiration, the artist: Andrea Vargas Mendoza
A coastal drive down the PCH is undeniably memorable on any occasion, but Point Mugu Rock is the most striking landmark. When visited, there is an indescribable mystic quality about the rock and its prominence. The legend of Hueneme explains the female ghost at Point Mugu. I chose to depict the story because it had two of my favor ite and inspiring elements — epic melodrama and tragic love.

As the legend describes, the lovers experience a unification with the oceanic elements after death. For this reason, my painting of Hueneme had to be life-size and dramatic in scale, capturing the sensual in a provocative yet holy embrace. 

Ghost of the Carlo Hahn House

Known by most as the Santa Clara House, the Big Green House or, more currently, Candelight Bar and Restaurant, this once stately home has deep dark secrets.   

Forced into a loveless marriage to a much older man, Rosat was a very unhappy woman who began to look to a young, handsome Italian man for love and comfort. They became lovers and she was soon pregnant. Soon after, her lover left for San Francisco and never returned.

A desperate Rosa tied a rope around a beam in her room and hung herself just as her family was arriving to visit her.

Noises have been heard in the upstairs women’s bathroom, and people talk about the feeling of someone pushing them down the stairs. There is a round window on the second floor, and many passers-by claim to have seen a woman looking longingly out that window. Perhaps it is Rosa waiting for her lover to return.

The art, the inspiration, the artist: Kay Zetlmaier
I chose the Hahn House and the ghost of Rosa because I have known about her spirit residing there since I came to Ventura in 1976. My friends, restaurateurs Hilda and Ed Warren, bought the house, revamped it to the first of many restaurants, and called it the Big Green House. It was there that I first learned about Rosa and was very intrigued. I understood Rosa “visited” many people there throughout the years. I thought her story was sad and very contemporary.

Setting out to convey Rosa’s story, I went to the Ventura County Museum to look for more inspirational information. I knew she hung herself over a failed love affair, but was unclear about the details. Digging further, I found speculation that she was pregnant and hung herself from the rafters of her bedroom in a nearby house that no longer exists. Her spirit decided to moved to the Hahn House and stay there. I first went to take photos of the exterior of the Hahn House because the reported “sightings” of Rosa peering from the windows seemed like a good idea for my painted story. I found the window of the upstairs bathroom to be a wonderful shape and unique to other windows of the house. This bathroom, I knew, was a popular “hang-out” for Rosa. Hence, I began my creation by cutting and building the frame from weathered wood to resemble the window frame. The process took me to the next level … making it a portable hanging altar with candles, symbols and Rosa’s portrait, much like the Spanish retablos. It all came together easily … as if Rosa were leading the way!

I believe in the paranormal. My experiences are few, but the ones I remember most are: Grandpa had passed away and our family was living in his house. One night my children’s bedroom TV came on and wind-up toys started to move in the middle of the night. I woke up to find the kids fast asleep! I think their grandpa wanted to play with them or watch over them.  Next, the house I live in now has one room where I just can’t stay warm. I discovered from a neighbor that a young mother died in that room. So I believe her spirit is still there.