What was Chávez Ravine — and what wasn't

There is so much misinformation surrounding the term 'Chávez Ravine' that it becomes truly mind-boggling.  First, of course, there is the ravine itself, which is a distinct geographical feature located far to the west of anything else that later bore its name.  Next, there were the three so-called Chávez Ravine communities of la Loma, Palo Verde, and Bishop, none of which was remotely connected to the actual Chávez Ravine.  Finally, the name was ludicrously appropriated and mis-applied to Dodger Stadium, which was constructed against the bulk of a decimated Mt. Lookout, and which sits firmly astride Sulphur and Cemetery Ravines; again, with its having no connection whatever to the geographical feature called Chávez Ravine.

Of the three, then, there is only one Chávez Ravine, and that is the narrow canyon that lies near the western edge of the massíf on which today sit Elysian Park, the historic Solano Canyon community, and Dodger Stadium.

This blog takes a look at what was — and what wasn't — Chávez Ravine.

This map, surveyed in 1868 by George Hansen and Wm. Moore, shows the Stone Quarry Hills as it looked at the time.

This is a portion of the same map, but with the ravines identified.  Reservoir Ravine was initially not named; it was named only after a reservoir was constructed at its mouth.

Next, let's take a look at a modern image of the same area, with Chávez Ravine clearly marked; the red line is the original Chávez Ravine trail, and the heavy yellow line is the location of Stadium Way today.

Finally, here's the same image, but with the approximate locations of the three so-called Chávez Ravine communities of la Loma, Palo Verde, and Bishop marked, along with historic Solano Canyon, which is outlined in red on the right-hand side of the image.

By now, it should be clear that Chávez Ravine — the heavy red line on the left-hand side of the image — has nothing at all to do with either the communities of la Loma, Palo Verde, and Bishop or Dodger Stadium.  And, for that matter, if la Loma (the right-hand yellow polygon) is a part of Chávez Ravine—the Communities, then why not include Solano Canyon in that designation, too?  In fact, la Loma was less a stand-alone community than it was a natural extension of Solano Canyon; it was simply the growth of population up and onto the loma that gave the community its name.  To illustrate that argument, look at this 1930s-era photograph, taken from a point high above the Solano Avenue School, where most of the children from la Loma attended school, and looking up into la Loma.  It is impossible to tell where Solano Canyon ends and la Loma begins.

So what does it mean — if anything?

It probably doesn't mean anything, in reality, other than to serve as a vestigal linguistic curiosity.  But there does seem to exist a bit of a 'cult of Julián Chávez' surrounding the historical context of the names, and which, of course, is entirely unwarranted, given that the oft-repeated '83 acres' that Julián Chávez actually owned was not within Chávez Ravine itself, nor within any of the communities that co-opted his name, but rather on the northeast side of the Stone Quarry Hills, on the flat land by the Los Angeles River in the area that is known locally as Frogtown; and the Palo Verde Tract, which included all of la Loma, most of Palo Verde above Effie Street, and all of Bishop was subdivided and developed by Alfredo Solano, son of the founders of Solano Canyon, Francisco Solano and Rosa Casanova, beginning in 1897.

One further thing:  it is entirely possible that the name Chávez Ravine derives not from Julián Chávez at all, but rather from his brother, Mariano, who once owned land high up in the ravine near the summit.  And the Chávez Ravine trail itself led directly, not to the Frogtown properties of brothers Julián and Mariano Chávez, but to the adjacent, larger acreage of Juan Bouet, my great-great grandfather.