Campo de Cahuenga to Rededicate Historic Fountain

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

What:    Campo de Cahuenga to rededicate historic fountain 

When:   Saturday, April 2, 2011, 11:30 a.m.

Where: Campo de Cahuenga Historic Park, 3919 Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood, CA

The Campo de Cahuenga has announced a dedication ceremony to celebrate the restoration of the historic Dona Bernarda Ruiz Fountain at the Campo de Cahuenga.  The Campo is considered to be the birthplace of California.  Dona Bernarda is often called the “Dolly Madison of California” because of her efforts to bring the war between the United States and Mexico to an end in California. 

After more than forty years of disrepair, the historic Campo fountain, which is the centerpiece of the gardens at the Campo de Cahuenga, has been restored and brought back to life.  The fountain will be officially unveiled and re-dedicated in a ceremony on Saturday, April 2, 2011 at 11:30 a.m.  Expected to be in attendance are elected officials and representatives from various historic organizations.  A bar-be-que luncheon will follow the ceremony.   

The Campo de Cahuenga is considered the birthplace of California and the site where America’s dream of “Manifest Destiny” was realized.   On January 14, 1847, John C. Fremont and Kit Carson met with Andres Pico and accepted the surrender of the Californios troops.  The Peace Agreement, known today as the “Campo de Cahuenga Articles of Capitulation”, was principally negotiated between Fremont and Dona Bernarda Ruiz.  The agreement signed at the Campo ultimately led to the American acquisition of all Mexican lands west of the Rocky Mountains, and created a continental United States that stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. 

The Campo de Cahuenga was built during the 1780’s and subsequently served as an outpost to the Mission San Fernando.  It was likely one of the largest buildings in California when built, and historians believe it may have been one of the earliest multi-story buildings in California.  The Campo was built on the site of a native Indian village, where bone remnants have been carbon dated to be as old as 6000 years.  The Campo subsequently served as an Overland-Butterfield stage coach station and then as a Union Army post during the Civil War.

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