SOLD OUT!    

This is the first in a series of several books about the "First Farmers of the Oxnard Plain." In the winter of 1867 four German immigrants planted and harvested the first crop, barley, on the virgin soil that thirty years later earned the name of the Oxnard Plain. Christian Borchard, his son John Edward Borchard, Christian's nephew Caspar Borchard and former countryman from Germany, Gottfried Maulhardt, traveled to the south side of the Santa Clara River and lived in one of the few adobe structures on the former land grant Santa Clara o la Colonia. Originally granted to eight Mexican soldiers after the secularization of the former mission lands, only the Gonzalez family tried to make a living on the 44,000 acres. Cattle was the major source of income in California in the during the mid 1800's, but a series of droughts cost many of the cattle raisers to sell their land. By the time the Borchards and Maulhardts arrived in 1867, the head of the Gonzalez family, Rafael, had returned to Santa Barbara to live in the adobe home he built for his family back in 1825.  

The research for this book took me across the ocean to Germany to track down the clues as to why these German families made the 5,000 mile trek to a new and undeveloped land. To my surprise, the German families I encountered treated me like I was a first cousin even though I'm 5 generations removed. I found many examples of the character of these people that pointed to why the early farmers were able to survive and thrive in their new home. One example can be could in the architecture. Many of the buildings Germany were built last, some dating back over 200 years. The picture on this page is of the Maulhardt residents in Esplingerode, Germany. The structure on the left represents the earliest portion of the home, dating back to the early 1700s. The structured was expanded over the centuries to include the newer facade on the right.  

After a chapter on these farmer's German roots and a short chapter on California history, the book presents a history of the some of the first farmers of the Oxnard plain. Eleven biographical histories are featured with references to many other early Ventura County families. 

The book came out in June 1999.  After a successful book signing at the Maulhardt barn in Oxnard, all 650 copies were sold. A second printing of 750 copies were printed but unfortunately the book is currently out of print.  

The book features 264 pages, 300 pictures, 20 pages color pictures, and over 250 footnotes.