Rancho Topanga Malibu: The Fight Between May Rindge and the United States Government

Before his death in August of 1905, Fredrick Rindge, the Land Baron of Malibu asked his wife, May Rindge, to make a solemn promise: Preserve the natural beauty of their “Sunset-Land” ranch and resist all efforts by others to invade their domain. May Rindge will spend the next three decades trying to keep that promise. She'll fight the Southern Pacific, State of California, and the U.S. Federal Government in a series of legal and sometimes violent battles to keep any public roads or rails off the Rindge family land. The Rindge family has little-known connections to not only the Camarillo family, but the city of Camarillo itself. Jose de Arnaz, the father of Ventura, Maria Camarillo, and the Adohr Dairy Farms are all intertwined in this local history epic starring Rindge family Matriarch, Rhoda May Knight Rindge. Is she a folk hero protecting the rights of her family's property, or an evil land baroness halting the public will for her own personal gain?