"Every time I turn my back it wants to go wild again," said Karin Blixen (Meryl Streep) of her African farm in the movie Out of Africa. Karin tried so desperately to tame her land, but she never really succeeded. Ida Ellen Howell, one of Fallbrook's pioneers, probably had the same frustrations as she fought to tame her Willow Creek land located near the banks of the Temecula River. In April of 1885 she began the struggle with her homesteaded land, full of large boulders, dense brush and uneven ground.

The Luiseño Indians had previously succeeded in subduing the land as evidenced by the many mortars (deep grinding holes), and metates (shallow grinding holes), in the area. A plaque bearing Ida's name was placed on a rock near a collection of mortars and metates. Authorities at the Fallbrook Historical Society are not sure if Ida is actually buried at this location or if the marker was set as a memorial.

Ida was probably attracted by the lure of free land, as was her father, whose homestead was adjacent to her property. The Homestead Act of 1862, which was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln, it made it possible for worthy citizens to claim land. A homesteader needed to be at least 21 years of age and the 'head of household.' Before a homesteader was legally granted ownership the acreage needed to be improved by building a home and farming the land.

Prospective homesteaders needed to file a form at the nearest Land Office in order to notify the U.S. Government of their intent to improve the land. A Another form, a 'non-mineral affidavit,' was filed after the land was worked for five years. This form included a section where the citizen needed to swear that they were already 'well- acquainted' with the land and knew that it was 'non-mineral land' and didn't contain deposits of gold and silver, or even lead or tin. After five years of improving the land, the homesteader was granted legal possession of the land in a document called a 'patent.'

Ida filled out all the necessary forms and in five years she was granted the land. Today the entire process can be reduced to a one-sentence explanation, but in a world without tractors or even automobiles, Ida must have had a difficult time working the land and hauling supplies from town. The terrain is rugged and the roads are narrow, even today. However, she did succeed in improving the land, and as stated in her Homestead Affidavit, "my improvements consist of a house, 20 acres/grubbed in vineyard and orchard, 750 ft. pipe and $100.00 of work done on a spring."

Thirty-five years before women were granted the right to vote, Ida Howell, a 22 year-old single woman, claimed her land in Willow Creek. In March of 1889 after five years of settling the land, she filed her 'Non-Mineral Affidavit' with the County of San Diego, a move that cemented her role as a maverick. The United States Land Office officials were not prepared for women homesteaders, but Ida took care of that. Every time the word 'him' appeared on the document, she crossed it off and wrote, 'her' in bold script.

Sarah Howell Neal and Grace Howell Hayes wrote a page on the homesteading Howell Family with a brief mention of Ida: In the 1880's Ida Howell, while riding a horse, was chased by a mountain lion down a road known as Howell Grade.

So who was this woman who eluded mountain lions and worked land like a man? What happened to her homestead? The tall green grass of a cleared area may have been her home site. I did find a tangle of wild vines with dark blue flowers that looked like they may have been domesticated at one time. Ida's homestead that she worked so hard to tame has gone wild. Maybe in the dry matted grass of summer I may be able to find some evidence of a homestead, but today all I see is a stretch of woodland. A woodpecker taps a tree somewhere in the distance, and the blue birds and finches flit from branch to branch, flirting with the tall sycamores. The only evidence of a former homestead is the plaque engraved "Beloved Aunt, Ida Ellen Howell, 1863-1946.

The author wishes to thank Fred Chase for his valuable insight and assistance with research and the Fallbrook Historical Society for the use of the mountain lion story.


Originally published in The Village News, April 2, 2004.

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