page_title: Tehachapi Mountains
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Tehachapi Mountains / History
caption_attribution_description: Panoramic image of the windfarm at Tehachapi, CA, by Roger Howard &lt;rogerhoward@mac.com&gt;; more images at http://www.rogerroger.org/
context_page_description: The Tehachapi Mountains are a mountain range in the Transverse Ranges system of California in the Western United States. The range extends for approximately 40 miles in southern Kern County and northwestern Los Angeles County.
context_section_description: Indigenous peoples
  The origin of the name Tehachapi may come from the Kawaiisu language, derived from the word  "tihachipia"  translated as "hard climb".
  
  The historic Indigenous peoples of California with homelands in the Tehachapi Mountains were the:
  Kitanemuk
  Kawaiisu 
  Serrano people
  Ranchos
  The historic Mexican land grants in the Tehachapis are:
  Rancho El Tejon (1843)
  Rancho Castac (1843)
  Rancho La Liebre (1846)
  Rancho Los Alamos y Agua Caliente (1846)
  All four Tehachapi ranchos were acquired over 1855 to 1866 and combined by Edward Beale. As the Tejon Ranch it stayed in the family until sold by Truxtun Beale 1912. The purchase was by a Harry Chandler—Moses Sherman lead syndicate of land investors, and became a public company in 1936. Tejon Ranch is still one of the largest private landholdings in the state, and currently an undeveloped agricultural and wildland entity. The Tejon Ranch corporation has recently proposed major new  developments in portions of the Tehachapi Mountains, including the Tejon Mountain Village and Centennial, California planned urban center.
  Other historic sites of the Tehachapi region
  Oak Creek Pass – Indian trail in the Tehachapis, Francisco Garces was first European to use the pass in 1776
  Fort Tejon: 1854 fort, with the nearby former 1854 Chumash Sebastian Indian Reservation. Now Fort Tejon State Historic Park in the Tejon Pass area.
  1857 Fort Tejon earthquake – moment magnitude of 7.9, average slip along the fault was  4.5 meters (15 ft)
  Monolith Cement Works: supplied concrete for the construction of Hoover Dam and other major public works; east of Tehachapi Pass.
  Old Tejon Pass – Another ancient native trail, used by Pedro Fages in 1772 and Jedediah Smith in 1827.
caption: The eastern Tehachapi foothills:
  panoramic view with the Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm.
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