The old windmill in Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa fell down last December apparently as a result of the very strong winds we had at the time. No word on plans to get the windmill back in places as of November 2022, six years later.

Rancho Sierra Vista "Mountain View Ranch" was the name given to the area by Carl Beal when he purchased thousands of acres of the northern section of Rancho Guadalasca in 1936 (the southern section was purchased by William Richard Broome). Beal brought modern ranching to the ranch, including a series of wells, springs and reservoirs from Boney Mountain.  Later the property was sold to Richard Danielson, who farmed and ranched here with his family for 32 years. It was sold to the National Park Service in 1980.

Prior to it falling on its side, the windmill was a favorite destination in Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa. As you'll see in the latter part of the video, the windmill did function prior to its fall.  The NPS will be looking into the best approach to stand it back up and assess damages to the windmill as a result of the fall. Since the windmill is located in the protected Satwiwa Native American Indian Natural Area, NPS must be mindful of its approach to minimize impact to this sacred land.

Satwiwa means "the bluffs" and was the name of a nearby Chumash village. The Satwiwa area was established to reflect the Chumash heritage. Visit the Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center on weekends from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to learn more about the Chumash from a park ranger.