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COMMITTEE NEWS | THE COLONY NEWS | MAY 2022 | 13 Neighbors living near Rancho Santa Rosa looked forward to the legendary May Day picnics hosted by owner Parker Dear and his wife, Elena Couts. During the 1880s -1890s, guests arrived in horse-drawn buggies, climbing the winding ascent to the Santa Rosa Plateau. Underneath broad oaks, they spread blankets and baskets. Parker Dear was a cattle rancher and provided barbequed meat, while each family brought potluck dishes to share. Parker and Elena established the May Day picnic tradition in 1886. The crowd came dressed in their best attire; girls and ladies wore new dresses and men sported suits, hats, ties and boutonnieres. Parker would join the party in his fancy carriage pulled by fine horses, wearing the Californio ranchero costume; his wife Elena wore traditional Spanish dress with mantilla. Elena was the daughter of Colonel Cave Couts and Yisdora Bandini of the wealthy and prestigious San Diego family. From Tennessee, Couts served in the Mexican-American War and met Elena in San Diego. Her family home became the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Old Town San Diego. Legend tells that she literally "fell into his arms" when she leaned out too far from her balcony as his regiment was marching beneath. Lean, handsome, and the ultimate gentleman, Couts caught Ysidora as she fell. Ysidora was given Guajome Rancho south of San Luis Rey River by her brother-in-law as a wedding present. Couts built a graceful pueblo residence that is presently a California Historical Landmark. Now wealthy with holdings of 20,000 acres, his hospitality was celebrated, such as hosting Helen Hunt Jackson while she was working on her novel, Ramona, supposedly set at Guajome Rancho. Parker Dear's British father bought Rancho Santa Rosa in 1873. The original 45,000 acre land grant was to Juan Moreno in 1844, sold to Agustin Machado in 1855. Parker built a fashionable home in 1876 which later burned. The rancho sold cattle and horses, and grew citrus, apples, pears, peaches and grapes. Rain or shine, picnics were enjoyed for many years, until Dear lost the property to Walter Vail in 1904. Rancho Santa Rosa lands transitioned over the next 80 years into the Rancho California community, which includes The Colony site in Murrieta. In 1984 -1990, a large portion of the plateau was made an Ecological Reserve that has the oldest standing adobe structures in California, the Moreno and Machado Adobes. OUTREACH TO HISTORY By Lennie Martin May Day Picnics at Rancho Santa Rosa Marriage Certificate Parker Dear & Elena Couts July 6, 1881 May Day Picnic at Rancho Santa Rosa c.1890 E. Hale Curran Collection Parker Dear & Elena Couts Home Rancho Santa Rosa c.1880 E. Hale Curran Collection