According to Edwin O. Palmer in his 1937 two-volume
History of Hollywood, the area identified as Outpost Estates was one of the villages of the Native American
Tongva (or
Kizh) Nation (named "Gabrielino" by the Spanish after their
Mission San Gabriel Arcángel). The Tongva people, who speak a
Uto-Aztecan language and are affiliated to the
Shoshone people of Western America, have occupied the area for at least 3500 years, and were preceded in the area by
Hokan-speaking native people. Based on the 1852 letters of
Hugo Reid and other sources, Palmer wrote: {{Blockquote "Their Mocohuenga (council grounds) were situated near the mouth of the canyon at the north end of Western Avenue, at Los Feliz. Their principal rancheria (village) at the mouth of the canyon at the north end of Sycamore Avenue, now the Outpost, was called Caueg-na, and was seven miles from Yang-na (now Los Angeles), and about the same distance from Paseg-na, now San Fernando." The area was the site of the first building in what is now Hollywood, a three-room
adobe house built in 1853 by Don Tomas Urquidez, near what is now the intersection of Outpost Drive and Hillside Avenue. General
Harrison Grey Otis, the owner of the
Los Angeles Times, acquired the estate from Don Tomás through legal wrangling associated with California's joining the United States in 1850. Near Casa Don Tomás, Otis built a clubhouse on the property for entertaining, which he called "The Outpost." "Homes had to be designed in Spanish, Mediterranean or California modern style, have red tile roofs, plenty of patios for "outdoor living," and be approved by architectural committee before being built." The Outpost sign was dismantled during World War II, and the wreckage of the sign was left in place, buried in the weeds. Even the original foundation and electrical junction boxes survived. The twisted remains were identified by hikers in 2002. In 1967, a homeowners association was formed to combat what residents considered to be inappropriate development. In the 1980s, the group helped to prevent the development of Runyon Canyon. ==Education==