Anthony “Toots” Jauregui, Class of 1927

“Men of quality are above wit.” In 1927, one of the traditions established by the El Solano staff was to include a quote to describe each graduating senior, and the above quote was chosen to describe Joe Anthony “Toots” Jauregui. Classmates of Anthony included John Pinkerton, Virginia McKevett, Wallace Hardison, Hilda Hackley, James Sharp, Herman Rounds, Gertrude Beckwith, Charles Teague, Fred Richardson, Clark Cauch, Tom Riley, Loren Ayers, Francisco Bravo, Rosemary Fagan, Fred Leavens, Max Rudolph and Boyd Strange.After graduation Anthony had an opportunity to attend college in the state of Washington and study veterinary medicine, but decided to stay on the family’s ranch in Wheeler Canyon to help his father. As a young man, Anthony herded sheep in pastures throughout the Santa Clara Valley. One of the pastures included South Mountain where he would spend months pasturing sheep, from the Lloyd-Butler Ranch (where the current Saticoy Country Club is located) to the Converse property (location of the “S. P.”).In 1937, as the family sheep business expanded, Anthony went into partnership with his brothers, Gracion and Robert, to form the Jauregui Bros. With the expanding flock and development in the Santa Clara Valley, pasture had to be leased in other areas of the county. For many years a flock of sheep could be seen in the springtime grazing in the foothills above Ventura in Hall Canyon. Before Magic Mountain and the development of “Santa Clarita,” alfalfa fields existed on the vast Newhall Land & Farming Co. property. The Jauregui Bros. sheep could be seen grazing on these expansive fields along Highway 99 (now Interstate 5) during the winter months. In his business transactions, no one ever needed a written contract about anything - everyone who has dealt with Anthony knew his word, or his handshake, is his bond.Although he never received formal training as a veterinarian, Anthony had many opportunities to ply his skills with all types of livestock. “I can remember my father assisting many ewes deliver their lambs,” states his son, Joe. “When he would see a sheep struggling in her attempt to deliver her lamb, he would tell me to go back to the sheep camp and get a basin of water and a bar of soap. He’d roll up his shirtsleeves, wash his hands, and reach inside the ewe and reposition the lamb to allow the lamb to be delivered.”With pasture getting scarce and the lack of qualified sheepherders, the sheep were sold in 1966. Never one to sit still, Anthony bought cattle and tended a herd for the next 30 years. Although he epitomizes the rugged individualism of a “cowboy,” actively tending his herd and riding his horse Pepper in the foothills until age 85, he doesn’t consider himself a cowboy. Featured in an article in the April 5, 1989 edition of the Vista Magazine of the Ventura Star-Free Press, Anthony stated he “isn’t a real cowboy, because cowboys don’t build fences....”