The story behind the name
The starting of the school on paper (Ruby Marie Costa-Thompson/The Puma Prensa)
Written By: Ruby Marie Costa-Thompson, staff writer
Billy Montgomery was the first Santa Rosan to die in World War II. Piner was a family name held by one of Santa Rosa’s early settlers. Cardinal John Henry Newman was a previous Catholic priest, an academic, and a theologian.
But who was Maria Carrillo?
Maria Ygnacia Lopez de Carrillo was born in 1793 and spent most of her early life in San Diego. In 1824, Carrillo began to reside in the Ruiz abode in southern San Diego near the coast — now named “La Casa de Carrillo” — along with her husband, Joaquin Victor Carrillo, and her thirteen total children. She lived in San Diego until her husband died in 1836, and with nothing but a small garden and orchard to provide for her and her children, she and her family were forced to move North. They occupied Sonoma for a short year.
Not long after, she was permitted to occupy the Cabeza de Santa Rosa land grant.
She built a large adobe to live in along Santa Rosa Creek, and today, her home is a historic sight. She was among the few women to possess a land grant officially made in 1841. Carrillo's land included many crops and thousands of cows, horses, and sheep, helping her maintain a stable, self-sufficient life. Most women relied on their husbands or sons during the early nineteenth century, so this was a significant difference.
It’s said that Maria Carrillo High School was named in her honor to reflect her most essential values: courage and hard work. She was an incredible example of strong leadership. Though her children and many Native Americans lived and worked on her land, she was the head. She built her life from the ground up, unafraid to get her hands dirty.
However, MCHS carries more than just her name. In the upper quad, just across the library, a statue depicting the branding iron used for her actual land grant stands in a planter with a dedicated plaque. In addition, the founding principal, Pamela Devlin, shares that there are “recreated paintings of her many Carrillo classrooms done by one of the founding student’s mothers.”
Despite these nods to her and that Maria Carrillo was a fantastic woman with many impressive accomplishments, her fame slowly fizzled out at MCHS. Many staff members, especially veteran teachers who have been here since the school's early days, are familiar with her identity. Still, the same can’t be said about most of Carrillo’s student body.
“If you were to ask any of the students about who she was, I think less than half would be able to tell you,” estimates Natasha Deakins, the leadership teacher. Another teacher believed it could be even less than twenty-five percent.
Though knowledge about Carrillo’s namesake might not be the top concern of many students, that doesn't undermine her importance. Not only were her achievements as a woman incredible for her time, but her values still hold today. She is essential to our county, city, and school’s history.
Carrillo Adobe is what remains of her property in Santa Rosa, and it's viewable to the public just a few minutes walk from the Montgomery Village shopping center. Though most MCHS students may not be familiar with Carrillo’s identity, her spirit is still represented in the values the school holds. There is still time in the future for MCHS to put greater emphasis on sharing her story, and showing just why we feel so honored to carry on her name.