An account, short enough to be read in two or three sittings, of the making of Ventura County, California, from its geological formation up to the beginning of the modern era in 1890, covering the occupation by Chumash Indians, the Mission period and its origins, the development and decline of the ranchos, the coming of the railroad, and the beginning of the oil industry. There is also a diversion in which the changes of history are likened to the changes brought about in a powder or liquid by changes in frequency and amplitude of a vibration applied thereto - the science of cymatics. There are maps, photographs and a line drawing, and a list of books and resources. The author is a retired book publisher from London, England, now living in Ventura.