The subsurface Russell fault is a controlling structure for oil fields in the Cuyama basin in the southern Salinian block of coastal California. Movement on the Russell fault began at about 23 Ma following deposition of the Oligocene Simmler Formation in extensional basins bounded on the south by normal-fault ancestors of the La Panza and Ozena reverse faults. Right-lateral strike slip on the Russell fault began with deposition of the Soda Lake Shale Member of the Vaqueros Formation. The Soda Lake Shale Member and Painted Rock Sandstone Member of the Vaqueros Formation were deposited in west-trending, right-stepping troughs, while most of the right slip on the Russell fault accumulated 23-19 Ma. Pre-Vaqueros strata are offset 26-29 km, but Vaqueros isopachs are offset onl 3.7 km. The Whiterock Bluff Shale Member of the Monterey Formation is dated as 16.5-14 Ma; the facies boundary between the Whiterock Bluff Shale Member and the Branch Canyon Sandstone is offset 3-3.4 km. Coeval subsidiary faults near the Russell fault in Miocene strata at least as young as 11 Ma also support distributed right-lateral shear. The Russell fault is overlain unconformably by the Morales Formation, which includes strata as old as 4 Ma ± 1 m.y. North of Russell Ranch oil field, the Russell fault bifurcates into a western strand that joins the Chimeneas fault and an eastern strand that is overridden by the Big Spring reverse fault. The Russell fault may continue to the southeast as the Ozena fault and be offset across the Big Pine fault. Right slip began 6-7 m.y. after the predicted time of first contact of the Pacific and North American plates. Slip rates were 6.5-7 mm/yr during 23-19 Ma, 0.1-0.3 mm/yr during 19-14 Ma, and 0.3-1.1 mm/yr during 14-4 Ma. The sudden decrease in slip rate occurred as the basin deepened at the time of Monterey Formation deposition, which began about 19 Ma. The relation of development of Vaqueros basins containing Soda Lake Shale Member to strike slip on the Russell fault suggests that a reconstruction of the early Miocene strike-slip tectonics of the southeastern Coast Ranges may permit exploration for other hidden Vaqueros basins elsewhere in the Salinian block.