Rancho Jurupa was a Mexican land grant in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States, that is divided by the present-day counties of Riverside and

San Bernardino San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

. The land was granted to

Juan Bandini Juan Bandini (1800 – November 4, 1859) was a Peruvian-born Californio public figure, politician, and ranchero. He is best known for his role in the development of San Diego in the mid-19th century. Early history Bandini was born in 1800 in Lima ...

by Governor Juan B. Alvarado in 1838. Located along both banks of the

Santa Ana River The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino and Riversid ...

in southern California, the rancho included much of the land in the present day city of Jurupa Valley, as well as the downtown area in the city of Riverside.

History

Rancho Jurupa was established on the homelands of the

Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous peoples of California, Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Channel Islands of California, Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . In the precolonial era, the peop ...

, and included the village of Horuuvngna within its boundaries. "Seven leagues of grazing land: a little more," is how the "then almost worthless, but now invaluable," tract known as Jurupa Ranch came into being on September 28, 1838, through a grant made from Juan B. Alvarado (then Governor of California) to Juan Bandini (1800–1859). Riverside historians, have proposed that the original seven square league (approximately ) Rancho Jurupa land grant was significantly smaller than the area eventually recognized by the United States. They argue that Pachappa hill, the southeast marker of the Rancho Jurupa, was originally the name of another hill, today known as Mount Rubidoux, and that one of the early owners of Rancho Jurupa reassigned the name Pachappa to the current day Pachappa Hill in order to expand the property of the Rancho.

Rancho Jurupa (Stearns)

In 1841 Abel Stearns (1798–1871) married Bandini's daughter Arcadia. With the cession of California to the United States following the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

, the 1848

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). It was signed on 2 February 1848 in the town of Villa de Guadalupe, Mexico City, Guadalupe Hidalgo. After the defeat of its army and the fall of the cap ...

provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, Juan Bandini filed a claim for the major portion of the grant in 1852, and was confirmed by the US District Court in 1855. In 1857 Juan Bandini sold this portion of the grant to his son-in-law, Abel Stearns. Stearns received a US

land patent A land patent is a form of letters patent assigning official ownership of a particular tract of land that has gone through various legally-prescribed processes like surveying and documentation, followed by the letter's signing, sealing, and publi ...

for this portion of the original Rancho Jurupa grant in 1879.

Rancho Jurupa (Rubidoux)

In 1843, Bandini sold approximately 1½ square leagues (6,750 acres)of the original Rancho Jurupa grant to Benjamin Wilson. A year later, Wilson sold this property to Isaac Williams, grantee of Rancho Santa Ana del Chino, and James Johnson. Williams and Johnson then sold the property to Louis Robidoux (1796–1868), in 1849, and it eventually became known as the Robidoux ranch. Robidoux (generally spelled "Rubidoux" in the Riverside area) had previously bought Rancho San Jacinto y San Gorgonio from James (Santiago) Johnson in 1845. After California was ceded to the United States, a claim for Rancho Jurupa was filed by Louis Robidoux with the

Public Land Commission The California Land Act of 1851 (), enacted following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the admission of California as a state in 1850, established the California State Lands Commission to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican l ...

in 1852, and Robidoux received a US patent for this portion of Rancho Jurupa in 1876. Report of the Surveyor General 1844–1886
In November 1869, the California Silk Center Association was formed for the purpose of growing

silkworm ''Bombyx mori'', commonly known as the domestic silk moth, is a moth species belonging to the family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of '' Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. Silkworms are the larvae of silk moths. The silkworm is of ...

s, and

mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of 19 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinat ...

trees,

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

fruits, and grapes; it purchased over of the Rubidoux Rancho for its enterprise.

References

External links

Map of Rancho Jurupa
at The Bancroft Library {{coord , 34.000, -117.340, region:US-CA_type:landmark, display=title Jurupa Jurupa History of Riverside, California Geography of Riverside, California Jurupa Valley, California Jur

History

Rancho Jurupa (Stearns)

Rancho Jurupa (Rubidoux)

References

Further reading

External links