Rancho La Sierra (also called "La Sierra de Santa Ana") was a
Mexican land grant in present-day
Riverside County, California
Riverside County is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most ...
, United States. In 1846 Governor
Pio Pico
Pio or PIO may refer to:
Places
* Pio Lake, Italy
* Pio Island, Solomon Islands
* Pio Point, Bird Island, south Atlantic Ocean
People
* Pio (given name)
* Pio (surname)
* Pio (footballer, born 1986), Brazilian footballer
* Pio (footballer, ...
issued the grant to
Vicenta Sepulveda. The rancho includes the present-day city of
Norco, and the western end of
Riverside.
History
Maria Vicenta Sepulveda (1816–1907) was a daughter of
Francisco Sepulveda, recipient of the
Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica land grant. Vicenta married
Tomas Antonio Yorba (1788–1845) in 1834. Tomas was a son of
José Antonio Yorba
José Antonio Yorba (July 20, 1743 – January 16, 1825), also known as Don José Antonio Yorba I, was a Spanish Californios, Californio soldier and an early settler of Spanish California.
Spanish soldier
Born in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia (San Sat ...
, the grantee of
Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana in present-day
Orange County. Tomas, along with some of his brothers, pastured animals on lands east of their father's Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, and in 1834 his brother
Bernardo Yorba requested, and was granted,
Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana
Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana was a Ranchos of California, land grant in present-day Orange County, California, given by Mexican governor José Figueroa in 1834 to Bernardo Yorba. The name means "Canyon of Santa Ana". The grant included present-da ...
. Tomas and Bernardo continued to pasture lands even further east, in an area they had named ''La Sierra''.
[Lech, pp. 46–47.]
In 1845, after Tomas had died, Bernardo applied for four square leagues of the La Sierra lands. Nine days later Vicenta Sepulveda, then a widow and going by her maiden name, also applied for some of the same La Sierra lands. On June 15, 1846 Governor Pio Pico granted the east half of the lands, Rancho La Sierra (Sepulveda), to Vicente Sepulveda, and the west half,
Rancho La Sierra (Yorba) to Bernado Yorba.
[ Vicenta married Jose Ramon Carrillo (1821–1864) in 1847.
With the ]cession
The act of cession is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty. Ballentine's Law Dictionary defines cession as "a surrender; a giving up; a relinquishment of jurisdicti ...
of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War
Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...
, 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, a claim for Rancho La Sierra was filed 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 the grant was patented
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
to Vicenta Sepulveda in 1877.
In 1858, Vicenta Sepulveda de Carrillo bought Rancho Valle de San Jose.
Abel Stearns purchased Rancho La Sierra, but was forced to sell after the drought of 1863. The rancho passed through several owners including the San Jacinto Land Company. It was purchased by James W. Long in 1908. Long formed the Orange Heights Water Company and began developing the area in 1910.
Through several acquisitions Willitts J. Hole (1858–1936), a Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
businessman, purchased much of the original Rancho, eventually owning more than .[Klotz, pp. 228–230.] Hole continued to use the land as a ranch, which became known as the ''Hole Ranch'', and he built a large mansion on the property. He later began subdividing the property for various developments. In 1922, he sold of the land to the Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sa ...
. In 1942, the U.S. Army purchased of the ranch from the Hole estate, and set up Camp Anza, a World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
disembarkation facility.
The North Corona Land Company bought some of the property 1921 after it was established as a subdivision of the Corona Land Company for citrus growing. The name Norco is an abbreviation of the North Corona portion of the company name. Norco was incorporated as a city in December 1964. Also in 1964 the city of Riverside annexed the rest of the original Rancho La Sierra lands.[
]
Etymology
Translated from Spanish into English ''"La Sierra de Santa Ana"'' means ''"The mountains of Santa Ana"''. According to Bernardo's petition for the La Sierra lands, the Yorba brothers had used this name as early as 1825. The name distinguished the higher elevation ''La Sierra de Santa Ana'' lands from Bernardo's ''Cañón de Santa Ana'' lands, both positioned beside 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 ...
.
Western Riverside continues to be referred to as ''La Sierra'', with four separate city neighborhoods beginning with the name. After the Seventh-day Adventist Church purchased a large section of the land they opened the ''La Sierra Academy'', today known as La Sierra University
La Sierra University (La Sierra or LSU) is a Private university, private, Seventh-day Adventist university in Riverside, California. Founded in 1922 as La Sierra Academy, it later became La Sierra College, a liberal arts college, and then was ...
.
Historic sites of the Rancho
*Hole Mansion. Arthur Benton designed the rustic bungalow, built on the site between 1912 and 1915 for Willits J. Hole.#44 Hole Mansion
Landmarks of the City of Riverside
See also
*Ranchos of California
In Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California, ranchos were concessions and land grants made by the Viceroyalty of New Spain, Spanish and History of Mexico, Mexican governments from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish concessions of l ...
* List of Ranchos of California
References
Bibliography
* Gunther, Jane Davies. ''Riverside County, California, Place Names; Their Origins and Their Stories'', Jane Davies Gunther, 1984. .
* Klotz, Esther H. and Joan H. Hall. ''Adobes, Bungalows, and Mansions of Riverside, California, Revisited'', Joan H. Hall, 2005. .
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sierra (Sepulveda)
Ranchos of Riverside County, California