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San Felipe Valley is an inland valley of the
Peninsular Ranges The Peninsular Ranges (also called the Lower California province) are a group of mountain ranges that stretch from Southern California to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Pacific Coast Range ...
, located in
eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...
San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county (United States), county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its Mexico-United States border, border with Mexico. As of the 2020 United States Cen ...
. California Department of Fish and Wildlife: San Felipe Valley Wildlife Area Land Management Plan
dated October 2007 . accessed 12.12.2015.
Most of the valley is protected within the San Felipe Valley Wildlife Area.


Geography

The San Felipe Hills define the eastern side of the San Felipe Valley, and the
Volcan Mountains The Volcan Mountains are a mountain range of the Peninsular Ranges system, located in the East County, San Diego, East County region of San Diego County, California. Geography The Volcans are a northwest–southeast range with an approximate leng ...
define the west side. The valley begins at the northeastern end of Earthquake Valley and extends northward. It is northeast of
Anza Borrego Desert State Park Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (, '' AN-zə bə-RAY-goh'') is a California State Park located within the Colorado Desert of Southern California, United States. Created in 1932, the park takes its name from 18th century Spanish explorer Juan Bau ...
and east of Julian.
California State Route 78 State Route 78 (SR 78) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from Oceanside, California, Oceanside east to Blythe, California, Blythe, traversing nearly the entire width of the state. Its western terminus is at Inter ...
(east/west) and County Road S-2 (north/south) pass through the San Felipe Valley. ;San Felipe Fire On May 23, 2013 a CALFIRE
controlled burn A controlled burn or prescribed burn (Rx burn) is the practice of intentionally setting a fire to change the assemblage of vegetation and decaying material in a landscape. The purpose could be for forest management, ecological restoration, ...
escaped containment, becoming the San Felipe Fire.


History

San Felipe Valley, was home of Native American people and in the 19th century a village site was located in the valley near
Scissors Crossing A railroad switch ( AE), turnout, or (set of) points ( CE) is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one track to another, such as at a railway junction or where a spur or siding branches off. Design T ...
. The land route opened in 1828 between Sonora, Mexico and
Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...
, the Sonora Road passed up the valley to Warner's Pass at the top of the valley on its way to
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, ...
.
Rancho Valle de San Felipe Rancho Valle de San Felipe was a Mexican land grant in present-day San Diego County, California, given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to Felipe Castillo. The grant was located in the San Felipe Valley in the Laguna Mountains east of present-day ...
that encompassed much of the valley was granted in 1846 by Governor
Pío Pico Don (honorific), Don Pío de Jesús Pico IV (May 5, 1801 – September 11, 1894) was a California politician, ranchero, and entrepreneur, famous for serving as the List of governors of California before 1850, last governor of Alta California und ...
to Felipe Castillo. The Sonora Road later became the route of Kearny and Cooke whose Mormon Battalion made
Cooke's Wagon Road Cooke's Wagon Road or Cooke's Road was the first wagon road between the Rio Grande and the Colorado River to San Diego, through the Mexican provinces of Nuevo México, Chihuahua, Sonora and Alta California, established by Philip St. George Coo ...
along the route from
Yuma Crossing Yuma Crossing is a site in Arizona and California that is significant for its association with transportation and communication across the Colorado River. It connected New Spain and Las Californias in the Spanish Colonial period in and also duri ...
, that from 1849 was heavily traveled by Forty-niners and later immigrants to the state of
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 ...
, and known as the Southern Immigrant Trail. This was the route that from 1857 was used as a water and rest stop by the stagecoaches of San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line and from 1858 by the
Butterfield Overland Mail Butterfield Overland Mail (officially Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service in ...
. The Overland Mail had San Felipe Station, a major stage stop on the
Butterfield Overland Mail Butterfield Overland Mail (officially Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service in ...
, it being the headquarters for the Mail Agent in charge of the twelve stage stations between
Warner's Ranch Warner's Ranch, near Warner Springs, California, was notable as a way station for large numbers of emigrants on the Southern Emigrant Trail from 1849 to 1861, as it was a stop on both the Gila River Trail and the Butterfield Overland Mail stagec ...
and
Fort Yuma Fort Yuma was a fort in California located in Imperial County, across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona. It was established in 1848. It served as a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail route from 1858 until 1861. The fort was retired from ...
. From 1861 to 1865 in the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
the abandoned stage station was a military outpost of the Union Army called Camp San Filipe, a rest stop on the road between California and Fort Yuma and the
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
and New Mexico Territories. After the war, later stage lines from California to Arizona used the station from 1867 to 1877, before the railroad reached Fort Yuma making the stage route obsolete.


San Felipe Valley Wildlife Area

The San Felipe Valley Wildlife Area is an interagency
nature preserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geolog ...
protecting most of the valley.Californiatrailmap.com: San Felipe Valley Wildlife Area
/ref> Primary units of the preserve were formerly the Rutherford Volcan Mountain Ranch (northern half, 6,690 acres) and the Rancho de Valle San Felipe (southern half, 7,485 acres). Adjacent protected areas are the
Volcan Mountains The Volcan Mountains are a mountain range of the Peninsular Ranges system, located in the East County, San Diego, East County region of San Diego County, California. Geography The Volcans are a northwest–southeast range with an approximate leng ...
Wilderness Preserve Park on the west, and the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel Reservation on the northwest.


See also

*


References

{{Reflist Valleys of San Diego County, California East County (San Diego County) Nature reserves in California Protected areas of San Diego County, California Valleys of California