Rancho Little Temecula
Encyclopedia
Rancho Little Temecula was a 2233 acres (9 km²) Mexican land grant
in present day Riverside County, California
given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico
to Pablo Apis. The grant was one of the few held by indigenous people
. The grant is south of present day Temecula
and is bordered on the north by Temecula Creek
. At the time of the US patent
, Rancho Little Temecula was a part of San Diego County
. Riverside County was created by the California Legislature in 1893 by taking land from both San Bernardino
and San Diego Counties.
. Apis learned to read and write in Spanish
and eventually rose to a position of leadership in which he was the principal spokesman for the local Luiseños. After the missions became secularized in the 1830s, more indigenous people came to live in Temecula, an outpost of Mission San Luis Rey. Apis was one of the Luiseño leaders who fought to keep the Californios from taking control of the mission. Apis was imprisoned for a short time in 1836 by Pío Pico, at that time administrator of Mission San Luis Rey, for objecting to Pico's management of the mission.
In 1843, Apis was given the Temecula area, including the established village center, by Father Jose Maria Zalvidea, a priest briefly in control of the former mission and its lands. Zalvidea appears to have undertaken an initiative to grant native peoples their village lands—other such grants made by Zalvidea include Rancho Guajome
and Rancho Cuca
. Apis applied for formal ownership of the one-by-one-half-league Rancho Little Temecula grant in 1845 in return for his assistance to the mission. In 1847, Apis was a participant in the Temecula Massacre
.
With the cession
of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Little Temecula was filed with the Public Land Commission
in 1852, but American settlers were not in favor of any indigenous people owning land, and used a variety of procedural tactics to impede the claim's progress. Apis died between 1853 and 1855 before the Commission had decided its fate. In 1856, Isaac Williams, the holder of Rancho Santa Ana del Chino
to the north and the parent of grandsons of Apis, helped carry the Little Temecula grant through the court, which decided possession in favor of Apis's daughter and Williams's wife, Maria Antonio Apis. Williams died the same year.
In 1872, Louis Wolf, pioneer storekeeper of Temecula, acquired the Apis grant. The grant was patented to Pablo Apis in 1873. In 1873, Juan Murrieta, Domingo Pujol and Francisco Zanjuro went in together to buy the grant. Two years later, the San Diego County Sheriff forced the indigenous people from their homes in Temecula and led them to what is now known as the Pechanga Indian Reservation.
In 1904 Walter L. Vail, already a successful ranch owner in Arizona, started buying ranch land in the Temecula Valley; buying Rancho Santa Rosa
, Rancho Temecula
, Rancho Pauba
and the northern half of Rancho Little Temecula.
Apis built two adobes on his land; the second is still referred to as the Apis Adobe. Apis built the later adobe house on the south side of Temecula Creek at the point where the road crossed the creek to the north side of the creek, just upstream from the Luiseño village on the creek. In 1858, the Apis Adobe had become the location of the Temecula stagecoach station of the Butterfield Overland Mail
. The foundation of the building was studied and archaeologically excavated in 1989, in anticipation of new development. In 1990, the adobe site was bulldozed.
The Wolf Store was built by Louis Wolf on the north bank of Temecula Creek, on the west side of the place where the old road from Los Angeles
to Fort Yuma
crossed the creek. It was direcly across the creek from the old Luiseño village and northwest of the Apis Adobe, the former Butterfeild Overland Mail stage station. It was the center of the old settlement of Temecula before the town relocated to the west along the railroad, Later the building was incorporated into the Vail Ranch headquarters. The store still remains, but is in need of restoration.
Ranchos of California
The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...
in present day Riverside County, California
Riverside County, California
Riverside County is a county in the U.S. state of California. One of 58 California counties, it covers in the southern part of the state, and stretches from Orange County to the Colorado River, which forms the state border with Arizona. The county derives its name from the city of Riverside,...
given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico
Pío Pico
Pío de Jesús Pico was the last Governor of Alta California under Mexican rule.-Origins:...
to Pablo Apis. The grant was one of the few held by indigenous people
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
. The grant is south of present day Temecula
Temecula, California
Temecula is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States with a population of 100,097 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it the lowest populated American city over 100,000 population. It was incorporated on December 1, 1989...
and is bordered on the north by Temecula Creek
Temecula Creek
Temecula Creek runs through southern Riverside County, California, USA, past the rural communities of the Temecula Valley along the State Route 79 corridor, such as Aguanga, and ending near the city of Temecula. The creek is filled with boulders, and is typically dry and sandy. It is a relatively...
. At the time of the US patent
Land patent
A land patent is a land grant made patent by the sovereign lord over the land in question. To make a such a grant “patent”, such a sovereign lord must document the land grant, securely sign and seal the document and openly publish the same to the public for all to see...
, Rancho Little Temecula was a part of San Diego County
San Diego County, California
San Diego County is a large county located in the southwestern corner of the US state of California. Hence, San Diego County is also located in the southwestern corner of the 48 contiguous United States. Its county seat and largest city is San Diego. Its population was about 2,813,835 in the 2000...
. Riverside County was created by the California Legislature in 1893 by taking land from both San Bernardino
San Bernardino County, California
San Bernardino County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,035,210, up from 1,709,434 as of the 2000 census...
and San Diego Counties.
History
Pablo Apis (1792–1854) was born a Luiseño and at age six was among the first indigenous people baptized at the Mission San Luis ReyMission San Luis Rey de Francia
Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, also known as Mission San Luis Rey or San Luis Rey Mission Church, was founded on June 13, 1798 in coastal Las Californias, in the present day U.S. city of Oceanside in California. The local Quechnajuichom Native American tribe became known as the Luiseño 'Mission...
. Apis learned to read and write in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and eventually rose to a position of leadership in which he was the principal spokesman for the local Luiseños. After the missions became secularized in the 1830s, more indigenous people came to live in Temecula, an outpost of Mission San Luis Rey. Apis was one of the Luiseño leaders who fought to keep the Californios from taking control of the mission. Apis was imprisoned for a short time in 1836 by Pío Pico, at that time administrator of Mission San Luis Rey, for objecting to Pico's management of the mission.
In 1843, Apis was given the Temecula area, including the established village center, by Father Jose Maria Zalvidea, a priest briefly in control of the former mission and its lands. Zalvidea appears to have undertaken an initiative to grant native peoples their village lands—other such grants made by Zalvidea include Rancho Guajome
Rancho Guajome
Rancho Guajome was a Mexican land grant in present day San Diego County, California given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to Andrés and José Manuel, Indians. The name comes from the Luiseño Indian word meaning "frog pond"...
and Rancho Cuca
Rancho Cuca
Rancho Cuca was a Mexican land grant in present day San Diego County, California given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to María Juana de los Angeles...
. Apis applied for formal ownership of the one-by-one-half-league Rancho Little Temecula grant in 1845 in return for his assistance to the mission. In 1847, Apis was a participant in the Temecula Massacre
Temecula Massacre
The Temecula Massacre took place in December 1846 east of present-day Temecula, California. It was part of a series of related events in the Mexican-American War. A combined force of Californio militia and Cahuilla Indians attacked and killed an estimated 33-40 Luiseño Indians...
.
With the cession
Mexican Cession
The Mexican Cession of 1848 is a historical name in the United States for the region of the present day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the U.S...
of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...
provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Little Temecula was filed with the Public Land Commission
Public Land Commission
The Public Land Commission, a former agency of the United States government, was created following the admission of California as a state in 1850 . The Commission's purpose was to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican land grants in California.California Senator William M...
in 1852, but American settlers were not in favor of any indigenous people owning land, and used a variety of procedural tactics to impede the claim's progress. Apis died between 1853 and 1855 before the Commission had decided its fate. In 1856, Isaac Williams, the holder of Rancho Santa Ana del Chino
Rancho Santa Ana del Chino
Rancho Santa Ana del Chino was a Mexican land grant in the Chino Hills of present day San Bernardino County, California given to Antonio Maria Lugo in 1841 by Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado...
to the north and the parent of grandsons of Apis, helped carry the Little Temecula grant through the court, which decided possession in favor of Apis's daughter and Williams's wife, Maria Antonio Apis. Williams died the same year.
In 1872, Louis Wolf, pioneer storekeeper of Temecula, acquired the Apis grant. The grant was patented to Pablo Apis in 1873. In 1873, Juan Murrieta, Domingo Pujol and Francisco Zanjuro went in together to buy the grant. Two years later, the San Diego County Sheriff forced the indigenous people from their homes in Temecula and led them to what is now known as the Pechanga Indian Reservation.
In 1904 Walter L. Vail, already a successful ranch owner in Arizona, started buying ranch land in the Temecula Valley; buying Rancho Santa Rosa
Rancho Santa Rosa (Moreno)
Rancho Santa Rosa was a Mexican land grant in present day Riverside County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pio Pico to Juan Moreno. At the time of the US patent, Rancho Santa Rosa was a part of San Diego County...
, Rancho Temecula
Rancho Temecula
Rancho Temecula was a Mexican land grant in present day Riverside County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Feliz Valdez. The grant extended south along the east bank Murrieta Creek to Temecula Creek and encompassed present day Temecula, Murrieta and Murrieta Hot...
, Rancho Pauba
Rancho Pauba
Rancho Pauba was a Mexican land grant in present day Riverside County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Vicente Moraga and Luis Arenas. The grant was east of present day Temecula. At the time of the US patent, Rancho Pauba was a part of San Diego County...
and the northern half of Rancho Little Temecula.
Historic sites of the Rancho
- Apis Adobe
Apis built two adobes on his land; the second is still referred to as the Apis Adobe. Apis built the later adobe house on the south side of Temecula Creek at the point where the road crossed the creek to the north side of the creek, just upstream from the Luiseño village on the creek. In 1858, the Apis Adobe had become the location of the Temecula stagecoach station of the Butterfield Overland Mail
Butterfield Overland Mail
The Butterfield Overland Mail Trail was a stagecoach route in the United States, operating from 1857 to 1861. It was a conduit for the U.S. mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri, meeting Fort Smith, Arkansas, and continuing through Indian Territory, New Mexico,...
. The foundation of the building was studied and archaeologically excavated in 1989, in anticipation of new development. In 1990, the adobe site was bulldozed.
- Wolf Store
The Wolf Store was built by Louis Wolf on the north bank of Temecula Creek, on the west side of the place where the old road from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to Fort Yuma
Fort Yuma
Fort Yuma is a fort in California that is located in Imperial County, across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona. It was on the Butterfield Overland Mail route from 1858 until 1861 and was abandoned May 16, 1883, and transferred to the Department of the Interior. The Fort Yuma Indian School and a...
crossed the creek. It was direcly across the creek from the old Luiseño village and northwest of the Apis Adobe, the former Butterfeild Overland Mail stage station. It was the center of the old settlement of Temecula before the town relocated to the west along the railroad, Later the building was incorporated into the Vail Ranch headquarters. The store still remains, but is in need of restoration.