0495R Capitan Grande Reservation Locator Map

The Capitan Grande Reservation is a

Kumeyaay The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...

Indian reservation An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...

San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

, jointly controlled by the

Barona Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians The Barona Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Barona Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of Kumeyaay Indians, who are sometimes known as Mission Indians. Reservations In 1875, the tribe along with the Viejas Group ...

and

Viejas Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians The Viejas (Baron Long) Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Viejas Reservation, also called the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, is a federally recognized tribe of Kumeyaay Indians. Reservations In 1875, the Viejas Band share ...

. The reservation is uninhabited and is large, located in the

Cuyamaca Mountains The Cuyamaca Mountains ( Kumeyaay: ''‘Ekwiiyemak''), locally the Cuyamacas, are a mountain range of the Peninsular Ranges System, in San Diego County, southern California. The mountain range runs roughly northwest to southeast. The Laguna Mount ...

and middle of the

Cleveland National Forest Cleveland National Forest encompasses 460,000 acres (), mostly of chaparral, with a few riparian areas. A warm dry mediterranean climate prevails over the forest. It is the southernmost U.S. National Forest of California. It is administered by th ...

and west of

Cuyamaca Peak Cuyamaca Peak is a mountain peak of the Cuyamaca Mountains range, in San Diego County, Southern California. Geography At , its summit is the second highest point in San Diego County. Cuyamaca Peak is located roughly from the Pacific Ocean, wi ...

. The closest town is

Alpine, California Alpine is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Cuyamaca Mountains of San Diego County, California. Alpine had a population of 14,696 at the 2020 census, up from 14,236 at the 2010 census. The town is largely surrounded by the Cleveland National ...

History

Communal Ceremonial Shelter at Capitan Grande - Diegueno LACMA AC1997

The reservation was created by President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

, via executive order in 1875 for local Kumeyaay people. Its name comes from the Spanish ''Coapan'', which was what the area west of the

San Diego River The San Diego River is a river in San Diego County, California. It originates in the Cuyamaca Mountains northwest of the town of Julian, then flows to the southwest until it reaches the El Capitan Reservoir, the largest reservoir in the river's ...

was called in the 19th century. The dry, mountainous and

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

lands proved inhospitable. In 1931, the state flooded the heart of the reservation, creating the

El Capitan Reservoir El Capitan Reservoir is a reservoir in central San Diego County, California. It is in the Cuyamaca Mountains, about northeast of the city of San Diego and two miles northwest of the town of Alpine. The reservoir is formed by El Capitan Dam on ...

. Many Kumeyaay families had homes in the floodzone, and they petitioned Congress to prevent the loss of their land; however, Congress gave San Diego the right to buy the land without the local Kumeyaays' knowledge or consent. The two tribes, Barona and Viejas, were forced to sell the land and with their proceeds they purchased their current reservations, the

Barona Reservation Barona is a border district ("quartiere") of the city of Milan, Italy. It is part of the Zone 6 administrative division, and it is located south of the city centre. Its population can be roughly estimated to 85,000 (official data are not available ...

and

Viejas Reservation The Viejas (Baron Long) Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Viejas Reservation, also called the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, is a federally recognized tribe of Kumeyaay Indians. Reservations In 1875, the Viejas Band share ...

, respectively. In 1973, 7 people lived on the reservation.

Today

Today, the two tribes have a joint-trust patent of the remaining reservation. It is undeveloped but serves as an ecological preserve.

Bibliography

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References

External links

Barona Band of Mission Indians
official website
Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians
official website {{authority control American Indian reservations in California Cuyamaca Mountains East County (San Diego County) 1875 establishments in California Kumeyaay populated places Former Native American populated places in California