Rancho San Juan Cajón de Santa Ana was a

Mexican land grant The Spanish and Mexican governments made many concessions and land grants in Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish Concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an inducement for ...

in present-day Orange County, California. The grant was given in 1837 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Juan Pacífico Ontiveros. The grant encompassed the present-day cities of

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

, Fullerton, and Placentia.

History

Juan Pacifico Ontiveros (1795–1877) was a corporal at the

Mission San Gabriel Arcángel Mission San Gabriel Arcángel ( es, Misión de San Gabriel Arcángel) is a Californian mission and historic landmark in San Gabriel, California. It was founded by Spaniards of the Franciscan order on "The Feast of the Birth of Mary," September ...

and later mayordomo (foreman) of

Mission San Juan Capistrano Mission San Juan Capistrano ( es, Misión San Juan Capistrano) is a Spanish mission in San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, California. Founded November 1, 1776 in colonial ''Las Californias'' by Spanish Catholic missionaries of the Franciscan O ...

. In 1825, Ontiveros married María Martina Osuna (1809–1898), step daughter of Tomás Olivera, grantee of Rancho Tepusquet. 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 San Juan Cajón de Santa Ana 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 a three-member Public Land Commission to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican la ...

in 1852, and the grant was patented to Juan Patricio Ontiveras in 1877. In 1853, Ontiveros sold to Abel Stearns. In 1855, Ontiveros bought Rancho Tepusquet, in present-day northern Santa Barbara County, from his father-in-law Tomás Olivera. In 1856, he moved to Rancho Tepusquet, constructed an

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...

house and lived there until his death. In 1857, Ontiveros sold that would become

, to George Hansen who was working for 50 German-American families from the San Francisco Bay Area. Juan Nicolas Ontiveros and Patricio Ontiveros had remained on Rancho San Juan Cajón de Santa Ana. In 1863, Juan Pacifico gave them of Ranch San Juan Cajón de Santa Ana. At this time, they were both married. Juan Nicolas and Patricio did not keep their share very long, and in 1864, both deeded their share to their brother-in-law, Augustus Langenberger (married Pietra Ontiveros). In 1865, Daniel Kraemer started the influx of settlers to Placentia, when he purchased .

History

References

See also