Rancho Tujunga 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 the western

Crescenta Valley The Crescenta Valley is a small inland valley in Los Angeles County, California, lying between the San Gabriel Mountains on the northeast and the Verdugo Mountains and San Rafael Hills on the southwest. It opens into the San Fernando Valley at t ...

and northeastern San Fernando Valley, in present-day Los Angeles County, California. It was granted in 1840 by Mexican governor Juan Alvarado to Francisco Lopez and Pedro Lopez. The rancho lands included the present-day Los Angeles communities of

Lake View Terrace Lake View Terrace is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California.

,Pitarre, Alyson. "Where country living sidles up to the city." ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

''. June 12, 2005
1
Retrieved on March 19, 2010. Sunland, and Tujunga.

Etymology

The name ''Tujunga'' or ''Tuxunga'' means "old woman's place" in both Fernandeño and Gabrieliño, where ''Tuxu'' "old woman". The term is thought to relate to an ethnohistoric narrative, known as Khra'wiyawi, collected by Carobeth Laird from Juan and Juana Menendez at the

Leonis Adobe The Leonis Adobe, built in 1844, is one of the oldest surviving private residences in Los Angeles County and one of the oldest surviving buildings in the San Fernando Valley. Located in what is now Calabasas, California, the adobe was occupied ...

in 1916. In the narrative, the wife of Khra'wiyawi (the chief of the region) is stricken with grief over the untimely loss of her daughter. In her sadness, she retreats to the mountains and turns to stone. It is thought this event became the basis for the village name. In fact, there is a large rock in Little Tujunga Canyon which looks like an old woman in a sitting position.

History

The Mexican government made the land grant to brothers Francisco and Pedro Lopez in 1840. Francisco Lopez is the individual who discovered gold in

Placerita Canyon Placerita Canyon State Park is a California State Park located on the north slope of the western San Gabriel Mountains, in an unincorporated rural area of Los Angeles County, near the city of Santa Clarita. The park hosts a variety of historic a ...

in 1842. In 1845 the Lopez brothers traded the Rancho Tujunga for the

Rancho Cahuenga Rancho Cahuenga was a Mexican land grant in the San Fernando Valley, in present-day Los Angeles County, California given in 1843 by governor Manuel Micheltorena to José Miguel Triunfo. Rancho Cahuenga is now a part of the city of Burbank, w ...

owned by Miguel Triunfo, an Indian who had been employed at San Fernando Mission. In 1850, Triunfo sold a half-interest in Rancho Tujunga back to Francisco Lopez, and then sold the other half-interest to Los Angeles merchants David W. Alexander and Francis Mellus. In 1851, Francisco Lopez sold his half-interest to Agustin Olvera. 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 jurisdictio ...

of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...

provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Tujunga was filed with the Public Land Commission 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 p ...

to Alexander, Mellus and Olvera in 1874. Alexander and Mellus sold their half-interest to Olvera in 1856. In 1875, Olvera sold the entire Rancho Tujunga to

Andrew Glassell Andrew Glassell Jr. (September 30, 1827 – January 28, 1901) was a Los Angeles real estate attorney and investor. He may be best known as one of the founders of the city of Orange, California. Early life Glassell was born as Andrew Glas ...

. There was further legal dispute about the boundaries in 1888.

Historic sites of the Rancho

* Bolton Hall. Bolton Hall was constructed in 1913 and declared Historic Cultural Monument #2 in 1962 by the City of Los Angeles. * Adobe house.

References

External links

Map of old Spanish and Mexican ranchos in Los Angeles County
{{Los Angeles San Fernando Valley Tujunga Tujunga History of Los Angeles History of the San Fernando Valley Crescenta Valley Lake View Terrace, Los Angeles Sunland-Tujunga, Los Angeles 1840 establishments in Alta California

Etymology

History

Historic sites of the Rancho

See also

References

External links