Juan José Warner (1807–1890),Charles Snell and Patricia Heintzelman (1963 and 1975) , National Register of Historic Places Inventory –Nomination, National Park Service, accessed 18 Nov 2009 a naturalized American-Mexican citizen, developed

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 ...

Warner Springs, California Warner Springs is set of springs and a small unincorporated community in northern San Diego County, California. It is on the Pacific Crest Trail. Geography Warner Springs has a post office; its ZIP Code is 92086. It is located near Palomar Obs ...

. From 1849 to 1861, the ranch was important as a stop for emigrant travelers on the

Southern Emigrant Trail :''The Southern Emigrant Trail should not be confused with the Applegate Trail, which is part of the Emigrant Trail, Northern Emigrant Trails.'' The Southern Emigrant Trail, also known as the Gila Trail, the Kearny Trail, the Southern Trail and ...

, including the Gila River Emigrant Trail and 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 ...

stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

line. Warner established the only

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...

between

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and Los Angeles. Warner's Ranch was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

Early life

Warner was born in 1807 as Jonathan Trumbull Warner in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. He went west, travelling with a trading party from

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

in 1830, bound for Santa Fe. The following year he traveled with fur trappers to California. In 1907, the ''Annual Publication of the Historical Society of Southern California'' published Colonel J. J. Warner's account of his California trapping days in "Reminiscences of Early California – 1831 to 1846".

Career

In California Warner first trapped

beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...

for several years. From 1834 to 1841 he worked in a merchandising store in Los Angeles. As

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

had controlled California since Mexican independence in 1821, Warner became a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

citizen and changed his name to Juan José Warner. About 1843, he moved to

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. In 1844, Warner was granted the

Rancho San Jose del Valle Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad *Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California ** List of California Ranchos * Ranchos, Buenos ...

Mexican land grant, previously granted to José Antonio Pico and abandoned.Vincent Nicholas Rossi, "Warner Springs' history shadowed by conflict"
''San Diego Union'', 28 Jan 2007, accessed 18 Nov 2009 He established what became known as

near

. The ranch property included hot springs. After he started serving travelers in 1849 on the Southern Trail, Warner set up the only

between

and Los Angeles. Warner's ranch was a historic territory of the

Cupeño The Cupeño (or Kuupangaxwichem) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe of Southern California. They traditionally lived about inland and north of the modern day Mexico–United States border in the Peninsular Rang ...

Indians, who had inhabited the area for centuries before Spanish

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

entered the area. Their land was taken over, many of the Cupeños worked for Warner on the ranch and constructed a village nearby. After California became part of the United States, taxes were imposed on the Cupeño, one of a series of issues that led in 1851 to the Garra Uprising. In the revolt, several of the Warner ranch buildings were burned down. Warner moved his family to Los Angeles but continued to manage the ranch for years. The ranch was used as a stop on the

line, which operated from 1857 to 1861. Warner lost the ranch when his grant was challenged by a previous claimant. He was active in California politics in Los Angeles.

Death and legacy

Warner died in 1890. The Cupeño gained no legal remedy to their issues but remained settled around the hot springs, to which they charged some travelers admission. In 1880 the ranch was purchased by John G. Downey, a former governor of the state. In 1892 Downey tried to evict the Cupeño from the property. They filed suit against him, but lost in federal court in 1901 and were forced to relocate in 1903 to the Warner Ranch Indian Reservation(32 Stat., 257) Mission Indians located in Pala Valley about 20 miles away.

Early life

Career

Death and legacy

References

Further reading