Rancho Cañada de los Alisos was a Mexican land grant in present-day

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

given by Governor

Juan Bautista Alvarado Juan Bautista Valentín Alvarado y Vallejo (February 14, 1809 – July 13, 1882) usually known as Juan Bautista Alvarado, was a Californio politician that served as governor of Alta California from 1837 to 1842. Prior to his term as governor, Al ...

to Jose Antonio Fernando Serrano in 1842, and enlarged by a second grant by

Pio Pico Pio or PIO may refer to: Places * Pio Lake, Italy * Pio Island, Solomon Islands * Pio Point, Bird Island, south Atlantic Ocean People * Pio (given name) * Pio (surname) * Pio (footballer, born 1986), Brazilian footballer * Pio (footballer, ...

in 1846. The name means "Glen of the Alders" in Spanish, after the

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

White Alder ''(Alnus rhombifolia)'' trees growing there. The rancho included the present day cities of Lake Forest (formerly El Toro), and the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro— Orange County Great Park site in Irvine.

History

Jose Antonio Fernando Serrano (1804-1870) was granted Rancho Cañada de Los Alisos in 1842. Serrano married Maria Petra Avila. Serrano and his sons raised crops to sell, however, their principal industry was cattle, from which hides and tallow were sold. 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 jurisdicti ...

of California to the United States following the

Mexican-American War Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

, the 1848

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). It was signed on 2 February 1848 in the town of Villa de Guadalupe, Mexico City, Guadalupe Hidalgo. After the defeat of its army and the fall of the cap ...

provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Cañada de los Alisos 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 the California State Lands Commission to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican l ...

in 1852, and the grant

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 ...

to Jose Antonio Fernando Serrano in 1871. A series of droughts, beginning in 1863 and lasting intermittently through 1883, forced the Serrano family to divide the ranch and mortgage several sections. Unfortunately, the drought of 1863 and 1864 caused the death of Serrano's herds, forcing foreclosure of the ranch to Los Angeles banker J.S. Slauson. Slauson divided the ranch into ten parcels, the largest being . Bostonian Dwight Whiting purchased most of the rancho in 1884. Whiting developed it as an English village named Aliso City. Whiting encouraged development by subdividing level land, bringing the railroad through, and by planting olive trees, grape vineyards and some of eucalyptus trees. However, due to the arid climate and poor soil, agricultural use was unsuccessful. In 1959, the remaining Whiting properties were sold to V.P. Baker and Associates, and residential development has since ensued.

Historic sites of the Rancho

* Jose Serrano Adobe. The Serrano Adobe was built by Jose Antonio Fernando Serrano in about 1863. It is the second of five adobes built by the Serranos on this Mexican land grant and the only one still remaining.Whiting-Jose Serrano adobe on Rancho Cañada de Los Alisos, 1935
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rancho Canada de los Alisos Canada de los Alisos History of Irvine, California Cañada