Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana was a

land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

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 Mexican governor

José Figueroa José María Figueroa (1792 – 29 September 1835) was a Californio politician and military leader. He was a General and the Mexican Governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835. His ''Manifesto'' (1835) was the first book published in Calif ...

in 1834 to

Bernardo Yorba Bernardo Yorba (August 20, 1800 – November 28, 1858) was a prominent Californio landowner, Rancheros, ranchero, politician, and public figure. He was one of the wealthiest men in early 19th-century California. Yorba also served as alcalde ( ...

. The name means "Canyon of Santa Ana". The grant included present-day Yorba Linda.

History

Portrait_of_Don_Bernardo_Yorba_by_an_unknown_artist

Bernardo Yorba (1800–1858) was the son of

José Antonio Yorba José Antonio Yorba (July 20, 1743 – January 16, 1825), also known as Don José Antonio Yorba I, was a Spanish Californios, Californio soldier and an early settler of Spanish California. Spanish soldier Born in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia (San Sat ...

, the grantee of

Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana was a Spanish land concession in present-day Orange County, California, given by Spanish Alta California governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga in 1810 to Jose Antonio Yorba and his nephew Pablo Peralta. The grant ex ...

. For years, Bernardo and his brothers pastured animals on lands north of their father's rancho, and in 1834 Bernardo requested, and was granted, Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana. Yorba continued to pasture lands even further east, and in 1846, Bernardo was granted Rancho La Sierra. 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 The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

, 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 Cañón 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 the California State Lands Commission to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican l ...

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 ...

to Bernardo Yorba in 1866. In the early 1860s,

Leonardo Cota Leonardo Cota (1816–1887) was a Captain with the Californios in the Mexican–American War; and later a Los Angeles County Supervisor. Leonardo Cota (1816–1887) was born during the Mexican War of Independence in Mexico, the son of G ...

, who was married to Maria Ynez Yorba, a daughter of Bernardo Yorba, borrowed money from

Abel Stearns Abel Stearns (February 9, 1798 – August 23, 1871) was an American trader who came to the Pueblo de Los Angeles, Alta California in 1829 and became a major landowner and cattle rancher and one of the area's wealthiest citizens. Early life Stea ...

, using his share of the rancho as collateral. When Cota defaulted in 1866, Stearns filed a lawsuit to demand a partition of the land, so that Stearns could claim Cota's section. Two Los Angeles lawyers involved in the lawsuit were

Alfred Chapman Alfred Beck Chapman (September 6, 1829 – January 16, 1915) was a Los Angeles real estate attorney and investor. He was one of the founders of the city of Orange, California. Personal Chapman was born on September 6, 1829, in Greensboro, Alab ...

and

Andrew Glassell Andrew Glassell Jr. (September 30, 1827 – January 28, 1901) was an American real estate attorney and investor. He was one of the founders of the city of Orange, California. Early life Glassell was born in Orange County, Virginia. Glasse ...

, who took some of their fees in land.

Historic sites of the Rancho

Yorba Hacienda The Yorba Hacienda was a domestic dwelling constructed by Bernardo Yorba on the Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana Mexican land grant, and located in the present city of Yorba Linda, California. It was notable as the seat of the wealthiest member of the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canon de Santa Ana Ranchos of Orange County, California Rancho Cañón Rancho Cañón Rancho Cañón