Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana

In 1810, year of the commencement of the war of Mexican Independence (1810-1821), Jose Antonio Yorba was granted land that he later named Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana.

The City of Santa Ana website describes the land as: extending eastward from the Santa Ana River to the mountains, (Santa Ana Mountains), with a length of more than 22 miles and as it being granted by the "Governor of Mexico", likely the viceroy, by order of the Spanish crown in the year 1810.

It was the only land grant in Orange County given under Spanish Rule. The surrounding land grants or ranchos were granted by the Mexican government after Mexican independence in 1821. Some modern day cities in Orange County retain the names of the Mexican grants.

Last updated by O. Ian Ávalos on 8/25/08

Periods

*New Spanish Period 1810 - 1821
*Mexican Period 1821 -1848
*American Period 1848 - ca. 1869

Disintegration

Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana began to break off into cities within the modern day County of Orange. José Andrés Sepúlveda purchased Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana from the Yorba family and later lost the land due to bankruptcy caused by fighting to uphold his land claims in court. In 1869, William Spurgeon and Ward Bradford purchased 74.27 acres of the ranch to form the City of Santa Ana, which then became the seat of government for the County in 1889. The ranch further disintegrated with purchases by the Irvine Company among others.

Modern Day Cities

Besides Santa Ana, other cities and unincorporated communities formed on the old Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana are El Modena, Santa Ana Heights, Orange, Costa Mesa, Tustin, and Olive.

Modern Day Use of the Name

The Rancho Santiago Community College District is located in Santa Ana and is composed of Santa Ana College and Santiago Canyon College in Orange.

References

*Beers, Henry Putney, (1979). "Spanish & Mexican Records of the American Southwest : A Bibliographical Guide to Archive and Manuscript Sources", Tucson : University of Arizona Press
*Pleasants, Adelene (1931). "History of Orange County, California. Vol. 1", Los Angeles, CA : J. R. Finnell & Sons Publishing Company

Related Links

* [http://www.ci.santa-ana.ca.us/library/ City of Santa Ana Public Library]
* [http://www.santaanahistory.com/ Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society]
* [http://www.santa-ana.org/ City of Santa Ana]

ee also

*Santa Ana, California
*New Spain
*Alta California
*Ranchos of California