Rancho Cañada de los Alisos was a 10668 acres (43.2 km²) Mexican land grant

Ranchos of California

The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...

 in present day Orange County, California

Orange County, California

Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...

 given by Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado

Juan Bautista Alvarado

Juan Bautista Valentín Alvarado y Vallejo was a Californio and twice Governor of Alta California from 1836 to 1837, and 1838 to 1842.-Early years:...

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

Pío Pico

Pío de Jesús Pico was the last Governor of Alta California under Mexican rule.-Origins:...

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

California native plants

California native plants are plants that existed in California prior to the arrival of European explorers and colonists in the late 18th century...

 White Alder (Alnus rhombifolia)

Alnus rhombifolia

Alnus rhombifolia, the White Alder, is an alder tree native to western North America, from Washington east to western Montana, southeast to the Sierra Nevada, and south through the Peninsular Ranges and Colorado Desert oases in Southern California. It occurs in riparian zone habitats at an...

 trees growing there. The rancho included the present day cities of Lake Forest

Lake Forest, California

Lake Forest is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 77,264 at the 2010 census.Lake Forest incorporated as a city on December 20, 1991. Prior to a vote of the residents in that year, the community had formerly been known as El Toro since the 1880s...

 (formerly El Toro), and the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro

Marine Corps Air Station El Toro

Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located near Irvine, California.Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the home of Marine Corps aviation on the West Coast. Designated as a Master Jet Station, its four runways could handle the largest aircraft...

—Orange County Great Park

Orange County Great Park

The Orange County Great Park is the official name of a plan for the public, non-aviation reuse of the decommissioned Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Irvine, California. The county park will comprise just 28.8% of the total that made up the old MCAS El Toro base. It is a $1.1 billion project...

 site in Irvine

Irvine, California

Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...

.

History

Jose Antonio Fernando Serrano (1804-) 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

Mexican Cession

The Mexican Cession of 1848 is a historical name in the United States for the region of the present day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the U.S...

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

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...

 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

Public Land Commission

The Public Land Commission, a former agency of the United States government, was created following the admission of California as a state in 1850 . The Commission's purpose was to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican land grants in California.California Senator William M...

 in 1852, and the grant patented

Land patent

A land patent is a land grant made patent by the sovereign lord over the land in question. To make a such a grant “patent”, such a sovereign lord must document the land grant, securely sign and seal the document and openly publish the same to the public for all to see...

 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 10000 acres (40.5 km²). 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 400 acres (1.6 km²) of eucalyptus trees. However, due to the arid climate and poor soil, agricultural use was unsuccessful. In 1959, the Whiting properties were sold to V.P. Parker 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.