Rancho El Rincón was a 4431 acres (17.9 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 San Bernardino County

San Bernardino County, California

San Bernardino County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,035,210, up from 1,709,434 as of the 2000 census...

 and Riverside County, California

Riverside County, California

Riverside County is a county in the U.S. state of California. One of 58 California counties, it covers in the southern part of the state, and stretches from Orange County to the Colorado River, which forms the state border with Arizona. The county derives its name from the city of Riverside,...

 given in 1839 to Juan Bandini

Juan Bandini

Juan Bandini was an early settler of what would become San Diego, California.-Early history:Juan Bandini was born 1800 in Lima, Peru to José Bandini, a Spanish sea captain. His father came to California in 1819 and 1821 and participated in the Mexican War of Independence...

 by Governor Juan Alvarado. El rincón means "the corner" in Spanish. The grant, located south of present-day Chino

Chino, California

Chino is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is located in the western end of the Riverside-San Bernardino Area and it is easily accessible via the Chino Valley and Pomona freeways....

, was bounded on the east by Rancho Jurupa

Rancho Jurupa

Rancho Jurupa was a Mexican land grant in California, United States, that is divided by the present-day counties of Riverside and San Bernardino. The land was granted to Juan Bandini by Governor Juan B. Alvarado in 1838...

, on the south by the Santa Ana River

Santa Ana River

The Santa Ana River is the largest river of Southern California in the United States. Its drainage basin spans four counties. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows past the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, before cutting through the northern tip of the Santa Ana Mountains and...

, on the west by Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana

Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana

Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana was a land grant in present day Orange County, California given by Mexican governor José Figueroa in 1834 to Bernardo Yorba. The name means "Canyon of Santa Ana". The grant included present day Yorba Linda.-History:...

, and extending northerly from the river one league. The rancho lands include Prado Regional Park

Prado Regional Park

Prado Regional Park is a park in Chino, California within the jurisdiction of San Bernardino County. It offers fishing, a shooting range , archery, camping, and a golf course.-References:* Volume 1. Part 1. pp. 87-9....

.

History

The one square league Rancho El Rincón was granted to Juan Bandini by Governor Alvarado in 1839. Juan Bandini sold the rancho to Bernardo Yorba

Bernardo Yorba

Bernardo Yorba , was a native of Nueva California and the son of Spanish soldier, José Antonio Yorba. Bernardo became one of the most successful ranchers in Alta California with thousands of cattle and horses grazing on land grants totaling more than 35,000 acres...

. Bernardo Yorba was the grantee of Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana and Rancho La Sierra

Rancho La Sierra (Yorba)

Rancho La Sierra was a Mexican land grant in present day Riverside County, California, United States. In 1846 governor Pio Pico issued the grant to Bernardo Yorba...

.

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 El Rincon 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 1853, and the grant was 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 Bernardo Yorba in 1879.

A village called Rincón developed. At the request of the Santa Fe Railway

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often abbreviated as Santa Fe, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The company was first chartered in February 1859...

, which had stops in several towns also named Rincón, the name was changed to Prado ("meadow"). The village of Prado was later removed during the building of Prado Dam

Prado Dam

Prado Dam is an earth-fill dam across the Santa Ana River at the Chino Hills near Corona, California in Riverside County with the resulting impounded water creating Prado Flood Control Basin reservoir. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the dam in Lower Santa Ana River Canyon...

.

Historic sites of the Rancho

Yorba-Slaughter Adobe. Bernardo Yorba's son, Raymundo (also spelled Raimundo) built the first house at the Yorba Slaughter Adobe site in 1851. The structure burned and was replaced by the present structure in 1852-53. The property was purchased in 1868 by Fenton M. Slaughter, an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 born in Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 in 1826, a veteran of the Mexican-American War of 1846, and later a blacksmith, surveyor, and sheep and cattle broker in the Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 area. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in San Bernardino County, California, it is San Bernardino County Landmark 191.