Rancho Temecula was a 26609 acres (107.7 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 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 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena

Manuel Micheltorena

Manuel Micheltorena was a Brigadier General of the Mexican Army, Adjutant-General of the same, Governor, Commandant-General and Inspector of the Department of the California...

 to Feliz Valdez. The grant extended south along the east bank Murrieta Creek to Temecula Creek

Temecula Creek

Temecula Creek runs through southern Riverside County, California, USA, past the rural communities of the Temecula Valley along the State Route 79 corridor, such as Aguanga, and ending near the city of Temecula. The creek is filled with boulders, and is typically dry and sandy. It is a relatively...

 and encompassed present day Temecula

Temecula, California

Temecula is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States with a population of 100,097 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it the lowest populated American city over 100,000 population. It was incorporated on December 1, 1989...

, Murrieta

Murrieta, California

Murrieta has a Mediterranean climate or Dry-Summer Subtropical . Murrieta has plenty of sunshine throughout the year, with an average of 263 sunshine days and 35 days with measurable precipitation annually....

 and Murrieta Hot Springs

Murrieta Hot Springs, California

Murrieta Hot Springs is a former census-designated place in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 2,948 at the 2000 census...

. At the time of the US patent

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...

, Rancho Temecula was a part of San Diego County

San Diego County, California

San Diego County is a large county located in the southwestern corner of the US state of California. Hence, San Diego County is also located in the southwestern corner of the 48 contiguous United States. Its county seat and largest city is San Diego. Its population was about 2,813,835 in the 2000...

. Riverside County was created by the California Legislature in 1893 by taking land from both San Bernardino

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 San Diego Counties.

History

Felix Valdes, a Mexican army officer, was granted Rancho Temecula - six square leagues in the Temecula Valley that was formerly part of the lands of the Mission San Luis Rey

Mission San Luis Rey de Francia

Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, also known as Mission San Luis Rey or San Luis Rey Mission Church, was founded on June 13, 1798 in coastal Las Californias, in the present day U.S. city of Oceanside in California. The local Quechnajuichom Native American tribe became known as the Luiseño 'Mission...

. In 1846 Felix Valdes sold Rancho Temecula to Frenchman Jean-Louis Vignes

Jean-Louis Vignes

Jean-Louis Vignes , or as he was known to his Mexican neighbors, "Don Luis del Aliso", was a French settler to the Los Angeles area during the Mexican era. He was the first commercial wine maker in California and one of the first men to import and plant European Vitis vinifera grapes in the state...

  (Juan Luis Vignes). Vignes owned both Rancho Temecula and the adjacent Rancho Pauba

Rancho Pauba

Rancho Pauba was a Mexican land grant in present day Riverside County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Vicente Moraga and Luis Arenas. The grant was east of present day Temecula. At the time of the US patent, Rancho Pauba was a part of San Diego County...

.

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 Temecula 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 was patented to Jean-Louis Vignes in 1860.

In 1872 sheep ranchers Juan and Ezekial Murrieta, began to move their flocks away from Merced in search of water. A year later they came to the Temecula Valley. In 1873, the Murrieta brothers formed a partnership with a Spanish born San Francisco lawyer Domingo Pujol and Francisco Sanjurjo and purchased the Rancho Pauba and Rancho Temecula in 1875. In 1876 they divided their holdings, with the Murrietas taking the area near the town that now bears their name, and Domingo Pujol acquired the major portion of Rancho Temecula and Rancho Pauba. Pujol returned to Spain to marry, and died there in 1881. After his death, his widow, Mercedes Torres de Pujol came from Spain to settle his estate. She sold land to the Pauba Land and Water Company that was later sold to the Vails.

In 1904 Walter L. Vail, already a successful ranch owner in Arizona, started buying ranch land in the Temecula Valley; buying Rancho Santa Rosa

Rancho Santa Rosa (Moreno)

Rancho Santa Rosa was a Mexican land grant in present day Riverside County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pio Pico to Juan Moreno. At the time of the US patent, Rancho Santa Rosa was a part of San Diego County...

, Rancho Temecula, Rancho Pauba and the northern half of Rancho Little Temecula

Rancho Little Temecula

Rancho Little Temecula was a Mexican land grant in present day Riverside County, California given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to Pablo Apis. The grant was one of the few held by indigenous people. The grant is south of present day Temecula and is bordered on the north by Temecula Creek. At the...

. Vail was killed by a street car in 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...

 in 1906, and his son, Mahlon Vail, took over the family ranch. The Vails continued to operate their cattle ranch for the next sixty years. In 1964, the Vails sold the ranch to the Kaiser Steel Company

Kaiser Steel

Kaiser Ventures is an American corporation, headquartered in Ontario, California. It was founded by Henry J. Kaiser to provide steel plate for the Pacific Coast shipbuilding industry, which expanded during World War II, then shrank, then expanded again during the Korean War...

, which master-planned Rancho California - the communities that today comprise the cities of Temecula and Murrieta.