Rancho Temescal (Serrano)
Encyclopedia
Rancho Temescal was a Mexican land grant
in present day Riverside County, California
given by Governor José María de Echeandía to Leandro Serrano. The word Temescal is Spanish for "sweat bath" or "sweat lodge." The grant extended along the Temescal Valley south of present day Corona
and encompassed El Cerrito
and Lee Lake. At the time of the grant claim, Rancho Temescal was a part of San Bernardino County
. Riverside County was created by the California Legislature in 1893 by taking land from both San Bernardino and San Diego County
. The claim for the grant was rejected by the US Supreme Court in 1866.
in 1769. Leandro Serrano was mayordomo of San Antonio de Pala Asistencia for the Mission of San Luis Rey
. Serrano received the written permission of the priest of the Mission of San Luis Rey, or of the military commander of San Diego, to occupy the five square league Rancho Temescal (Mission of San Luis Rey land), and took possession in about 1818 or 1819. The Serrano Boulder (California Historical Landmark (#185), marks the site of the first house erected by Leandro Serrano about May 1824. By 1826 he had in addition to the adobe house, a garden with fruit trees, considerable cattle and horses. From 1828, Leandro was mayordomo of Mission San Juan Capistrano
. In the early 1830's, another home was erected upon a knoll just above the first site, which commanded a far-reaching view, because of threatening trouble with the Mission Indians when the Missions in California were being closed. The ruins of this second adobe were still standing during the 1880's. In the 1840's Leandro built his third and last adobe on the road between San Diego and Los Angeles, which later became part of the Southern Emigrant Trail
during the Gold Rush. The Serrano family occupied the adobe until 1898. The site of this third adobe is on the northeast corner of I-15 and Old Temescal Road, 8 miles Southeast of Corona. Leandro continued to reside there with his family until his death in 1852. After his wife, Maria Presentacion Yorba
(1791–1835) died in 1835, he married Josefa Montalva. His son, Jose Antonio Serrano, was grantee of Rancho Pauma
.
of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a five square league claim for Rancho Temescal was filed by his widow, Josefa Montalva de Serrano, with the Public Land Commission
in 1852, The claim was rejected by the Commission in 1855.
On an appeal to the US District Court the 1855 Commission ruling was reversed in 1859, which confirmed four square leagues. However, on appeal, the US Supreme Court ruled in 1866, that Leandro Serrano, had no title, legal or equitable, to the land. "Long-continued and undisturbed possession of land in California, whilst that country belonged to Spain or Mexico, under a simple permission to occupy it from a priest of an adjoining mission or a local military commander, did not create an equitable claim to the land against either of the governments of those countries, nor is a claim based upon such possession entitled to confirmation" under the Land Act of 1851.
When the decision came that the Serrano family had no right to an acre of the land they called their own, a 160 acre homestead was secured surrounding their home. Members of the family gradually left the valley until only the mother and two youngest daughters remained raising barley and cultivating their old orchard. By 1875 the rancho's lands, except a few little spots which the Serrano family and some later settlers had established, was purchased by a company of speculators for $3,000,000. When the mother, Senora Serrano, died there was no money for the funeral, so the sisters mortgaged their home to the South Riverside Land and Water Company, and buried Senora Serrano in the little graveyard at Agua Mansa
, near Riverside. In 1898, the two sisters left Temescal to live in Los Angeles.
began settling in the Temescal Valley to establish title to land there under the Preemption Act of 1841
. In 1857, the Temescal Station of the Butterfield Overland Mail
stage line was established five miles north of the Temescal Hot Springs, ten miles north of Rancho La Laguna
station and twenty miles south of the Chino Rancho
station. The Temescal Overland station was "at the foot of the Temescal hills, a splendid place to camp, wood and water plenty, and protected from the winds." Around this location the settlement of Temescal grew over the next few decades. By 1860, Greenwade's Place at Temescal, 3 miles north of the stage station, was a polling place for southwestern San Bernardino County. Voting irregularities there resulted in a court case between the candidates for a California State Assembly seat. The trial was so contentious it included the shooting of Bethel Coopwood
, one of the opposing lawyers by the other in court, before the results could be determined.
In 1866, the Temescal School District was organized, the fifth in San Bernardino County. Its school house was built under a huge sycamore tree and served until 1889, when a new building took its place in the early 1900s. During the 1870s, orchards and bee hives began to replace cattle and sheep ranching. The bees were first brought into the valley in the early seventies and became an important source of income in the valley.
ores and bought an interest in Rancho Temescal from Serrano's widow for 200 cattle. He was forced by his losses in the drought of 1862-64 to sell off his interest in the Temescal Rancho in 1864, for $100,000. The tin mine, located east of Temescal, was developed after the 1866 ruling and produced tin by 1869. However the land title remained in dispute and no more development to the mines happened until an 1888 Supreme Court ruling settled the title.
After the Supreme Court ruling, experts from England examined the tin district, and made favorable reports which encouraged the California Mining and Smelting Company to be incorporated in London, on July 24, 1890, also another corporation, the San Jacinto Estate, Limited, was formed, by prominent financiers of London, including some of the men interested in the Welsh tin mines. The Rancho San Jacinto Sobrante
, on which the mine was now located, was purchased, and the Temescal tin mine was at last opened up operating for the next two years. Temescal grew large with the influx of the miners, enough to have its own post office. Up to July 1892, 136 tons of tin were produced; the first shipment reached New York on March 30, 1892. This was the first and last shipment; the Temescal tin mines were soon closed down in 1892, the valuable equipment and machinery were later sold and no effort has since been made to work the mine.
, R. B. Taylor, George L. Joy, A.S. Garretson, and Adolph Rimpau; as a citrus growers’ organization, it purchased the lands of Rancho La Sierra
of Bernardo Yorba, and the Rancho Temescal grant and the colony of South Riverside was laid out. They also secured the water rights to Temescal Creek, its tributaries and Lee Lake. Dams and pipelines were built to carry the water to the colony. In 1889, the Temescal Water Company was incorporated, to supply water for the new colony. This company purchased all the water-bearing lands in the valley and began drilling artesian wells. The first wells flowed, at a depth of 300 feet. However, pumping plants soon had to be installed. In time, all the water of both Temescal and Coldwater Creeks was diverted into pipe lines. Cienagas and springs were drained, and, gradually, the valley became dry and desolate. Farms and orchards in the central part of the Temescal Valley were abandoned, and the old adobes along the stage route crumbled and disappeared.
In 1896, South Riverside was renamed Corona
for a 3-mile circular drive that is around the central city and was the site of international automobile races from 1913 to 1916.
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 by Governor José María de Echeandía to Leandro Serrano. The word Temescal is Spanish for "sweat bath" or "sweat lodge." The grant extended along the Temescal Valley south of present day Corona
Corona, California
Corona is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 152,374, up from 124,966 at the 2000 census...
and encompassed El Cerrito
El Cerrito, Riverside County, California
El Cerrito is a census-designated place in Riverside County, California, United States. It is an unincorporated area mostly surrounded by the city of Corona...
and Lee Lake. At the time of the grant claim, Rancho Temescal was a part of 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...
. Riverside County was created by the California Legislature in 1893 by taking land from both San Bernardino and 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...
. The claim for the grant was rejected by the US Supreme Court in 1866.
Rancho Temescal
Leandro Serrano (? –1852) was the son of one of the soldiers who came to California with Junípero SerraJunípero Serra
Blessed Junípero Serra, O.F.M., , known as Fra Juníper Serra in Catalan, his mother tongue was a Majorcan Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California of the Las Californias Province in New Spain—present day California, United States. Fr...
in 1769. Leandro Serrano was mayordomo of San Antonio de Pala Asistencia for the Mission of 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...
. Serrano received the written permission of the priest of the Mission of San Luis Rey, or of the military commander of San Diego, to occupy the five square league Rancho Temescal (Mission of San Luis Rey land), and took possession in about 1818 or 1819. The Serrano Boulder (California Historical Landmark (#185), marks the site of the first house erected by Leandro Serrano about May 1824. By 1826 he had in addition to the adobe house, a garden with fruit trees, considerable cattle and horses. From 1828, Leandro was mayordomo of Mission San Juan Capistrano
Mission San Juan Capistrano
Mission San Juan Capistrano was a Spanish mission in Southern California, located in present-day San Juan Capistrano. It was founded on All Saints Day November 1, 1776, by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order...
. In the early 1830's, another home was erected upon a knoll just above the first site, which commanded a far-reaching view, because of threatening trouble with the Mission Indians when the Missions in California were being closed. The ruins of this second adobe were still standing during the 1880's. In the 1840's Leandro built his third and last adobe on the road between San Diego and Los Angeles, which later became part of the Southern Emigrant Trail
Southern Emigrant Trail
Southern Emigrant Trail, also known as the Gila Trail, Kearny Trail, and Butterfield Stage Trail, was a major land route for immigration into California from the eastern United States that followed the Santa Fe Trail to New Mexico during the California Gold Rush...
during the Gold Rush. The Serrano family occupied the adobe until 1898. The site of this third adobe is on the northeast corner of I-15 and Old Temescal Road, 8 miles Southeast of Corona. Leandro continued to reside there with his family until his death in 1852. After his wife, Maria Presentacion Yorba
José Antonio Yorba
José Antonio Yorba , also known as Don José Antonio Yorba I, was a Spanish soldier and early settler of Spanish California.-Spanish Soldier:...
(1791–1835) died in 1835, he married Josefa Montalva. His son, Jose Antonio Serrano, was grantee of Rancho Pauma
Rancho Pauma
Rancho Pauma was a Mexican land grant in present day San Diego County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to José Antonio Serrano, Blas Aguilar, and José Antonio Aguilar...
.
Disputed Grant Claim
With the cessionMexican 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 five square league claim for Rancho Temescal was filed by his widow, Josefa Montalva de Serrano, 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, The claim was rejected by the Commission in 1855.
On an appeal to the US District Court the 1855 Commission ruling was reversed in 1859, which confirmed four square leagues. However, on appeal, the US Supreme Court ruled in 1866, that Leandro Serrano, had no title, legal or equitable, to the land. "Long-continued and undisturbed possession of land in California, whilst that country belonged to Spain or Mexico, under a simple permission to occupy it from a priest of an adjoining mission or a local military commander, did not create an equitable claim to the land against either of the governments of those countries, nor is a claim based upon such possession entitled to confirmation" under the Land Act of 1851.
When the decision came that the Serrano family had no right to an acre of the land they called their own, a 160 acre homestead was secured surrounding their home. Members of the family gradually left the valley until only the mother and two youngest daughters remained raising barley and cultivating their old orchard. By 1875 the rancho's lands, except a few little spots which the Serrano family and some later settlers had established, was purchased by a company of speculators for $3,000,000. When the mother, Senora Serrano, died there was no money for the funeral, so the sisters mortgaged their home to the South Riverside Land and Water Company, and buried Senora Serrano in the little graveyard at Agua Mansa
Agua Mansa, California
Agua Mansa is a former settlement in an unincorpated area of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Now a ghost town, only the cemetery remains, it once was the largest settlement in San Bernardino County. The town was established in 1845 on the Santa Ana River, across from the town of...
, near Riverside. In 1898, the two sisters left Temescal to live in Los Angeles.
Temescal Butterfield Stage Station and Temescal
Following the 1855 Public Land Commission ruling, squatersSquatting
Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
began settling in the Temescal Valley to establish title to land there under the Preemption Act of 1841
Preemption Act of 1841
The Preemption Act of 1841, also known as the Distributive Preemption Act , was a federal law approved on September 4, 1841. It was designed to "appropriate the proceeds of the sales of public lands.....
. In 1857, the Temescal Station of the Butterfield Overland Mail
Butterfield Overland Mail
The Butterfield Overland Mail Trail was a stagecoach route in the United States, operating from 1857 to 1861. It was a conduit for the U.S. mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri, meeting Fort Smith, Arkansas, and continuing through Indian Territory, New Mexico,...
stage line was established five miles north of the Temescal Hot Springs, ten miles north of Rancho La Laguna
Rancho La Laguna (Manriquez)
Rancho La Laguna was a Mexican land grant in present day Riverside County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Julian Manriquez. The rancho lands include the present day city of Lake Elsinore. At the time of the US Patent, Rancho Laguna was a part of San Diego County...
station and twenty miles south of the Chino Rancho
Rancho Santa Ana del Chino
Rancho Santa Ana del Chino was a Mexican land grant in the Chino Hills of present day San Bernardino County, California given to Antonio Maria Lugo in 1841 by Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado...
station. The Temescal Overland station was "at the foot of the Temescal hills, a splendid place to camp, wood and water plenty, and protected from the winds." Around this location the settlement of Temescal grew over the next few decades. By 1860, Greenwade's Place at Temescal, 3 miles north of the stage station, was a polling place for southwestern San Bernardino County. Voting irregularities there resulted in a court case between the candidates for a California State Assembly seat. The trial was so contentious it included the shooting of Bethel Coopwood
Bethel Coopwood
Bethel Coopwood was a soldier in the Mexican American and Civil Wars, lawyer, judge, and historian.-Early Life:Coopwood was born on May 1, 1827, in Lawrence County, Alabama. He moved to Texas in 1846 and fought in a cavalry regiment in the Mexican-American War. In 1854 he moved to California,...
, one of the opposing lawyers by the other in court, before the results could be determined.
In 1866, the Temescal School District was organized, the fifth in San Bernardino County. Its school house was built under a huge sycamore tree and served until 1889, when a new building took its place in the early 1900s. During the 1870s, orchards and bee hives began to replace cattle and sheep ranching. The bees were first brought into the valley in the early seventies and became an important source of income in the valley.
Tin mines
In 1856, Abel Stearns was convinced that the rancho's property contained tinTin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
ores and bought an interest in Rancho Temescal from Serrano's widow for 200 cattle. He was forced by his losses in the drought of 1862-64 to sell off his interest in the Temescal Rancho in 1864, for $100,000. The tin mine, located east of Temescal, was developed after the 1866 ruling and produced tin by 1869. However the land title remained in dispute and no more development to the mines happened until an 1888 Supreme Court ruling settled the title.
After the Supreme Court ruling, experts from England examined the tin district, and made favorable reports which encouraged the California Mining and Smelting Company to be incorporated in London, on July 24, 1890, also another corporation, the San Jacinto Estate, Limited, was formed, by prominent financiers of London, including some of the men interested in the Welsh tin mines. The Rancho San Jacinto Sobrante
Rancho San Jacinto Sobrante
Rancho San Jacinto Sobrante was a Mexican land grant in present day Riverside County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to María del Rosario Estudillo de Aguirre. The Rancho San Jacinto Sobrante grant was of the surplus or "sobrante" of Jose Antonio Estudillo's Rancho San Jacinto...
, on which the mine was now located, was purchased, and the Temescal tin mine was at last opened up operating for the next two years. Temescal grew large with the influx of the miners, enough to have its own post office. Up to July 1892, 136 tons of tin were produced; the first shipment reached New York on March 30, 1892. This was the first and last shipment; the Temescal tin mines were soon closed down in 1892, the valuable equipment and machinery were later sold and no effort has since been made to work the mine.
South Riverside and Corona
In May 1886, the South Riverside Land and Water Company was incorporated, its members including ex-Governor of Iowa Samuel MerrillSamuel Merrill (Iowa)
Samuel Merrill was the seventh Governor of Iowa from 1868–1872, as well as an officer in the Union army during the American Civil War.-Biography:...
, R. B. Taylor, George L. Joy, A.S. Garretson, and Adolph Rimpau; as a citrus growers’ organization, it purchased the lands of 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...
of Bernardo Yorba, and the Rancho Temescal grant and the colony of South Riverside was laid out. They also secured the water rights to Temescal Creek, its tributaries and Lee Lake. Dams and pipelines were built to carry the water to the colony. In 1889, the Temescal Water Company was incorporated, to supply water for the new colony. This company purchased all the water-bearing lands in the valley and began drilling artesian wells. The first wells flowed, at a depth of 300 feet. However, pumping plants soon had to be installed. In time, all the water of both Temescal and Coldwater Creeks was diverted into pipe lines. Cienagas and springs were drained, and, gradually, the valley became dry and desolate. Farms and orchards in the central part of the Temescal Valley were abandoned, and the old adobes along the stage route crumbled and disappeared.
In 1896, South Riverside was renamed Corona
Corona, California
Corona is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 152,374, up from 124,966 at the 2000 census...
for a 3-mile circular drive that is around the central city and was the site of international automobile races from 1913 to 1916.
Historic sites of the Rancho
- Painted Rock (California Historical Landmark #190), - In tribute to the earliest record of any people in this region, the Santa Fe Railway preserved this rock with its ancient pictograph, and the Committee of the Corona Women's Improvement Club placed a tablet marking the location 7 miles (11 km) south of Corona.
- Carved Rock (California Historical Landmark #187). The petroglyphPetroglyphPetroglyphs are pictogram and logogram images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images...
s, were carved by the Luiseño Indians, their meaning is said to be: 'A chief died here. These are his plumes, his portrait, his sign, and the animals sacred to him.' The Luiseño Indians who lived in Temescal Valley belonged to the Shoshoean linguistic group. The rock has been damaged by vandals. It is located on the east side of Temescal canyon, 8 miles (13 km) south of Corona. - Serrano Boulder (California Historical Landmark (#185). Boulder marks the site of the first house in Riverside County, erected by Leandro Serrano about May 1824.
- Old Temescal Road, (California Historical Landmark #638) - This route was first used by Luiseño and Gabrieleno Indians, whose villages were nearby. Leandro Serrano established a home here in 1820. Jackson and Warner traveled this route in 1831, and Frémont in 1848. It was the southern emigrant road for gold seekers in 1849 an other immigrants to California from then on. It was the Butterfeild Overland Mail route from 1858 to 1861, part of the military road between Los Angeles and Fort Yuma from 1861 to 1866. With the advent of the automobile it was paved, becoming Highway 71. The landmark is located on Old Hwy 71, 0.9 miles (1 km) {South of I-15 and Temescal Canyon Rd interchange, 11 miles (18 km) south of Corona.
- Serrano Tanning Vats, (California Historical Landmark #186). Two vats used in making leather from cow hides, built in 1819 by the Luiseño Indians under the direction of Leandro Serrano.
- Ruins of Third Serrano Adobe (California Historical Landmark #224) 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Corona. Leandro Serrano set out orchards and vineyards and cultivated some of the fertile lands of the Temescal Valley. In the 1840s he built his third adobe, which the Serrano family occupied until 1898.
- Butterfield Stage Station (California Historical Landmark #188). Site of the Temescal Butterfield Stage Station on the lands of Rancho Temescal where mail was delivered and horses changed. The first stage carrying overland mail left Tipton, MissouriTipton, MissouriTipton is a city in Moniteau County, Missouri, United States. The population was 3,261 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Jefferson City, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Tipton is located at ....
on September 15, 1858 and, passing through Temescal, arrived in Los Angeles October 7, 1858. Marked by California Historical Landmark No. 188 on June 20, 1935, the marker has since been recently removed, apparently sometime during the period when the orange orchard it was near was replaced by a housing development or when Temescal Canyon Road was widened. The Station site was at 20730 Temescal Canyon Rd, 7 mi S of Corona. The site now appears to be near where Breezy Meadow Lane intersects Temescal Canyon Road. - Corona Founders Monument,(California Historical Landmark #738). Taylor, Joy, Merrill, Garretson, and Rimpau, having purchased Rancho La Sierra of Bernardo Yorba and Rancho Temescal of Leandro Serrano on May 4, 1886, founded the citrus colony and town of Corona.