Date of Award

1990

Document Type

Thesis: Open Access

Degree Name

MA History

Department

History

Committee Chair

Iris W. Engstrand, PhD., Chairman

Committee Member

Raymond S. Brandes, PhD.

Committee Member

James R. Moriarty III, PhD.

Abstract

Anyone interested in the history of San Luis Rey will soon realize that the San Luis Rey of the nineteenth century was a region of considerable expanse. The Mission of San Luis Rey de Francia, which was just getting on solid footing at the beginning of 1800, established ranchos for the raising of cattle, sheep and grain that provided the revenue to sustain the Mission and most of the food for the nearly three thousand Indian residents. These ranchos, which included gardens and orchards of varying sizes, extended from the Rancho Agua Hedionda in the south to Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores to the north, and as far east as Temecula and into the mountains of Palomar. After the Mexican government secularized the missions of California, these ranchos where generally granted to Californians of influence, at which time the boundaries were roughly established. During the 1850s and 1860s the United States Commission to Settle Land Claims, generally recognizing the legitimacy of the Mexican grants, confirmed the ownership and approved the configuration of these ranchos as we know them today. As the second most populated area of the greatly extended San Diego County of the 1800s, the region had its share of "saints and sinners," and characters who contributed to the rich history of this area on the frontier of civilization. The Indians, the Spanish missionaries and soldiers, the Californians, the American soldiers, the homesteaders, and the early professional and businessmen are all gone, but they left behind the fruits of their energies and their traditions, which are fading all to quickly. Of course, the one notable exception is the imposing structure of San Luis Rey Mission whose presence is a constant remainder of how some things were long ago.

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