Laguna Canyon - History

History

Lying to the north of Aliso Canyon, the Laguna Canyon area lay within the tribal boundary of the Tongva, a Native American group whose territory expanded from north-central Orange County well past the San Gabriel River and into the Los Angeles Basin. Aliso Creek, whose watershed borders Laguna Canyon to the east, formed the tribal boundary between the Tongva and Acjachemen.

Laguna Canyon Creek was a seasonal stream but the Laguna Lakes, formed by springs arising from a minor fault zone, stayed year round. A Native American path ran through the canyon to the present-day Laguna Beach area, where they collected abalone and limpets, and fished. The Tongva lived in villages of 50-100 members, in huts made of brushes and tules on a wooden framework. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the mid-18th century, they named the canyon "Cañada de las Lagunas", referring to the Laguna Lakes. A land grant, called La Bolsa de San Joaquín, occupied the canyon area up to the 19th century. By 1905, springs in the Laguna Canyon area began to supply water to Laguna Beach.

Before Laguna Canyon became a wilderness park, a housing development was proposed to be built in and around the canyon, tentatively called "Laguna Laurel". The 2,150-acre (8.7 km2) community, which was proposed to contain 3,200 housing units as well as a number of businesses, was canceled in the 1990s after the City of Laguna Beach purchased four of its parcels in order to provide space for a wilderness park, while the City of Irvine purchased one, and Laguna Coast Wilderness Park was opened and dedicated in 1993. Occasionally, the park system (which adjoins Aliso/Wood Canyons Regional Park) is augmented by donations of vacant land. The proposal to stop the development was supported by a crowd of eight thousand in 1989, which gathered in Laguna Canyon in a protest known as the "Walk-In". Several years later, two to three thousand gathered to protest the construction of California State Route 73 (which would cross the canyon), but the highway was built eventually.

In 1993, a massive wildfire burned over 16,000 acres (65 km2) in Laguna Canyon and Laguna Beach, and ranked behind the 1948 Santa Ana Canyon fire as one of the worst fires in Orange County history. The fire was in part caused by strong Santa Ana Winds, which caused flames that rose up to 200 feet (61 m) high.