Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana - History

History

Juan Pablo Grijalva, a Spanish soldier who traveled to Alta California with the De Anza expedition, was the original petitioner for the lands that became known as the "Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana". He died before the grant was approved and the lands went to his son-in-law, Jose Antonio Yorba and his grandson, Juan Pablo Peralta. On July 1, 1810, land later named Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana was granted to Jose Antonio Yorba and his nephew Pablo Peralta by Governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga on behalf of the Spanish Government. This was the only land grant in present day Orange County given under Spanish Rule which were rare during this time. This was only two and a half months before the start of the war for Mexican Independence (1810-1821).The surrounding land grants or ranchos were granted by the Mexican government after Mexican independence in 1821.

Jose Antonio Yorba built an elaborate adobe hacienda, El Refugio (the Refuge), located near present day First and Sullivan Streets in west Santa Ana.

With the cession 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 claim for Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852, and the grant was patented to Bernardo, Teodoro and Ramón Yorba in 1883.

In 1854, the Yorba family sold Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana to José Andrés Sepúlveda. Sepulveda later lost the land due to bankruptcy caused by fighting to uphold his land claims in court. In 1869, William Spurgeon and Ward Bradford purchased 74.27 acres (0.3006 km2) of the ranch to form the city of Santa Ana, which then became the seat of government for the County in 1889. The ranch further disintegrated with purchases by James Irvine among others.