Rancho Temecula facts for kids

Rancho Temecula was a huge piece of land, about 26,609 acres, given out by the Mexican government in 1844. This land grant was located in what is now Riverside County, California. It stretched south along the east side of Murrieta Creek to Temecula Creek. Today, the cities of Temecula, Murrieta, and Murrieta Hot Springs are all on land that was once part of Rancho Temecula. When the United States officially recognized the land grant, Rancho Temecula was part of San Diego County. Later, in 1893, Riverside County was created from parts of San Diego and San Bernardino Counties.

History of Rancho Temecula

Early Owners and Challenges

The first person to receive Rancho Temecula was Felix Valdes. He was an officer in the Mexican army. The land he was given was about six square leagues in the Temecula Valley. This area used to be part of the lands belonging to the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia.

In 1846, Felix Valdes sold Rancho Temecula to a Frenchman named Jean-Louis Vignes. Vignes also owned the land next door, called Rancho Pauba.

After the Mexican–American War, California became part of the United States. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was a peace agreement that said the U.S. would respect the land grants given by Mexico. Because of a law passed in 1851, a claim for Rancho Temecula was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852. This commission was set up to check if Mexican land grants were real.

Squatters and Stagecoaches

In 1853, two men named David Cline and William Moody started a ranch on the land. They were "squatters," meaning they settled on land they didn't own, hoping to claim it. They fenced off 200 acres and grew wheat. Their ranch, known as Kline's Ranch, became a popular stop for travelers. It later became a "swing station" for the Butterfield Overland Mail. This was a famous stagecoach service that carried mail and passengers across the country. The station was called Alamos or Willow Springs Station.

However, in 1860, the U.S. government officially recognized Jean-Louis Vignes as the owner of the land grant. Kline's Ranch continued to be a stagecoach stop until the American Civil War closed the Butterfield route. In 1862, it became a camp for the Union Army cavalry. It was part of the supply route for Fort Yuma and for the California Column as they marched into New Mexico Territory.

New Owners and Big Ranches

In 1872, two sheep ranchers, Juan and Ezekial Murrieta, moved their sheep from Merced looking for water. A year later, they found the Temecula Valley. In 1873, the Murrieta brothers teamed up with a lawyer named Domingo Pujol and Francisco Sanjurjo. Together, they bought Rancho Pauba and Rancho Temecula in 1875.

In 1876, they divided their land. The Murrietas took the area near the town that is now named after them. Domingo Pujol got the main parts of Rancho Temecula and Rancho Pauba. Pujol went back to Spain to get married and died there in 1881. After he died, his wife, Mercedes Torres de Pujol, came from Spain to handle his property. She sold land to the Pauba Land and Water Company, which later sold it to the Vail family.

The Vail Ranch Era

In 1904, Walter L. Vail, who already owned successful ranches in Arizona, began buying ranch land in the Temecula Valley. He bought Rancho Santa Rosa, Rancho Temecula, Rancho Pauba, and half of Rancho Little Temecula. By 1905, the Vail Ranch had grown to 87,000 acres. It became one of the largest cattle ranches in California. It stretched from Camp Pendleton to Vail Lake all the way to Murrieta.

Walter Vail sadly died in a streetcar accident in Los Angeles in 1906. His son, Mahlon Vail, took over the family ranch. The Vails continued to run their cattle ranch for the next sixty years. In 1964, the Vails sold the ranch to the Kaiser Steel Company. Kaiser Steel then created a big plan for the area, which they called Rancho California. This plan led to the communities that are now the cities of Temecula and Murrieta.