After thousands of years of Serranos living in Yucaipa and making it their home. The Serranos hosted other tribes visiting them to exchange goods. The story of the Pioneer and Settlers is a rather complex story. The Serranos never left, but others took control of the land and here is the beginning of that next chapter in the Pioneers and Settlers of Yucaipa.
This story starts with another group of people that came to Yucaipa for its rich land. Spain had sent their explorers to California and set up the 21 missions to take control of this land. It was the representatives of the San Gabriel Mission discovered that the water and grasslands in the area were perfect for raising cattle. There was no city established yet. It was just land. Pictured below is a sketch of the San Gabriel Mission and their cattle. The mission in 1772 started out with only 128 animals. It expanded out east for more grassland due to the herd increasing in size to 42,350. The cattle alone was 25,000 and sheep 15,000 at its peak in 1829. So they were forced to move further East to Yucaipa, Calimesa, and Cherry Valley in order to feed their herd. Ygnacio Palomares was raising cattle and continued to do so even after the Secularization in 1834. Secularization Act of 1833 took property from the 21 missions of Spain in California to transfer to Mexican citizens who won their independence from Spain’s rule in 1821. California was ruled by Mexico from 1821 -1848.
1821 Mexico wins its Independence from Spain
1823 San Gorgonio Rancho established as an outpost for cattle grazing (Cherry Valley) known as San Gorgonio Rancho Outpost
1833 Mexican Secularization Act of 1833 strips missions of their lands, sold to ranchers
So here we have the first people in Yucaipa : Serranos, San Gabriel Mission reps, but there was no city of Yucaipa yet. So the land was taken from the Natives to Spain, then Mexican citizens, who applied for land grants. . Ygnacio Palomares applied for a land grant and was denied. Jose Antonio Pico applied in 1837 and was denied. It was finally granted to Antonio Maria Lugo family in 1841 part of Yucaipa as part of the San Bernadino Rancho which was a total of 35,000 acres. Lugo ended up dividing the land up into four parts giving his nephew Diego Sepulveda Yucaipa as his portion, in which he built an adobe until 1851 when the family sold the holdings to Amasa Lyman and Charles Rich, members of the Mormon Church.
Ownership of the land changed to James Waters in 1857 who is believed to load up the Serranos in the area and take them to the Morongo area. Yucaipa was perfect for raising livestock and soon settlers in wagons arrived. Pioneers are usually the first to an area. Settlers are people who arrive after the settlement is established and join in the process of how to use the environment effectively.
