In all California no land has been the scene of such triumphs and
defeats, such prosperity and poverty, such alternating fair fortune and
dire misfortune as the lands of the Mission San Gabriel Arcangel.
The Mission San Gabriel was founded September 4th, 1771, by Father
Junipero Serra and land set apart for the Mission included nearly the
entire San Gabriel Valley. There was the usual struggle to establish the
Mission and convert the Indians. The first Mission buildings were
destroyed and the old mill—yet standing—built at a great expenditure of
toil and thought was a total failure. But within a few short years after
the founding Mission San Gabriel took its place as the Queen of the
Missions and the most prosperous of all.
The title of the Mission Fathers to the lands had not been confirmed by
written grant from Carlos III, King of Spain, and the governors of
California under Mexico took advantage of this to grant ranchos within
the valley borders. In the northwest part Rancho San Pascual was granted
to become the princely estate of Don Manuel Garfias and later the sites
of Pasadena and South Pasadena. Farther east Rancho Santa Anita was
created and eventually became the property of E. J. (Lucky) Baldwin.
Beyond that rancho were Ranchos San Francisquito and La Puente. Along
the south hills of the valley Ranchos La Merced, Potrero Grande and
Potrero Chico were granted. By the severing of such large tracts of land
the property of the Mission San Gabriel diminished from tens of
thousands of acres to thousands of acres and then to hundreds.
In 1846 Governor Pico asked permission of his government to lease the
remaining land of the Mission San Gabriel “to prevent the total ruin of
the Mission.” No lessee could be found to take the land under this act
and on June 18th, 1846, Pio Pico made the final grant of all the
remaining Mission lands to Julian Workman and Hugo Reid. The United
States government, however, refused to confirm this last minute disposal
of the Mission land and declared the property public land of the United
States, first setting aside to Bishop Alemany 190 acres surrounding the
Mission buildings.
The public land was quickly taken up by many settlers, who were eager to
acquire homesteads in a country almost exclusively made up of giant
ranchos. Subsequently B. D. Wilson and J. De Barth Shorb acquired much
of this land and platted the present prosperous and beautiful city of
Alhambra. San Gabriel and Monterey Park also have been built on land
originally within the Mission boundaries.
The 190 acres set aside for the Mission Church was the largest parcel of
land received by any one Mission out of the land it had formerly held.
At the height of the Mission glory in all a million and a half acres
were under the control of the Padres. When California became the
property of the United States twenty missions other than San Gabriel
held from four to seventy-six acres each—a total for all the chain of
less than 800 acres. Eight hundred acres out of the original million and
a half.
[Illustration: _Mission San Gabriel Arcangel_]