The land now famous for the Tournament of
Roses, The San Gabriel
Mission, the fourth in
California, grew to be prosperous, with abundant orchards, vineyards and herds. The vast
lands which it administered for the Spanish Crown were divided into ranchos. After the
rule of California passed from Spain to Mexico, the Mexican government in 1833 secularized
the mission lands and awarded them to individuals. The northeast corner of San Gabriel
Mission, consisting of the 14,000 acres known as Rancho el Rincon de San Pascual, had
previously been gifted in 1826 by the padres to Do?a Eulalia P?rez de
Guillen, noted for
her advanced age as well as her devoted service to the mission. On February 18, 1835, it
was formally granted by the Mexican government to her husband, Don Juan Marin?. He and
his sons subsequently lost the land which changed ownership a few more times before being
granted on November 28, 1843, by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to his good friend, Colonel
Manuel Garfias, son of a distinguished Mexican family. In 1852, two years after California was admitted as a state to the Union, Garfias built an adobe hacienda on the east bank of the Arroyo, where he and his family proceeded to live in grand style, until he could not meet the interest payment due on a loan. Title to the land was then transferred in 1859 to his lenders, Dr. John S. Griffin and Benjamin "Don Benito" Wilson. Portions of the Rancho San Pasqual were thereafter sold, leaving Griffin and Wilson with 5,328 acres in 1873.
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