San Gabriel Valley - Early History

Early History

Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the land along the Rio Hondo River, a branch of the San Gabriel River, was populated by the Tongva part of the Uto-Aztecan family Native Americans. The Tongva occupied much of the Los Angeles basin and the islands of Santa Catalina, San Nicolas, San Clemente and Santa Barbara. In the northern part of the valley were the Hahanog-na Indian tribe, a branch of the Tongva Nation (part of the Shoshone language group) who lived in villages scattered along the Arroyo Seco and the canyons from the mountains down to the South Pasadena area. In 1542,when the Spanish explorer Juan Rodrigues Cabrillo arrived off the shores of San Pedro and Santa Catalina. The Tongva were the people who rowed the remarkable Ti'ats (plank canoes) out to meet Cabrillo. The language of the Tongva was different from the neighboring Indian tribes and it was called Gabrielino by the Spanish. The Tongva also provide the origin of many current names; Piwongna – Pomona, Pasakeg-na – Pasadena, Cucomog-na – Cucamonga. The Gabrielinos lived in dome-like structures with thatched exteriors. Both sexes wore long hair styles and tattooed their bodies. During warm weather the men wore little clothing, but the women would wear minimal skirts made of animal hides. During the cold weather they would wear animal skin capes. European diseases killed many of the Tongva and by 1870 the area had few remaining native inhabitants. Today, several bands of Tongva people live in the Los Angeles area.

Franciscan Missionaries, Fathers Angel Somera and Pedro Cambon, founded the original Mission San Gabriel Arcangel on September 8, 1771, near where San Gabriel Boulevard now crosses the Rio Hondo, which is also near the present day Sanchez Adobe Mansion. This marked the beginning of the Los Angeles region's settlement by Spaniards. The San Gabriel Mission was the third of twenty-one missions that would ultimately be established along California's El Camino Real. The San Gabriel mission did well as a cattle ranch and farm, but six years after its founding a destructive flood led the mission fathers to relocate the establishment to its current location farther north in present day city of San Gabriel. The original mission site is now marked by a California Historical Landmark.

During the early years of the mission, the region operated under a Rancho system. The lands which now compose the city of Montebello were originally parts of Rancho San Antonio, Rancho La Merced, and Rancho Paso de Bartolo. The Juan Matias Sanchez Adobe, built in 1844, remains standing at the center of old Rancho La Merced in Eastern Montebello in the La Merced area. Recently restored, is the city's oldest structure.

The Mission San Gabriel Arcángel served a central role in Spanish colonial society, with many of the area's first Mexican settlers being baptized at the mission, including Pio Pico, who was born and baptized at the mission in 1801. He became governor of California twice, in 1832 and in 1845 and the city of Pico Rivera was named honoring him as the last Mexican governor of California.

The Battle of Rio San Gabriel took place in Montebello on January 8, 1847. On the banks of the Rio Hondo, the last armed conflict was staged with Mexico for possession of California. This battle gave the control of Los Angeles and Alta California to the United States, and was an important decisive factor in winning the Mexican-American war. Two days later, after several battle losses and defeats, Mexico was forced to cede Alta California to the United States. By 1852, after American occupation, San Gabriel became one of the first townships in the County of Los Angeles. Today the site is California State Historical Landmark #385, and there are two old cannons and a plaque commemorating the battle overlooking the river on Bluff Rd. and Washington Blvd.

In 1853, with a contingent of Army Engineers passing through searching for the best route to build the railroad, Geologist William P. Blake observed that the once-extensive vineyards were falling to decay, with fences broken down and animals roaming freely through it. But the bells were ringing, and the church was in use. Prophetically, he wrote, "I believe that when the adaptation of that portion of California to the culture of the grape and the manufacture of wine becomes known and appreciated, the state will become celebrated not only for its gold and grain, but for it fruits and wines.

Following the American Civil War, some 5,000 acres (20 km2) of the East Los Angeles region were owned by an Italian settler from Genoa, Alessandro Repetto. After Repetto's death in 1885, his brother sold his rancho to a consortium of five Los Angeles businessmen including banker Isaias Hellman and wholesale grocer/historian Harris Newmark for $60,000, about $12 an acre.

Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and South Asian pioneers and settlers first came to the San Gabriel Valley in the mid-19th century. These pioneers worked the fields, picked the grapes and citrus fruit, and built part the infrastructure of today’s San Gabriel Valley. In the 1920s Japanese immigrants arrived in Monterey Park to work as farmhands.

The discovery of oil by Standard Oil Company in the Montebello hills, in 1917, brought about a revolutionary change to the locality. The agricultural hills soon became a major contributor to oil production. By 1920, its oil fields were producing one-eighth of California's crude oil. For several decades, the hills were dotted with active oil wells.

The cities of Whittier, Covina and Pasadena were formerly the sites of the citrus industry. In addition, the oil, dairy and cattle industries used to flourish in the southern region of the SGV. Many equestrian trails in the San Gabriel Valley—specifically, in Covina and Walnut—have disappeared or fallen into disuse. The remaining rural countryside-like areas include the area between eastern West Covina and Cal Poly Pomona and in Walnut and Diamond Bar and La Puente.