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Mission Viejo City information
The land upon which Mission Viejo is developed was part of
the 52,000-acre Rancho Mission Viejo. The chain of title to the land dates
back to July 27, 1769, when a Spaniard named Gaspar de Portola led an
expeditionary force from Mexico across the southern border of the ranch and
claimed the land for Spain.
Seven years later, the ranch witnessed the first attempt to
found Mission San Juan Capistrano. Although lack of water forced the friars to
relocate and the whereabouts of this old mission remain a mystery, the name
Mission Viejo bears testimony to this structure's sojourn in San Juan Canyon
more than two hundred years ago.
After Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, a new
flag flew over California and a new spirit filled the air. The missions, which
had been established to further the spread of the Christian faith, became
secularized, and their vast landholdings were granted as ranches to prominent
citizens.
One man who happened to be standing in the right place at
the right time was an English trader named John Forster. John or Juan, as the
name reads on the old land grant, married the Mexican governor's sister and
acquired the three ranchos historically known as El Trabuco, Mission Viejo,
and Los Potreros. But fate frowned on Don Juan Forster. Fencing 205,000 acres
drained his capital, droughts destroyed his cattle, and futile efforts to
attract settlers dried up his last remaining credit. When Forster died, his
estate was in shambles, and his sons were forced to sell.
In 1907, an Irish cattleman named Richard O'Neill acquired
an undivided interest in Rancho El Trabuco and Rancho Mission Viejo. When a
1963 study indicated that urbanization was spreading south from the Los
Angeles area, his grandchildren, Richard O'Neill and Alice O'Neill Avery,
decided to sell 10,000 acres. Donald Bren, Philip J. Reilly, and James Toepfer
purchased the property and organized the Mission Viejo Company.
In 1965, a master plan for Mission Viejo was approved by
the Orange County Board of Supervisors. One year later, Forster's dream of
attracting settlers became a reality as families stood in line to pay $21,000
for homes on his former cattle range. In April 1966, these pioneering
residents moved into the new neighborhoods near the intersection of La Paz
Road and Chrisanta Drive.
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