Rancho Potreros de San Juan Capistrano was a Mexican land grant in present-day Orange County and Riverside County, California given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to John Forster.Ogden Hoffman, 1862, Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Numa Hubert, San Francisco The grant was composed of three detached tracts, called (from north to south), Rancho Potrero los Pinos (), Rancho Potrero el Cariso (), and Rancho Potrero de la Cienega (). The grants were located in the Santa Ana Mountains in the present-day Cleveland National Forest in the southeast corner of the Orange County and western Riverside County.Diseño del Rancho Potreros de San Juan CapistranoSpanish and Mexican Ranchos of Orange County
History John Forster received three small mountain potreros (pasture areas) of the former Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1845. These were the Potrero Los Pinos, Topographic Map of Potrero Los Pinos from topoquest.com on April 15, 2013 Potrero El Cariso in the upper San Juan Creek Topographic Map of Potrero El Cariso from topoquest.com on April 15, 2013 watershed and Potrero de Los Cienega in the upper reach of San Mateo Creek. Topographic Map of Potrero de Los Cienega from topoquest.com on April 15, 2013
With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Potreros de San Juan Capistrano was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852,United States. District Court (California : Southern District) Land Case 337 SDFinding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852-1892 and the grant was patented to John Forster in 1866. Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886
See also Ranchos of California List of Ranchos of California
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