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14 LA Reina Los ANGELES IN THREE CENTURIES

The "Garden of Memories," a city park /aced by historic S an Fernando Mission. Statu e of
Father Junipero Serra and original Mission fountain

'The Pueblo 'Takes Its First Steps
INE miles is quite a distance to go to attend church, but until the building
N of a chapel in 1784, the only house of worship for Los Angeles was at San
Gabriel. The establishment of this chapel was a symptom of local self-respect, as
was also the expulsion of four families as "useless to the community or themselves,"
notwithstanding the loss of these families cruelly reduced the census.
However in 1785 came Jose Francisco Sinova, a Californian of some years
standing; also Juan Jose Dominguez, a Spaniard. Also, two minors became of age.
Governor F ages granted Dominguez a huge tract of land between the pueblo and
the coast, much of which remains in possession of his descendants to this day
To other old comrades in arms, and friends, Governor F ages granted with
lavish hand vast tracts of land round about the new pueblo, with the vague under-
standing that they would stock these lands and do some cultivating. Each of these
tracts was so vast that 1t took all the time of its owner to ride in lordly fashion
about its uncertain boundaries. His half-wild vaqueros in sombrero and spurs, after
a fashion, kept tab on the half-wild cattle which lost themselves in each broad
domain. There was little cultivating done. Outside of peppers of the red-hot
varieties, nothing else was needed.
To Jose Mana Verdugo was given the great Rancho San Rafael, its broad
expanse now studded with palatial homes, factories and sky-scrapers, and lying within
the boundaries of Los Angeles, Glendale and Burbank. Another principality "extend-
ing from the sea to the hills," and lying between the Santa Ana and the San Gabriel
Rivers, went to Manuel Nieto. Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, on the east side of
the Santa Ana River was granted to Antonio Yorba as late as 1810. To Francisco
Reyes was given the Encino Rancho, which took in most of the San Fernando Valley
and was taken from him and given in 1797 to the San Fernando Mission. It was
not until the sixties and seventies that titles to these lands were made good by United
States patents. Some of the patents were signed by the immortal Lincoln. After
the decline in the stock industry the lands were gradually broken up into smaller
tracts and sold to people who proceeded to put them to work supporting millions.