A Brief History of Orange County
The colorful pageantry of human history
in Orange County began at some undetermined point in the distant past
when Shoshone Indians came to dwell along the coast and in the lower
canyons of the mountains. Theirs was a simple form of existence: they
lived off of the abundance of the land.
In 1769, Gaspar de
Portola, a military man and Spanish aristocrat, was appointed governor
of Lower California. He commanded an expedition traveling northward into
the literally unmapped and half mythical territory of Alta California.
His assignment was to seek out the legendary Bay of Monterey. He was
also to secure the Spanish claim to his vast frontier against any
invasion from Russian trappers or British colonizers. Portola called
upon Father Junipero Serra, president of the Mexico City Missionary
College, to assist in this monumental undertaking.
It was late
in July in 1769 when this first party of European explorers reached the
boundaries of present-day Orange County. Members of the expedition named
the region "The Valley of Saint Anne" (Santa Ana). It was to this
valley that Father Serra returned six years later, where he proceeded
with the work of establishing the Church and converting the local
people.
While the East Coast of North America was engaged in
revolution and spectacular change, the West Coast too was undergoing a
quiet and almost undetected transformation. Father Serra dedicated the
Mission of San Juan Capistrano, Orange County's first permanent
settlement, on November 1, 1776. The Mission became a self-sustaining
unit based upon an agricultural economy. Its chapel and adjoining
structure were the first signs of civilization erected upon the fertile,
virgin soil of the Santa Ana Region.
In 1801, Jose Antonio
Yorba, a volunteer in the Portola expedition, also returned to Santa
Ana. He established the county's first rancho (Santiago de Santa Ana) in
what are today the cities of Villa Park, Orange, Tustin, Costa Mesa and
Santa Ana.
Following Mexico's liberation from Spanish rule in
1821, the extensive land holdings of the Capistrano Mission were
subdivided and awarded to a number of distinguished war heroes. By this
time Yorba's Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana had grown to resemble a feudal
manor, and the romantic rancho era of Orange County had been ushered
in.
Cattle were introduced into the area in 1834. A prosperous
hide and tallow industry developed. Southern California became a virtual
suburb of New England as sailing ships loaded with cargo traveled back
and forth between coasts. In 1835, author-seaman Richard Henry Dana
arrived at what is today known as Dana Point. He later immortalized
Spanish Orange County in his book "Two Years Before the Mast" by
describing it as "the only romantic spot on the Coast." The Spanish
California tradition of a carefree lifestyle, fiestas with music and
dancing, bear and bull fights, rodeos, and gracious hospitality,
survived until the 1860.
A severe drought brought an end to the
cattle industry. Adventurous pioneers, such as James Irvine, capitalized
on the economic downfall of the ranchos. Irvine, an Irish immigrant,
established a 110,000-acre sheep ranch that is today one of the most
valuable pieces of real estate in America.
In 1887, silver was
discovered in the Santa Ana Mountains. Hundreds of fortune seekers
flocked to the "diggings." Land speculators and farmers came by rail
from the East to settle in such boomtowns as Buena Park, Fullerton and
El Toro.
Orange County was formally organized as a political
entity separate from the County of Los Angeles in 1889. The wilderness
had finally given way to irrigated farmlands and prosperous communities.
A year-round harvest of Valencia oranges, lemons, avocados, and walnuts
made agriculture the single most important industry in the fledgling
county. And with orange groves beginning to proliferate throughout the
area (150,000 orange trees), the new county was named for the fruit:
"Orange County."
The twentieth century brought with it many
industrious individuals such as Walter Knott, a farmer turned
entrepreneur, who founded the Knott legacy in Buena Park.
During
the years that followed, Orange County witnessed the discovery of oil
in Huntington Beach, the birth of the aerospace industry on the Irvine
Ranch, and filming of several Hollywood classics in the Newport area.
In
1955, Walt Disney opened his Magic Kingdom in Anaheim. Noted as the
pioneer of animated films, Disney revolutionized the entertainment world
again with his "theme park" recreation concept.
By 1960, the
neighboring metropolis of Los Angeles was "bursting at the seams." As
the population spilled over the county line and across the rural Santa
Ana Valley, it left in its wake an urban landscape of homes, shopping
malls, and industrial parks.
Today Orange County is the home of a
vast number of major industries and service organizations. As an
integral part of the second largest market in America, this highly
diversified region has become a Mecca for talented individuals in
virtually every field imaginable. Indeed the colorful pageant of human
history continues to unfold here; for perhaps in no other place on earth
is there an environment more conducive to innovative thinking,
creativity and growth than this balmy, sun bathed valley stretching
between the mountains and the sea in Orange County. |