Rancho San Bernardino

Rancho San Bernardino was a 35509acre Mexican land grant in present-day San Bernardino County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to José del Carmen Lugo, José María Lugo, Vicente Lugo, and Diego Sepulveda. The grant included a large part of the San Bernardino valley, and encompassed present-day San Bernardino, Fontana, Rialto, Redlands and Colton.HistoryIn 1810, Padre Francisco Dumetz, a priest from Mission San Gabriel, toured the area and gave it the name San Bernardino. Later emissaries from the mission established the Rancho as headquarters of farming activity in the area, with subsidiary farms such as Jumuba (established at the site of a native rancheria).In January 1827, the exploring party of Jedediah Smith - first to reach California overland from the United States - spent several days in the area preparing for a return crossing of the Mojave Desert (having missed these settlements on the inbound journey) After the Mexican secularization act of 1833 in 1841, Antonio Maria Lugo petitioned for a land grant in the name of three of his sons, José del Carmen Lugo, José Maria Lugo, Vicente Lugo, and José del Carmen's friend, Diego Sepulveda. In 1842, the eight square league Rancho San Bernardino was granted to Antonio Maria Lugo, his sons and his nephews, who grazed cattle in the area.