Aliso Viejo, California


	The original inhabitants of Aliso Viejo were the Shoshone Indians who lived along the coast and in the lower canyons of the mountains. In 1769, Gaspar de Portola, a Spanish aristocrat, was appointed governor of Lower California.

	He commanded an expedition traveling northward to Alta California for the purpose of finding the Bay of Monterey. He was commanded to secure the Spanish claim to this vast area. In this he was joined by Father Junipero Serra. He named the valley Santa Ana and it was to this land that Father Serra returned in 1775 to establish a mission.

			On November 1, 1776 Father Serra dedicated the Mission of San Juan Capistrano on land that now is part of Aliso Viejo and Mission Viejo. This first mission was ultimately abandoned and the present Mission was established the following year in what is now San Juan Capistrano.

	In 1801, Jose Antonio Yorba, a volunteer in the Portola expedition, also returned to Santa Ana. He established the county's first rancho. With the liberation of Mexico from Spanish rule in 1821, the lands of the Capistrano Mission were divided and bestowed upon a number of war heroes. .


	Yorba's Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana had grown by this time. With the introduction of cattle into the area in 1834, it was the start of the romantic era of the ranchos. However, a severe drought brought an end to the cattle industry and there were pioneers who were able to benefit from economic downfall of the ranchos. Another major factor in the development of the area was the discovery of silver in 1887 in the Santa Ana Mountains which brought an influx of fortune hunters and growth to the area. The Aliso Viejo of today was originally part of the Moulton Ranch. The Moulton family took title in the 1890's to land originally granted to Juan Avila by the Mexican government in 1842.