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- What can you tell me about the early years of Pico Rivera?
- What can you tell me about the agriculture of Pico Rivera?
- What can you tell me about the railroads and their contribution to the development of the area that became Pico Rivera?
- What was the inspiration for the names Pico and Rivera?
- What can you tell me about Pio Pico?
- What can you tell me about the evolution of the separate communities of Pico and Rivera to the city of Pico Rivera?
- What can you tell me about the Native Americans who originally populated the area that is now Pico Rivera?
- What can you tell me about the arrival of white settlers to the region that is now Pico Rivera?
1. What can you tell me about the early years of Pico Rivera?
The origins of what is now Pico Rivera date back prior to California's
joining the Union in 1850, when the state's territory was still under
Mexican rule. Today's property ownership has evolved from purchases made
then of Rancho Paso de Bartolo by Pio Pico, a political rebel who became
California's last governor under Mexico, and Rancho Santa Gertrudes by
Doña Josefa Cota, widow of Don Antonio Maria Nieto. In 1855, Oliver
Perry Passons became the first American to own property in the area when he
bought 100 acres. Among the earliest settlements in the area were Gallatin
(now part of Downey), an area known as Ranchito, the so-called Barton ranch,
and a farming community known as Maiseland for its corn crop. The building
of railroad lines in the 1880s prompted the official start of the communities
of Pico and Rivera. More information about the early years of Pico Rivera
can be found in the following sources:
Print Sources:
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2. What can you tell me about the agriculture of Pico Rivera?
From their origins in the mid-1800s through the mid-1940s, Pico and Rivera-the
towns that later became the city of Pico Rivera-flourished as agricultural
communities with the help of fertile soil between the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel
rivers and a water table near the surface of the land. In fact, the earth
was so rich that fence posts cut from willow trees were reported to have
sprouted and grown into trees themselves! Cattle ranching had been the
dominant agricultural undertaking prior to the Civil War, but that ended with
a severe drought from 1862 to 1865 which forced the breakup of large farms
into smaller parcels. Farmers then grew corn and grapes for wine-making, and
starting in 1875 added walnuts, which soon overshadowed other crops as the
dominant agricultural product-to the point where the first walnut shipment out
of California took place in Rivera. Their growth and export dropped off after
the start of the twentieth century due to disease, insects, and a dropping
water table. Around that time orange groves stated to supplant walnut trees,
and avocados also started being cultivated in the region. The prime farmland
that characterized the Pico Rivera area started to be usurped by housing
developments after World War II as the state's population grew, and barns and
silos were replaced by homes, schools, and churches. More information about
Pico Rivera's agricultural legacy can be found in:
Website Links:
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Images:
- E. W. Reider (on the right) during the walnut harvest in 1905 in Pico Rivera.
[Courtesy of the Pico Rivera History and Heritage Society Museum]
- Walnut orchard in Pico Rivera, c. 1900
[Courtesy of the Pico Rivera History and Heritage Society Museum]
- Packing of oranges, 1920s-1930s
[Courtesy of the Pico Rivera History and Heritage Society Museum]
- Walnut shipment from Rivera freight house in 1880s
[Courtesy of the Pico Rivera History and Heritage Society Museum]
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3. What can you tell me about the railroads and their contribution to the development of the area that became Pico Rivera?
Pico Rivera owes its existence to the extension of railroad lines in California
in the late nineteenth century. The two communities of Pico and Rivera-which
made up what is today's city-came into being in the 1880s with completion of
rail lines for the Union Pacific and Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroads.
The first passenger train reportedly arrived in the area in 1887, with
residents traveling by buggy and wagon to meet it. More information about
railroads and their effect on what became Pico Rivera can be found in the
following sources:
Print Sources:
- Cole, Martin. Pico Rivera: Where the World Began. Whittier, California: Rio Hondo College Community Services, 1981.
Images:
- Santa Fe Depot in Pico Rivera, c. 1900
[Courtesy of the Pico Rivera History and Heritage Society Museum]
- Depot in Pico Rivera, 1940s
[Courtesy of the Pico Rivera History and Heritage Society Museum]
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4. What was the inspiration for the names Pico and Rivera?
The names for the original communities of Pico and Rivera were inspired,
respectively, by a prominent early settler in one and the geographical
qualities of the other. Pio Pico in 1845 became governor of California,
the last Mexican governor before the state entered the Union in 1850, and he
was the original landowner of the town of Pico. Rivera, the northernmost of
the two communities, was so-named for its location between the Rio Hondo and
San Gabriel rivers. More information about the origins of the names of Pico
Rivera can be found in:
Website Links:
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5. What can you tell me about Pio Pico?
Pio de Jesus Pico, later known as "Don Pio Pico," was California's last
governor under Mexican rule before the state joined the Union in 1850. He
was born to parents who traveled from Mexico to California with Captain Gaspar
de Portola's party of several hundred people, which arrived at the San Gabriel
Mission in the mid-1770s. While still a boy supporting his family after his
father's death, Pico became interested in politics after observing citizens
standing up to military officials on the grounds that they were entitled to
citizens' rights. He became a member of a representative citizens' group
called the disputacion, and in 1831 led a revolt against Governor Victoria,
emerging victorious enough to be made temporary governor. From then on his
power, influence, and monetary worth grew in southern California, and following
a series of battles between his rebels and the armies of Monterey governors he
was again made governor of California. Following unsuccessful efforts to
thwart the United States invasion and conquest of California, Pico channeled
his energy into starting banking, education, and municipal organizations and
institutions.
He was instrumental in the startup of what became the Standard Oil Company of
California, served on the Los Angeles City Council, and built the Pio Pico
mansion. Fate struck him a cruel blow in 1883, when he signed what he thought
was a property loan that instead defrauded him of all his property, which at
the time was valued at about $200,000. Though he sued for damages and won at
the State Supreme Court level after seven years of court battles, he received
no financial compensation and became destitute at age 91. He died at his
daughter's home in Los Angeles on September 11, 1894. Today his name lives
on in state parks, schools, roads, and other entities named after him, and his
mansion-deeded in 1914 to the state of California-has since been restored.
More information about Pio Pico can be found in the following sources:
Website Links:
Print Sources:
- Cole, Martin. Pico Rivera: Where the World Began. Whittier, California: Rio Hondo College Community Services, 1981.
- Cole, Martin. Pio Pico Miscellany. Whittier, CA: Governor Pico Mansion Society, 1978.
Places to Visit:
- Pio Pico State Historical Park
6003 S. Pioneer Blvd
Whittier, CA 90660
(310) 695-1217
Images:
- Photograph of Pio Pico, c. 1880s
[Courtesy of the Pico Rivera History and Heritage Society Museum]
- Pio Pico's brand, 1830s-1840s
[Courtesy of the Pico Rivera History and Heritage Society Museum]
- Pio Pico's adobe home, 'El Ranchito', on the San Gabriel River, c. 1900
[Courtesy of the Pico Rivera History and Heritage Society Museum]
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6. What can you tell me about the evolution of the separate communities of Pico and Rivera to the city of Pico Rivera?
Rapid and sweeping post-war development in the rural towns of Pico and Rivera
laid the groundwork for their merging into one city that combined both names.
Pico and Rivera began separately in the 1880s with the construction of rail
lines through the region, and then grew slowly through the mid-1940s. With
a population surge after World War II, developers bought out farmland and
subdivided it for houses and other building. As the population grew and local
landmarks and farmland gave way to new construction, families from both
communities grew closer and their civic duty strengthened, and by the mid-1950s
many residents of Pico and Rivera decided they wanted to incorporate as one
municipal entity.
In the spring of 1957 residents circulated a petition to incorporate, and on
January 7, 1958-despite fierce opposition to the idea from some people-56
percent of the voters of Pico and Rivera voted to incorporate as one community.
A similar battle ensued over the name of the new municipality, with some
favoring the name "Serra City," but following a public ballot to resolve the
issue the name Pico Rivera was chosen. A Council-Manager form of city
government was approved, five people were chosen to serve as the first City
Council members, and on January 29, 1958, Pico Rivera was incorporated as Los
Angeles County's 61st city.
Today, the population of fast-growing Pico Rivera exceeds 65,200 people over
more than eight square miles, and by 2002 the population base is expected to
increase by 21 percent from its 1980 level. More information about Pico
Rivera's predecessor communities can be found in:
Website Links:
Images:
- Rivera School, c. 1900
[Courtesy of the Pico Rivera History and Heritage Society Museum]
- Map of Rivera, 1880s
[Courtesy of the Pico Rivera History and Heritage Society Museum]
- Real estate brochure showing plan of the townsite of Rivera, 1880s
[Courtesy of the Pico Rivera History and Heritage Society Museum]
- Intersection of Slauson and Serapis avenues in Rivera, 1913
[Courtesy of the Pico Rivera History and Heritage Society Museum]
- Rivera Band in front of Rivera Hotel, 1900
[Courtesy of the Pico Rivera History and Heritage Society Museum]
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7. What can you tell me about the Native Americans who originally populated the area that is now Pico Rivera?
The first Native Americans to live in the region were the Awignas, later
called Gabrielinos by Spanish settlers who first arrived around 1770 and named
them after the San Gabriel Mission. Prior to the arrival of Anglos, the
Gabrielinos were one of the wealthiest, most powerful, and most influential
group of Native Americans in southern California. They lived in the general
watershed areas of the Los Angeles basin; the Los Angeles, San Gabriel, and
Santa Ana rivers; streams in the Santa Ana and Santa Monica mountains; coastal
land between Aliso and Topango creeks; and San Clemente, San Nicolas, and Santa
Catalina islands.
The Awignas who inhabited the area near what is now Pico Rivera lived in
villages dotting the banks of San Jose Creek and stretching south from what is
now the Pio Pico Mansion, inhabiting conical dwellings made of reeds, tule, and
willows. Though the Native Americans did not live in the often-flooded
lowlands of the San Gabriel Valley, they lived off the plentiful ducks, geese,
rabbits, berries, and black honey made by bees that burrowed into the ground
there, as well as seeds and nuts they found in nearby hills. The Awignas
bestowed upon Pico Rivera the greatest honor of all by claiming that this was
where the world began, calling it Sejat for "the place where the bees burrowed
in the ground." These legends were recorded in 1841 by Father Geronimo Boscano
as part of a sweeping oral history project with native Americans. During the
twentieth century, Smithsonian Institution researcher John P. Harrington found
a possible riverbank site-in what is now Pico Rivera-that is the alleged
location of Sejat. More information about the Native American population near
what is now Pico Rivera can be found in the following sources:
Website Links:
Print Sources:
- Cole, Martin. Pico Rivera: Where the World Began. Whittier, California: Rio Hondo College Community Services, 1981.
- Handbook of North American Indians,
edited by William C. Stuyvesant/Volume 8: California, edited by Robert
F. Heizer. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1978.
Images:
- Adobe bricks from the original Mission San Gabriel site on the northwest corner of Rosemead and Beverly boulevards, 1771
[Courtesy of the Pico Rivera History and Heritage Society Museum]
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8. What can you tell me about the arrival of white settlers to the region that is now Pico Rivera?
The first white men to arrive in the region came through on January 18, 1770,
in an expedition looking for Monterey Bay. Less than two years later, the
Awigna's bucolic life ended for good on September 8, 1771, when European
priests and soldiers arrived to spread Christianity, established the San
Gabriel Mission, and renamed the Native Americans the Gabrielinos. The Anglo
newcomers abused the Native American population which led to fatal
confrontations and, especially, the violent death of the local Indian chief.
Several years later, in the mid 1770s, Spanish soldier Juan Bautista de Anza
was hired by the Spanish government to find a route across the desert from
Mexico to California. Anza's party reached a Yuma Indian village, where he
encountered a Native American named Sebastian Tarabal who had run away from
the San Gabriel Mission and was on the verge of dying in the desert when the
Yumas found him. In a bitter twist of fate for Tarabal, he ended up guiding
the Anza party back to the very mission from which he had fled, and in the
process helped Anza open up a trade route that immediate drew settlers to
California.
In 1784, Jose Manuel Nieto-a soldier in Captain Gaspar de Portola's
reconnaissance expedition - received from the Spanish crown a reward of
300,000 acres for cattle grazing between the Santa Ana and San Gabriel rivers.
About 20 years later, Juan Crispin Perez started grazing cattle on the
property, and following Nieto's death successfully petitioned in 1833 for the
property. Following Perez' death in 1846, Pio Pico bought the property -
greatly reduced in size from Nieto's vast acreage-for $4,642. In 1852 Pico
built an adobe house that he named El Ranchito, much of which remains part of
today's Pio Pico Mansion. Pico later sold some parcels to new settlers and
lost the rest in a court battle in the 1890s. More information about the
arrival of white settlers in the region can be found in the following sources:
Website Links:
Print Sources:
- Cole, Martin. Pico Rivera: Where the World Began. Whittier, California: Rio Hondo College Community Services, 1981.
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