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Partition of Rancho San Jacinto Nuevo y Portrero

This 1890 map represents the only extant illustration of the partition of the lands of Rancho San Jacinto Nuevo y Portrero, situated on what was then the border between San Diego and San Bernardino counties (now entirely within Riverside County). Produced under the decree of the Superior Court on March 7th, 1890, the map represents the implementation of the court's ruling on the division of this original Mexican Land Grant.

The map is also unusual, in that it straddles two county borders, which are therefore meticulously illustrated on the map.  As most Rancho and Partition maps did not cross county borders, this is an unusual feature.

Rancho San Jacinto Nuevo y Potrero, an expansive land grant of 48,861 acres, was granted in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to Miguel Pedrorena. 

After California's cession to the United States, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ensured the preservation of land grants. Rancho San Jacinto Nuevo y Potrero was one of the earliest land grants confirmed by the United States in 1851, and by 1853, José Antonio Aguirre acquired the Rancho from Miguel Pedrorena's estate for ten thousand dollars in gold coin.  After Aguirre died in 1860, it would be more than 20 years before the partition process of his lands would be formalized.  As with many of the California Ranchos, transfers and leases of land were made both formally and informally, often without the benefit of surveys of formal deeds. 

The map is centered on the course of the San Jacinto River, meandering from the southeast towards Laguna (now Mystic Lake), before its southwestern descent towards Perris. The area shown on the map as public lands are now submerged under the waters of the Lake Perris Reservoir. While sparsely populated, there are signs of built infrastructure, including a  20-acre brickyard at the northern fringes of the Perris Mountains, and the numerous sheep camps, corrals, camps, and occasional adobe. 

One of the more curious notes is the area labeled  "La Piedra de Juan Down," potentially alluding to John Downey, California's 7th Governor. "Aguaje de Juan Wolfskill"  is apparently a reference to pioneer California settler John Reid Wolfskill.

Numerous roads are shown including roads leading to Riverside, Perris, Moreno (Valley) and San Gorgonia are shown. 

While the records are scarce on this partition action, we believe this to be the only surviving example of the partition map in private ands and we find no records of the map in any institutional collections.  We do however note the following survey, which is likely a later copy of a diseño map which includes the Rancho and neighboring Rancho San Jacinto Viejo and Sobrante:

• 1846 (circa) : Diagrama del Rancho San Jacinto comprendiendo el terreno de J.A.E. y el nuevo qe pretnede M.P. Añadido el Pottrero . . .