Editing Rancho Cucamonga, California (section)

==History==
[[File:Maria Merced Tapia.jpg|thumb|left|María Merced Tapia inherited [[Rancho Cucamonga]] from her father, [[Tiburcio Tapia]], a wealthy [[Californio]] merchant. She sold it to John Rains in 1858.]]
By 1200&nbsp;AD, Kukamongan [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] had established a village settlement in the area around present-day Red Hill, near the city's western border, where Red Hill Country Club stands today. Kukamonga derives its name from a [[Tongva language|Tongva]] word meaning "sandy place."<ref name=":3">{{cite web|title = Rancho Cucamonga {{!}} California, United States|url = http://www.britannica.com/place/Rancho-Cucamonga#ref842429|website = Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date = January 15, 2016}}</ref> Anthropologists have determined that this cluster of settlers likely belonged to the [[Tongva people]] or Kich people, at one time one of the largest concentrations of Native American peoples on the North American continent.<ref name=":4">{{cite web|title = Rancho Cucamonga - History of RC|url = https://www.cityofrc.us/cityhall/planning/hpp/history.asp |publisher= Rancho Cucamonga |website= cityofrc.us |access-date = January 15, 2016|archive-date = October 6, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181006154833/https://www.cityofrc.us/cityhall/planning/hpp/history.asp|url-status = dead}}</ref> In the 18th century, following an expedition led by [[Gaspar de Portolá|Gaspar de Portola]], the land was incorporated into the [[Spanish missions in California|Mission System]]  established by [[Junipero Serra|Father Junipero Serra]] and his group of soldiers and [[Franciscan monk|Franciscan friars]]. 
[[File:John Rains House 2.JPG|thumb|left|190px|[[Casa de Rancho Cucamonga]], a National Historic Landmark, built in 1861]]
After a half century of political jockeying in the region, the land finally came under the control of [[Juan Bautista Alvarado]], governor of Mexico. On March 3, 1839, Alvarado granted {{Convert|13,000|acre|ha}} of land in the area called "[[Rancho Cucamonga|Cucamonga]]" to Tubercio Tapia, a first-generation Spanish native of [[Los Angeles]], successful merchant, and notorious smuggler.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{cite web|title = Rancho Cucamonga: An old tale of smuggler's gold|url = http://www.pe.com/articles/tapia-689241-gold-rancho.html|website = Press Enterprise|access-date = January 16, 2016|date = May 6, 2014}}</ref> Tapia went on to establish the [[Cucamonga Winery|first winery]] in California on his newly deeded land.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref>{{cite web|title = Thomas Vineyards – California's Oldest Winery|url = https://ginoffvine.wordpress.com/2010/05/08/thomas-vineyards-californias-oldest-winery/|website = Ginoffvine|access-date = January 16, 2016|date = May 7, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title = San Bernardino|url = http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=21476|website = ohp.parks.ca.gov|access-date = January 16, 2016}}</ref> [[Rancho Cucamonga]] was purchased by John Rains and his wife in 1858. [[John Rains House|The Rains family's home]], Casa de Rancho Cucamonga, was completed in 1860 and now appears on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{cite web|title = National Register of Historic Places Database and Research Page |publisher= National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service|url = http://www.nps.gov/nr/research/|website = nps.gov|access-date = January 16, 2016}}</ref>

During the ensuing years the town prospered and grew. In 1887, irrigation tunnels were dug into Cucamonga Canyon by [[History of Chinese Americans|Chinese laborers]] and the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway|Santa Fe Railroad]] was extended through the area. Among the town's economic mainstays was agriculture, including olives, peaches, citrus, and, most notably, vineyards.<ref name=":3" /> In 1913, the [[Pacific Electric|Pacific Electric Railway]] was extended through Rancho Cucamonga in an effort to improve crop transportation. Several landmarks in existence today pay tribute to the city's multicultural founding. In particular, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel<ref>{{cite web|title = Parish History - Our Lady of Mount Carmel|url = http://www.olmtcarmelranchocucamonga.org/home/our-parish|website = Olmtcarmelranchocucamonga.org|access-date = January 16, 2016}}</ref> remains as a relic of the area's Mexican agriculture laborers while the Chinatown House<ref>{{Cite news|title = Chinatown House in Rancho Cucamonga|url = http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-china-house-rancho-cucamonga-video-premiumvideo.html|newspaper = Los Angeles Times|access-date = January 16, 2016|issn = 0458-3035|language = en-US}}</ref> stands as a reminder of the Chinese immigrants who labored in constructing the area's infrastructure.<ref name=":4" />

In 1977, the [[unincorporated area|unincorporated]] communities of [[Alta Loma, Rancho Cucamonga, California|Alta Loma]], Cucamonga, and [[Etiwanda, Rancho Cucamonga, California|Etiwanda]] voted to incorporate, forming the city of Rancho Cucamonga.<ref>{{cite news|title=Getting the masses in the mood|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2006/nov/25/business/fi-shop25/2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203001451/http://articles.latimes.com/2006/nov/25/business/fi-shop25/2|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 3, 2013|author=Roger Vincent and Adrian G. Uribarri|date=November 25, 2006|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=October 29, 2011}}</ref>

===Grapeland===
The former community of Grapeland, first settled in 1869, lay roughly between today's Victoria Groves Park and Central Park. There was a schoolhouse which also doubled as a church. In 1890 an irrigation district was formed and $200,000 in bonds were sold to pay for improvements. The Sierra Vista reservoir was built in 1886–87 by J.L. Scofield as the focal point of a network of irrigation pipes.  The system was unused, however, because the bond issue was declared illegal. "Orchards and vineyards began to die," ''[[The Daily Report]]'' newspaper reported in a retrospective. "Residents moved out. The post office closed in 1905. Homes, buildings were destroyed or abandoned." The reservoir remained unused until 1956, when the Fontana Union Water Company filled it with {{Convert|5|e6USgal|e6L|abbr=unit}} of water. The local school district was merged with the [[Etiwanda School District|Etiwanda district]] in 1901. In 1957 the settlement was practically deserted, but there were still rabbit-proof stone walls marking boundaries of previous citrus orchards.<ref>"Rubble Remains of a Community That Was — Grapeland," ''The Daily Report,'' July 13, 1957, page 3 / FONTANA–

<blockquote>Between Fontana and Etiwanda lie the dry, dusty remains of a community that died for lack of water. The name of the town was Grapeland. A few people still live in the original tpwnsite, but the brilliant future that was predicted for it in the 1880s never came to pass. Unpaved dirt roads, still graded by San Bernardino County, run spasmodically through the area. Grapevines still cover much of the parched land; but gone are the citrus groves, the fruit trees, the early pioneer settlers.... The first settlers came to Grapeland in 1869. Later, more and more arrived, until in 1890 the need for adequate water became imperative. An irrigation district was formed and $200,000 in bonds were sold. With this money, the Sierra Vista Reservoir was built as the focal point of a network of irrigation pipes. It was to remain unused for 66 years, for the entire bond issue was declared illegal. Orchards and vineyards began to die. Residents moved out. The post office was closed in 1905. Homes, buildings were destroyed or abandoned. Today, the hot sun parches the empty fields of Grapeland—the community that died of thirst. / Still in fairly good shape along Grapeland's ghost roads are rabbit-proof stone walls around long-gone ciitrus orchards. / CONSTRUCTED 1886–1887, J.L. Scofield, Engineer and Builder is the legend proclaimed by this plaque in the Sierra Vista Reservoir, which proved a delusion to settlers. It remained dry until 1956, when the Fontana Union Water Co. plastered its colorful pebbly exterior and filled it with 5,000,000 gallons of water.</blockquote></ref>