Editing Poway, California (section)

===European settlement===
In the late 18th century, [[Mission San Diego de Alcalá]] kept cattle in the valley. Documents of Mission San Diego de Alcala record the name of the valley as "Paguay" as early as 1828. The name "Poway" is likely derived from a Kumeyaay term meaning "arrowhead" (pawii) or "watering hole" (paguay).<ref>{{Cite journal |author=Ted Couro and Christina Hutcheson |title=Dictionary of Mesa Grande Diegueño |publisher=Malki Museum Press, Morongo Indian Reservation, Banning, California |year=1973 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/b8b9dffb544d423891e36727c03842f6 | title=Kumeyaay Placenames | date=August 18, 2022 }}</ref> Other sources suggest that "Paguay" means "the meeting of little valleys" or "end of the valley".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://poway.org/156/Poway-History|title=Poway History {{!}} Poway, CA - Official Website|website=poway.org|access-date=October 28, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.ci.poway.ca.us/index.aspx?page=763 | title=Poway, CA - Official Website &#124; Official Website}}</ref> Some controversy also surrounds the proper spelling; historically it has also been written by the Mexican authorities as Paguai.<ref name="Bancroft">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OK4sAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA612|title=The works of Hubert Howe Bancroft|first=Hubert Howe|last=Bancroft|date=February 15, 1886|publisher=A. L. Bancroft|isbn=9780331755978|access-date=February 15, 2019|via=Google Books}}</ref> It has also been written as Paui, Pauai, Pauy, and Powaii.{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}

For approximately a century, Poway served as a stock range for the mission and local ranchos. In September 1839, Corporal [[Rosario Aguilar]] was granted [[Rancho Paguai]] a ranch in the valley and it was confirmed on May 22, 1840, but he refused it, becoming [[Justice of the peace|juez de paz]] in 1841 and moving instead to [[San Juan Capistrano]].<ref name="Bancroft"/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/sandiegoandimpe00smytgoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/sandiegoandimpe00smytgoog/page/n475 401]|title=San Diego and Imperial counties, California: a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement|first=William Ellsworth|last=Smythe|date=February 15, 1913|publisher=The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company|access-date=February 15, 2019|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>