Rancho Niguel
Rancho Niguel was a 13,316-acre (53.89 km2) Mexican land grant in the San Joaquin Hills, within present-day Orange County, California.
It was granted in 1842 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Juan Avila. The rancho was named for a local Indian village called "Niguili." The grant extended along the Pacific coast from Laguna Canyon and Laguna Beach, past Aliso Creek to Dana Point and San Juan Creek. The rancho encompassed those present-day places and Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, and Laguna Hills.
Juan Avila (1812–1889) was the son of Antonio Ygnacio Avila, grantee of Rancho Sausal Redondo. In 1832, Juan Avila married Maria Soledad Thomasa Capistrano Yorba (–1867). He and Soledad Yorba de Avila had three children who survived to adulthood: Rosa Modesta, who married Pablo Pryor; Guadalupe who married Marco Forster; and Manuel Donanciano who married Delfina Rodriguez. Marco Forster (1839–1904) was the son of John (Don Juan) Forster, owner of the adjacent Rancho Trabuco and Rancho Misión Vieja. Juan Avila was granted the three square league Rancho Niguel in 1842. He was a "judge of the plains" at Los Angeles in 1844, and justice of the peace at San Juan Capistrano in 1846.
With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Niguel was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852, and the grant was patented to Juan Avila in 1873.
...
Wikipedia