“Juan Avila, Rancho Niguel, and the Liberation of the Native Sons of the Pueblo of Los Angeles”
Donna Schuele
Thursday, June 28, 2018 at 5pm
Laguna Niguel Library
30341 Crown Valley Pkwy, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
The 1830s marked the secularization of Mission San Juan Capistrano and the distribution of its lands to the second generation of the founding families of Los Angeles. Receiving their own land grants allowed native sons to escape the strictures of patriarchy while at the same time establishing themselves as patriarchs. But these land grants proved to be a double-edged sword: families avoided the sorts of tensions inherent in independence born of rebellion but at the same time lost the collective commitment necessary to the success of the rancho enterprise. This talk tells the story of the Avila family when its eldest son, Juan, left his father’s rancho to strike out on his own as the grantee of Rancho Niguel.
This event is part of the June membership meeting of the Laguna Nigel Historical Society. The organization’s website is: http://www.lagunaniguelhistoricalsociety.org
The event is free, but please RSVP to Melissa L. Caldwell at Honeybeee08@yahoo.com by June 26.
