Edward T. Grijalva wrote on 1999-11-21 00:00:00, Unit: Co.L 224 Inf. Reg. 40th. Inf Div. Comments:

REMEMBER: It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag who allows the protester to burn the flag.

Grijalva was curious about family stories concerning an early Grijalva ancestor who came from Mexico as a soldier (rank, second corporal) in 1776 and helped to settle the Orange County area. Intense curiosity eventually lead to actually finding land records showing what land belonged to his ancestor, Juan Pablo Grijalva, and locating a wall section of the original adobe home. More research on the Grijalva name found the story of a Juan de Grijalva that begins even further back, in 1518. Juan de Grijalva led an expedition to the Yucatán and discovered a large river which to this day is named, the Rio de Grijalva. Other Grijalvas, such as Sebastian de Grijalva, 1520, and Hernando de Grijalva, 1533, were adventurers too. The search to understand his personal history has been an adventure for researcher, Edward Grijalva. He has traveled the 2,000 mile trip made by his ancestor, has visited libraries, archives, and colleges, presented with joy his findings, a life-long adventure of respect and honor to his past.

Source: Edward T. Grijalva, Juan Pablo Grijalva, Paragon Agency, (c) 1995

From the late 1920s to the late 1960s there was many Orange orchards in Orange County, now it has black top, concrete, houses, people and cars... Edward T. Grijalva

The Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. On this site, Don Juan Pablo Grijalva operated the vast 80,000 acre Rancho Santiago. A retired Lieutenant from the Spanish Army, Grijalva founded the rancho in 1801 with his grandson, Juan Pablo Peralta. Grijalva came to California with the Anza expedition in 1776 and after retiring, petitioned for the Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. Grijalva's legacy includes the only Spanish rancho entirely within Orange County. Grijalva's adobe headquarters was the first building in Orange County outside the limits of Mission San Juan Capistrano, located 1< miles north-east of here. The rock foundation of this adobe still exists today and is marked by Orange County Historical plaque #45, placed in 1996. Juan Pablo Peralta took over the Rancho after Grijalva died in 1806 and in 1809 Grijalva's son-in-law, Antonio Yorba, came and operated the Rancho with Peralta. Together, they repetitioned for the rancho receiving the grant in 1810. The cattle ranch and tanning and tallow vats were located here as late as the 1830's and the Peraltas and Yorbas continued to operate the Rancho until it was broken up in 1868. The town of Orange was founded in 1871 on the rancho. This site is also the Santiago Creek campsite of the Portola Expedition that came in 1769, the first land exploration by Europeans in California.

Rancho acreage:

1801: 83,891 acres <--- I use this one

1883: 78,941 acres

1996: 62,516 acres