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About Rancho Cucamonga, CA

By 1200 AD, Kukamongan Native Americans had established a village settlement in the area around present-day Red Hill, near the city's western border. Kukamonga derives its name from a Native American word meaning "sandy place." 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. In the 18th century, following an expedition led by Gaspar de Portola, the land was incorporated into the Mission System established by Father Junipero Serra and his group of soldiers and Franciscan friars. 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 13,000 acres of land in the area called " Cucamonga" to Tubercio Tapia, a first-generation Spanish native of Los Angeles, successful merchant, and notorious smuggler.