Gaspar de Portolá's
expedition with
Junípero Serra and
Joan Crespí camped at the spot in 1769. Father Crespí named the place
La Canada de los Rosales or Rose Canyon, after seeing the wild Castilian roses that grew in the canyon. A few years later a
Mission San Luis Rey de Francia survey party camped at the canyon and found and were hurt by many fleas, thus
Camp Las Pulgas. The area became part of the vast
California Spanish missions. With the
Mexican secularization act of 1833 the land became grazing land for
Andrés Pico and
Pío Pico. In 1844 this became
Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores. Andrés Pico used the land as his headquarters in the
Mexican–American War. His troops fought in the
Battle of San Pasqual in December 1846. After the war the land returned to grazing. ==See also==