Agua Hedionda Lagoon is one of the few remaining coastal wetlands along the Southern California coastline and is endangered by the pressures of development, agriculture, and industry. Traces of the earliest people inhabiting the area date to 8,000 BC. In 1769 AD, the Spanish expedition of Don Gaspar de Portola arrived along the lagoon’s shores, and in 1798 the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia was built. Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, and in 1833 land controlled by the mission became Rancho Aqua Hedionda. Between 1833 and 1860, the rancho was a Mexican land grant owned by the Marron family of Californios. In the 1850s, the takeover of Mexican California by the United States continued the transformation of Aqua Hedionda. In 1863, Rancho Aqua Hedionda was taken over, with much dispute, by Francis J. Hinton. By 1870, cattle on the rancho were being run for Hinton by Robert Kelly until Hinton’s death that year, and Kelly eventually inherited the rancho after court debate. In 1875, Kelly left cattle ranching and began leasing the land for sheep grazing. When Kelly died of cancer in 1890, he left the rancho to his sister-in-law, and eventually part of the rancho became the new town of Carlsbad. In 1990, the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation was established.