Rancho Cañada Larga o Verde, as it was originally known, came out of lands of the San Buenaventura Mission. Following Mexican independence from Spain, Joaquina Alvarado de Moraga, whose late husband, Gabriel Moraga, was a distinguished soldier of Spanish California, petitioned and on January 30, 1841 was granted this 6,659 acre Mexican land grant by then governor Juan Bautista Alvarado. Ms. Alvarado received possession in November 1847, one year after California became part of the United States. Her claim for a land patent was denied by the U.S. Board of Land Commissioners, but later reversed by the District Court. Remnants of the Mission Aqueduct at Cañada Larga, a registered National Historic Site, which carried water from San Antonio Creek to the San Buenaventura Mission can be seen across the road and at this monument.