Escondido, CA news and local guide

After Mexico won independence, the land was divided into large ranchos. Most of Escondido sits on the former Rancho Rincon del Diablo, "Devil's Corner," granted in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Juan Bautista Alvarado, a Los Angeles official and the first regidor of the pueblo of San Diego, not the governor of the same name. The southern part of the city lies on Rancho San Bernardo, granted in 1842 and 1845. In 1846, during the Mexican-American War, the Battle of San Pasqual was fought southeast of Escondido between Mexican forces under Andres Pico, brother of Governor Pio Pico, and Americans under Stephen W. Kearny, Archibald Gillespie and Kit Carson, for whom a city park is named. At the first census, in 1850, the population was largely Spanish-speaking. After statehood more and more settlers, many from the Midwest, arrived, especially in the land boom of the 1880s. Sources Wikipedia: Escondido, California