Antique (Pre-1900)

Temecula is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 57,716 at the 2000 census. The current population as of January 2006 has skyrocketed to 93,923. It was incorporated on December 1, 1989. more...

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Temecula is bordered by Murrieta on the northwest and the Pechanga Indian Reservation on the south, with unincorporated areas of Riverside County on all of its other borders. It is served by the I-15 Temecula Valley Freeway and I-215, along with highway 79.

With neighboring Murrieta, Temecula forms the southwestern anchor of the Inland Empire region. It is almost equidistant to San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange counties and many consider it a suburb of the latter. Temecula is also home to many military families from nearby MCB Camp Pendleton, MCAS Miramar , March Air Reserve Base and the Navy bases in San Diego.

Temecula's Population History

1980......1,783*; 1990.....27,099; 2000.....57,716; 2005.....90,000; 2006.....93,923;

Recent estimates put the city's population over 100,000.

*Population figures taken prior to incorporation

History

Pre-1800

The area was inhabited by the Temecula native people for many hundreds of years before their first meeting with the Spanish missionaries (the people are now generally known as the "Luiseños", after the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia), but they lost an estimated 40% of their population due to introduced epidemics in the last few years of the 18th century.

The name Temecula comes from the Luiseño word Temecunga - roughly, "place of the sun". It was the Spanish who transcribed the word as "Temecula". According to the city website, "Temecula is the only city in California to still retain its original Indian name".

The first recorded Spanish visit, in October of 1797, was that of Franciscan padre, Father Juan Norberto de Santiago, who was searching for a new mission site. He visited what is now Lake Elsinore, and eventually visited much of the rest of the Temecula Valley.

1800-1900

Little is known about Temecula during the early 1800’s because so many records were destroyed in the fire that followed the great San Francisco earthquake in 1906.

In the 1820s, the Mission San Antonio de Pala was built, and a serious attempt to Christianize the local natives was begun.

In 1845, during the disintegration of Mexico's hold on California, the Temecula Ranch was granted to Felix Valdez. The Luiseño and Cahuilla tribes were involved, rather bloodily, in the local battles of the Mexican-American War during the following years.

One of the most often told stories of Temecula’s early days is of the Temecula Massacre in a nearby canyon that took place in January, 1847. The canyon is just below the present site of the Vail Lake Dam and was the scene of the bloodiest battle of the Mexican War. The Luiseño Indians captured 11 Mexican soldiers, who had stolen some of the tribe's horses. The tribal council decided to execute the horse thieves at a place now known as Warner Springs. The event came to be known as the Pauma Massacre. A Mexican contingency, led by José del Carmen Lugo, was soon dispatched to run them down and avenge the deaths.

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