OCHS History Hike to Weir Canyon

Weir Canyon is visible in the lower-center right, indicated by the line of oaks leading to the right. The highest ridges of the Santa Ana Mountains are visible on the horizon, including Sierra Peak (3,045 ft.) on the ridge to the left. Pleasants Peak (4,007 ft.) is in the shadow of the clouds on the horizon in the center. Old Saddleback (highest point being Santiago Peak, 5,087 ft.) is in the clouds to the right. The whitish cliffs in the lower center-left were a source of material for ceremonial body paints and hair hygiene for a Kizh (Tongva) village that was located in the canyon. Recent research suggests that the village inhabitants entered into the mission system in the years 1808-1812, probably as result of the nearby Yorba and Peralta Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana being established about this time.

The Orange County Historical Society held a history hike on April 23, 2022 that visited Weir Canyon. I was fortunate to lead the group on a tour of the canyon's rich history. Below is a summary of the topics covered during the hike. It was a great time and I am fortunate to have been able to spend time with such a great group of hikers!

OCHS History Hike to Weir Canyon
            Looking across the rugged landscape of Weir Canyon, one cannot help but feel an atmosphere of historical significance. While so much of Orange County can be dated to a specific decade by the architecture of its buildings, Weir Canyon preserves a landscape that served as a setting for important eras in the county’s early history. The canyon transports us back to the natural setting of Orange County before the billboards, cars, and suburban sprawl. Within it took place much of the story of the early west, from Indians to missionaries and rancheros, and horse thieves to bandits.

Kizh (Tongva) Village Site
            Weir Canyon was home to a Kizh (Tongva) Indian village. Recent research may suggest that the village was attached or closely connected to a village named Guaromo on Santiago Creek. The canyon provided everything the inhabitants needed: numerous oaks for acorns and shade, sage and chia seeds and other wild edibles, small game, and spring water. The canyon had easy access over its northern ridges to the Santa Ana River, and to the south the canyon opens to Santiago Creek, facilitating trade with other villages located throughout the area.
            Archaeological evidence suggests the village possibly held special ceremonial significance among neighboring villages in the area. Nearby is the so-called “Altar Rock,” described by Jim Sleeper as a “peculiarly carved one-ton sandstone rock… [once at] the center of an Indian camp.” Historian Phil Brigandi added that numerous small cupules near the rock suggest the grinding of colorful pigments, perhaps used in body paints for ceremonies and dances. These cupules contrast with the larger morteros (bowl-shaped depressions in large rocks caused by grinding acorns and seeds), which are also nearby. A ridge rises to the west of the village area leading directly to white cliffs that were the source of the material used to make white body paint for ceremonies. The villagers may have also mixed this white earth with water and applied it to their hair and, after hardening, broke it off to keep their hair glossy and free of parasites. An ancient trail leads from the village in the canyon to the cliffs.

The OCHS History Hike in action, just above the village site and along an ancient indigenous trail (photo courtesy Joey Borgese).

The Mission and Rancho Eras
            Dramatic changes took place in 1769, when the first Spanish overland expedition through California, led by Gaspar de Portolá, camped on Santiago Creek that July. Thereafter, the Spanish colonists regularly passed near Weir Canyon. The general area, with its bountiful pasture, gentle hills, and regular access to water in the Santa Ana River, soon became attractive to members of the Spanish military who were looking to retire onto private ranchos. Petitioners for the area east of the Santa Ana River in the Weir Canyon area included Brevet Captain José Francisco Ortega, the famous scout of the Portolá Expedition and honored in the name Ortega Highway, and Juan Pablo Grijalva of the Anza Expedition. Following Grijalva’s death in 1806, his son-in-law, José Antonio Yorba, and grandson, Juan Pablo Peralta, were running cattle and growing hemp in the area by 1808. They were officially granted the Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, a Spanish land concession east of the Santa Ana River and into the hills, including Weir Canyon, in 1810.
            As the Yorba and Peralta families’ stock transformed the hills and made incursions into the Indians’ foraging lands, the villagers in Weir Canyon were forced to change their way of life. Missionaries from San Juan Capistrano made occasional visits to the new rancho to minister to the inhabitants and missionize among the Indians living in the area. The first villager from Guaromo, located somewhere on the rancho, was baptized at Mission San Juan Capistrano on June 19, 1808, and the bulk of the rest of the village was baptized in 1812.
            After California officially became a part of Mexico in 1821, Bernardo Yorba, one of José Antonio Yorba’s sons, established his own rancho further up the Santa Ana River in Yorba Linda in 1834. At the time, the hide trade had become well established and foreign ships visited every anchorage along the coast to trade for hides. Since the Santa Ana River deposited huge amounts of sand near today’s Santa Ana River Lakes, it was extremely difficult for hides to be transported from Bernardo’s rancho down river to the ports. For this reason, the hides were instead transported over Anaheim Hills and through Weir Canyon as a “short cut” of sorts to avoid the river sand.
            At around this time, Weir Canyon acquired its Spanish name, Cañada de los Bueyes, or Canyon of the Oxen. Why the canyon got this name will probably never be known, but it accurately describes the many oxen pulling carretas filled with hides from Bernardo’s rancho through the hills to the sea.

The OCHS History Hike coming down from Springs Peak overlooking the San Gabriel Mountains, fresh with an April snow (photo courtesy Joey Borgese).

Horse Raiders, the American Era, and Bandits
            Starting in 1829, overland trading parties from Santa Fe in New Mexico started making their way through Cajon Pass. Soon thereafter, horse thieves, often rumored to be led by the great Shoshone leader, Walkara, made use of the same route. After robbing horses from ranchos such as the Yorba’s, they would sometimes make their way up Santiago Canyon and, perhaps, over Weir or Black Star Canyon to the Corona area and thence to the Cajon Pass. The horses were then traded throughout the southwest. Tomás Yorba bitterly complained about these horse thieves in the mid-1830s. After the area was taken over by the Americans in the late-1840s, another moonlight horse thief raid took place in 1853. The raiders drove the stolen stock over the mountains from a canyon that drained into the Santiago, perhaps Weir Canyon. They were pursued by some of the greatest Orange County rancheros, including Don Juan Forster, José Sepulveda, and Juan Avila, but the thieves were never caught.
            In the 1850s the Gold Rush caused the Californio rancho economy to boom. But the social upheaval in the north, especially among the formerly rich and powerful Californio rancho families, resulted in some young Californios turning to lawlessness. One of them was Juan Flores. After being caught stealing horses that carried supplies between Los Angeles and San Juan Capistrano, Flores was sent to San Quintin Prison. After breaking out in late 1856, Flores made his way back down to San Juan Capistrano where he joined about half a dozen or so other young bandits. They called themselves “Las Manillas” [“the handcuffs”], supposedly a nod to a couple of the gang members’ time in prison. After murdering a shop keeper in Capistrano, the sheriff of Los Angeles and a small party of lawmen made their way to Capistrano. Along the road in today’s Irvine, the sheriff’s party was attacked by Las Manillas, resulting in the murder of the sheriff and three other lawmen. Many of the gang members fled to upper Santiago Canyon, where Flores and two of the gang members dramatically escaped from the pursuing posse down the cliff face of today’s Flores Peak in Modjeska Canyon. From there, Flores and two other bandits made their way down Santiago Creek and were caught in the vicinity of Weir Canyon, hiding in a cave. It’s possible that the origins of the place name of nearby “Robber’s Roost” goes back to their capture in the area. The bandits were tied up at Teodosio Yorba’s rancho for the night, but managed to escape into the night. Flores was finally caught and publicly hanged in Los Angeles.
            In 1906, a contractor laying cement pipe in Santiago Canyon near the mouth of Weir Canyon discovered a metal box with $5,020 in gold pieces. Not a piece was dated after 1856, possibly tying the box back to the Flores' gang. That said, it seems rather incredible that Flores and his two companions were able to hold on to the box after scaling the cliffs of Flores Peak and escaping down Santiago Canyon from the posse. Still, it makes for a great story.

A Word from Terry E. Stephenson
            The great Orange County historian, Terry E Stephenson, wrote of Weir Canyon that “[a]mong hunters who knew its coveys of quail and its deer trails forty to fifty years ago, the name was strangely contracted to Wier canyon.” Since Stephenson was writing in about 1930, it seems Weir Canyon was named in about the 1880s, possibly referring to the weirs, or little makeshift dams, that were possibly used for stock or to attract game. In any case, Stephenson would have been disappointed to learn that the canyon is no longer named Cañada de los Bueyes, but pleased to know that it still looks the same as it ever did. As Stephenson described it, Weir Canyon is “quite different from other canyons of the Santa Ana range. It has, all its own, a touch of wildness in places, an atmosphere of gentleness in others, and a breath of romance along its ancient roadway over which Spanish and Mexican carretas loaded with hides made their way. It is distinguished, just as the grasp of hands, the smile of friendliness and the cheery word distinguish one friend from another.” May it ever remain that way.


Eric Plunkett, 2022

Please see the following links for more on the San Juan Capistrano Visitor Series:

Part 5: The Otter Trade and the First U.S. Citizens in Orange County
Part 6: The Great Stone Church (A future post)
Part 9: Secularization and End of the Mission Era in Capistrano (A future post)
Part 10: Richard Henry Dana at Dana Point

Please see the following links for Mission San Juan Capistrano - Dating the Artifacts Series: