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THE LANGHAM,
HUNTINGTON
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Pasadena is perhaps best-known worldwide for the Tournament of Roses Parade, held every year
on New Year's Day and culminating in the Rose Bowl football game. However, Pasadena's history
is tied more to the people rather than to the land.
When the Spanish missionaries arrived in the area in their quest to establish Franciscan mis-
sions along the California coast, they encountered the Hahamogna Tribe, which had hunted and
fished the land for centuries and had established several villages around the area. The missionaries
were intent on converting these “heathens” to Christianity and convinced the tribe's head chief,
Hahamovic, to be baptized.
After the chief followed their ritual, the missionaries renamed him “Pascual” and renamed
the tribe after his new name. Their intent was to disrupt the tribal distinctions. Even then, they
once again renamed the tribe the “Mission Indians” with the reference making the mission seem
even more important. They further blurred the old tribal association by later renaming the Indians
near the mission the “Gabrielinos” after the San Gabriel Mission. Finally, they called the mountain
Indians “Serranos,” meaning highlanders . If this sounds confusing, it's because the padres meant to
confuse the Indians, thereby subjugating them.
As with all other missions along the King's Highway (El Camino Real), missions claimed huge
tracks of surrounding land for ranching and agriculture in support of the mission. When Mexico
achieved independence from Spain, the new government elected in 1833 to give the mission lands
to private individuals, usually those wealthy and influential friends of the powerful in Mexico City
or the local government of Alta (Upper) California.
Pasadena occupies part of a 14,000-acre land grant known as Rancho el Rincon de San Pascual,
originally given to Doña Eulalia Pérez de Guillen in 1826. The new government of Mexico recog-
nized this grant and the land passed through several hands before being divided and sold to Henry
E. Huntington and the local Orange Grove Association.
Many members of the association were from the East Coast, and they referred to this land as the
Indiana Colony. Later, the group changed the name to “Pasadena,” which was a blend of Chippewa
Indian words translated to “Crown of the Valley.”
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