History of North America was declared in 1810 by Miguel Hidalgo, starting the "Mexican War of Independence". In 1813, José María Morelos and the Congress of Anáhuac signed the Solemn Act of the Declaration of Independence of Northern America, the first legal document where the separation of the New Spain with respect to Spain is proclaimed. Spain finally recognized Mexico's independence in 1821. From the time of independence of the United States, that country expanded rapidly to the west, acquiring the massive Louisiana territory in 1803. Between 1810 and 1811 a Native confederacy under Tecumseh fought unsuccessfully to keep the Americans from pushing them
Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana County given under Spanish Rule which were rare during this time. This was only two and a half months before the start of the war for Mexican Independence (1810-1821). The surrounding land grants or ranchos were granted by the Mexican government after Mexican independence in 1821. José Antonio Yorba built an elaborate adobe hacienda, El Refugio (the Refuge), located near present-day First and Sullivan Streets in western Santa Ana. With the Mexican Cession of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by