From the time of the Anza expedition until the Mexican Rancho Period, the land around Upland was used as grazing land by the San Gabriel Mission. Under mission rule, cattle ranching became a major industry. The rangy cattle thrived and bred rapidly in the benign climate, and thousands of cattle wandered across the Cucamonga Rancho. Following the secularization of the missions by the Mexican government, the Cucamonga Rancho was granted to Tiburcio Tapia in 1839. Upon the death of Tapia in 1845, the Rancho passed to his daughter and her husband, Leon V. Prudhomme. An 1886 report by the California Surveyor General listed the size of the Cucamonga Rancho as 13,045 acres.