During the Mexican–American War, California was claimed by the United States, regardless of the California independence movement that had briefly swept the state. Though California was now under the jurisdiction of the United States, land grants were allowed to continue in the form of private property. In 1873, the United States Army built a telegraph line between San Diego and Fort Yuma which ran through Telegraph Canyon in Chula Vista; its construction was under the command of Captain George F. Price of the 5th Cavalry Regiment out of Camp McDowell. In the 1870s and 1880s mining was done on Rancho Janal.</ref>