A Few Notes on the Historic Santa Ana Mountains

The Juanita Tin Mine, Trabuco Canyon

Preface: Yesterday, when the "Airport Fire" began, I thought this article (which I'd written some time ago but hadn't yet posted) might provide a little context for folks who are hearing obscure place names in the news and are surprised to learn that Orange County even has a "back country." But today, the fire spread so quickly and has been so heartbreakingly and terrifyingly destructive that the article rings hollow. As I re-read it, I can only wonder how many of these historic sites, how many acres of forest, and how many homes and lives will be destroyed by the time the fire is under control. As I go back and write this preface, only one thing's certain: The Airport Fire is writing a dark new chapter of history that will not soon be forgotten. 

These days, most Orange Countians only think of the Santa Ana Mountains when a big wildfire is occupying the news. And that’s a shame. First of all, the mountains are ruggedly beautiful. And secondly, there are few places where locals feel more connected to our history and less impacted by the cacophonous distractions of modern life than amidst those rustic canyons, peaks, creeks and potreros.

Stretching across the northeastern portion of Orange County, the scrub-brush-covered Santa Ana Mountains extend south into Riverside County and all the way south to Temecula.

Cabrillo undoubtedly noticed these mountains as he sailed along California’s coast in 1542. But it was the overland Portola Expedition in 1769 that named the range while camping here on St. Anne's (Santa Ana’s) Day. Days later, they extended the "Santa Ana" name to a river that seemed to flow from the mountains. They also named Santiago Creek for the patron saint of Spain (St. James/St. Iago) and Trabuco Creek for a blunderbuss-type gun (or “Trabuco”) they lost nearby. All these names are still part of the mountains.

Wildflowers atop Modjeska Peak, 2009

The Orange County portion of the range includes eight peaks higher than 3,000 feet. From north to south, they are Sierra, Pleasants, Bedford, Bald, Santiago, Trabuco, Los Pinos, and Modjeska. 

Pleasants Peak was named by the Orange County Historical Society in honor of colorful pioneer Joseph E. “Judge” Pleasants, who eventually sold his backwoods home to famed stage actress Helena Modjeska.

Hiking in O'Neill Regional Park Live Oak Canyon, 2011

The twin peaks named Modjeska (5,496 ft.) and Santiago (5,687 ft.) are the highest points in the county and together form Old Saddleback, the iconic backdrop to all of Orange County's rich history.

The Indian people believed their god-in-human-form Chinigchinich never truly died, but instead ascended to the top of Santiago Peak to spend eternity watching over his people. They called Old Saddleback "Kalawpa," meaning "a wooded place." Historian Don Meadows wrote that Chinigchinich “would sit in judgment and if any of his subjects failed to obey his teachings he would send down rattlesnakes and grizzly bears to punish the offenders. For centuries Old Saddleback has been held in reverence."

Holy Jim Falls, Holy Jim Canyon, 1962

Many canyons are tucked into the Santa Ana Mountains, including Black Star, Silverado, Modjeska, Trabuco, Live Oak, Harding, Holy Jim, Williams, and others. The most prominent of these is Santiago Canyon, into which numerous other canyons drain.  Santiago Canyon Road (along with, arguably, the Ortega Highway) is the primary access point for most of Orange County’s mountain country.

Silverado Canyon takes its name from a mining boom that began with the discovery of silver in the fall of 1877. By the following spring, this remote spot had become the temporary home to five hundred miners and prospectors, and the town of Silverado was established. According to Meadows, at its height, Silverado “had three hotels, three general stores, a blacksmith shop, two meat markets, seven saloons,” a post office, and a population of 1,500.  

Alice Leck on the road to San Juan Hot Springs (later part of Ortega Highway) in 1905.

The boom went bust in 1882 when miners learned the hard truth: The Santa Ana Mountains contain almost any mineral you can name, but not in large enough quantities to make mining very profitable. 

The mountains are full of colorful landmarks like San Juan Hot Springs (a popular place to relax since prehistoric times);  Modjeska’s home; Black Star Canyon’s Indian village site; the Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary; Vulture Crags; Cook's Corner; Jake Yaeger’s (defunct) gold mine; Irvine Lake; the spot where the last California grizzly bear was shot; the ruins of the Trabuco Adobe (circa 1810); the site of the vanished town of Carbondale; and Flores Peak – where notorious outlaw Juan Flores escaped a posse by hurtling himself over a cliff where none dared follow.  

Ruins of Beeks Place, at the head of Black Star Canyon, 2021

Much of the Santa Ana Mountains are part of the Cleveland National Forest, originally established in 1893 and named for ex-President Grover Cleveland in 1908. A great deal of additional land in the range is now part of various County parks including Irvine, O’Neill, Limestone Canyon, Whiting Ranch, and Caspers. Additional vast tracts of County property in the mountains are overseen by the Irvine Ranch Conservancy.  

Santa Ana Mountains preserve some of our last wildlands, although development continues to push into the area. And even as the mountains give a home to plants, animals and whole ecosystems, so too does it still provide refuge to elements of Orange County’s early past. Those with a willingness to explore can find landscapes that haven’t changed in millennia, as well as spots where historical relics remain: Old trails, dams, mines, ruins of early cabins, native rock art, and much more. 

The ancient oak groves at Irvine Park, circa 1930s.

To learn about the history of the Santa Ana Mountains, begin with Terry E. Stephenson’s classic book, The Shadows of Old Saddleback. It exists in three editions, all of which are now expensive. So find it at the library. 

Also strongly recommended is A Boys' Book of Bear Stories (Not for Boys): A Grizzly Introduction to the Santa Ana Mountains, by the great historian Jim Sleeper, who spent much of his life living in a cabin in remote Holy Jim Canyon. "Boy's Book" takes the reader into nearly every part of the mountains, using tales of early bear hunting as a framework. The book’s two(!) introductions are worth the price of admission all by themselves.

Santiago Creek at the Silverado bridge, 2012