During the 1840s and 1850s, the town of San Diego experienced such growth that some groups of Indians living in the Mission Valley area were pushed into what is now the East County. In 1853, many of these people established a village in a canyon of the upper San Diego River. In Spanish, this area was called Capitan Grande, or “Great Captain.” Colonel John Bankhead Magruder of the U.S. Army issued a federal permit for the Indians to inhabit the area. At that time, Capitan Grande was part of the public domain and, after the permit was issued, the general public was warned against disturbing the Indians who resided there. From then on, those Kumeyaay/ ‘Iipay/Diegueño people and their descendants were known as the “Capitan Grande group of Mission Indians.” The descendents of these Capitan Tribal members also call themselves either Kumeyaay, ‘Iipay, or Diegueño depending upon family preference.

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