In 1865 the rancho was leased for twenty-five years to the Los Angeles Pioneer Oil Company for exploration and development of oil. But, although the oil company diligently explored, no oil could be found and the lease was finally abandoned. The Town of Downey was started in 1873 with a boom and predictions were freely given that the new city would soon outdistance its sleepy neighbor, Los Angeles. Toward the east boundary of the rancho the Town of Fulton Sulphur Springs and Health Resort was platted. But few lots were sold until 1886 when the Santa Fe Railway built its line through the town, bought up all the lots and replatted them into smaller ones, planned a big hotel and renamed the town Santa Fe Springs. How foolish the silver-tongued land auctioneers made the purchasers appear when they bought lots, then at $200 apiece. How foolish would the same auctioneers look today if they could see their town of Santa Fe Springs—a city of derricks—a bonanza of “Black Gold.” [Illustration: _Night at Santa Fe Springs on the Rancho Santa Gertrudes_] Rancho San Antonio No horses so fast, no cattle so fine, no land so fertile, no rancho more famous than the Rancho San Antonio. No family more prominent, no hospitality more welcome or as freely partaken, no hacienda more lovely, happy or prosperous than that of the Lugos. Antonio Maria Lugo received the grant of the rancho from the King of Spain in 1810 and for fifty years thereafter this old Spanish Don and his sons were the sole owners of its 29,514 acres, adjoining the original pueblo grant of the City of Los Angeles on the southeast. The Lugos saw the rise of the Mission chain to the height of its glory, then the passing of Spanish control and the rise of Mexico, the breaking up of the Mission chain, the fall of Mexico and the coming of the Stars and Stripes. Wars and governments came and passed and the Lugo family stood them all and kept their rancho intact. They built a wonderful adobe in the pueblo of Los Angeles facing the Plaza directly opposite the church and there the social life of the city centered. But American ways and American prosperity they could not stand and as the County grew, bit by bit they lost their vast rancho by sale, foreclosure and litigation. In 1865 the Sheriff sold the home place of Vicente Lugo, one of the sons, for a consideration of less than $1.00 an acre. With the conveyance went a large wooden house constructed by the younger Lugo, one of the first wooden houses in the County. In 1883 Jonathan S. Slauson, founder of Azusa and for whom Slauson Avenue is named, purchased the land constituting what had been the home place for $200 an acre. In 1910 the heirs of Slauson sold the land for $500 an acre.