Las Flores Estancia

The Las Flores Asistencia (or Las Flores Estancia) was established in 1823, and was situated approximately halfway between Mission San Luis Rey de Francia and Mission San Juan Capistrano on what today is the Marine Corps Base at Camp Pendleton. Known in its day as the "San Pedro Rancho" the property featured a chapel and a hostel (both built by Father Antonio Peyri), the latter for the use of traveling clergy. The chapel was visited by residents of two nearby Indian villages, Chumella and Questmille.

To sustain the installation barley, corn, and wheat, were grown and cattle were grazed at nearby Las Pulgas ("the fleas"). The site, located in San Diego County some 10 miles south of the City of San Clemente and later known as "Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores," was the scene of the April 1838 battle between the forces of Juan Bautista Alvarado and Carlos Antonio Carrillo in which the provincial governorship of Alta California was contested.

Early California pioneer Marco Forster built the "Las Flores Adobe" (a National Historic Landmark) in 1865 near the "San Pedro Estancia." In 1974 the Boy Scouts of America constructed a camp on the property which is visited by thousands of Scouts and other youth annually.