Upon independence from Spain in 1821, the area became part of Mexico's Alta California. Under Mexican rule, the mission system gradually ended, and its lands became privatized. The land of Merced Manor was incorporated into the Rancho Laguna de la Merced, a one-half-square-league territory which, in 1835, was granted to José Antonio Galindo, corporal in El Presidio Real de San Francisco militia in Alta California. Galindo did little to develop the land and sold it in 1837 to Francisco de Haro (1792-1849). Ironically, in 1838, De Haro (as Alcalde) arrested Galindo for the murder of José Doroteo Peralta (1810-1838), son of Pedro Peralta.