Rancho La Bolsa Chica was an 8,107-acre (32.81 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day coastal northwestern Orange County, California given in 1841 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Joaquín Ruiz.[1] The name means "little pocket", and refers to pockets of land amongst the marsh wetlands of the Santa Ana River estuary. The rancho lands include the present day city of Huntington Beach, the community of Sunset Beach, and the significant Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve.[2][3]