Ranchos of California
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The Ranchos or Alta California land grants established land use patterns that are still recognizable in the California of today. The tradition of making land grants was continued by the early State of California. These are the "ranchos" of Californian toponymy. Under Spanish rule, individual land grants were scarce. The Atrisco Land Grant in New Mexico is one of the few surviving Mexican land grants.
Although commonly referred to as "land grants", Spanish concessions permitted settlement and granted grazing rights on specific tracts of land, while retaining title with the crown[1]; many of these properties were subsequently patented under Mexican law. Three of the largest original ranchos first granted in 1784 by the Spanish King Carlos III were;
- Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, granted to José Antonio Yorba, from the Santa Ana River west to the Arroyo/Laguna Canyon on the east, north to the Brea/Santa Ana Canyon, and south to the Pacific Ocean.
- Rancho San Pedro, granted to Juan Jose Dominguez, stretching from the Pacific Ocean west at present day Manhattan Beach, to the Los Angeles River on the east, and north from present day Rosecrans Blvd, south to the Pacific Ocean.
- Rancho Los Nietos, granted to Manuel Nieto, stretching from the Los Angeles river on the west to the Santa Ana River on the east, from Whittier-Harbour blvds north, south to the Pacific Ocean.
In 1830, only fifty private ranches existed in all of Alta California.[2] When California came under control of the Mexican government, the governors gained the power to grant state lands. With the new régime most lands were turned into large Mexican-owned rancherías. The missions were secularized and their land and property also redistributed by local administrators. Few ranchos remained as they were, depending on the fortunes of the owners they were expanded, parceled out or even sold outright. Some of the more noted ranchos with their descendant communities are listed below.
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[edit] Ranchos
[edit] Further reading
- Beck, Warren A. and Ynez D. Haase, Historical Atlas of California, University of Oklahoma Press, 1974 (first edition), ISBN 0806112123
- Beers, Henry Putney, (1979). "Spanish & Mexican records of the American Southwest : a bibliographical guide to archive and manuscript sources", Tucson : University of Arizona Press
- Fink, Augusta, Monterey, The Presence of the Past. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 1972. ISBN 0877010723
- Marquez, Ernest (2004). Santa Monica Beach: A Collector's Pictorial History, Angel City Press, ISBN 1-883318-36-X
- Pleasants, Adelene (1931). "History of Orange County, California. Vol. 1", Los Angeles, CA : J. R. Finnell & Sons Publishing Company
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Beck, Warren A. and Ynez D. Haase, Historical Atlas of California, first edition, p. 24
- ^ Fink, 1972, page 64: "Land grants were scarce; In 1830 only 50 private ranches were held in Alta California, of which 7 were in the Monterey region."
- ^ a b c d e Marilyn Cenovich (1995). The Story of Cerritos: A History in Progress.. Cerritos Public Library. Retrieved on 2007-07-10.
- ^ José Maria Alviso Adobe/Rancho Milpitas. milpitashistory.org. Retrieved on 2007-01-15.
- ^ Marquez, Ernest (2004). Santa Monica Beach: A Collector's Pictorial History. Angel City Press.
- ^ History of Rancho Cucamonga. Retrieved on 2007-08-12.
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