Rancho Potrero Y Rincon de San Pedro Regalado was one of the smallest Mexican land grants in Alta California. [1] Unlike the huge ranchos comprising tens of thousands of acres, this one was only 500 varas by 600 varas (91.53 acres) [2] of the pasture land (potrero) originally belonging to Mission Santa Cruz.
Mission Santa Cruz was established in 1791, twelfth of the twenty-one Spanish Missions of California. After first trying to build near the San Lorenzo River, winter flooding convinced the padres to move up onto the bluff known ever since as Mission Hill. The low-lying river bottom north of the hill where mission buildings were constructed became the potrero, a protected pasture area where livestock other than free-ranging cattle were kept. The potrero was a relatively small flat area enclosed between steep hills and the river (a geographical form often referred to in early California as a rincón). [3]
In 1834, the missions were secularized and, over the following years, most of the former mission lands were given away by the Alta California government as large land grants called ranchos. A rectangular portion of the former potrero land was granted in 1842 to José Arana, one of a group of colonists who came to Alta California from Mexico in 1834. [4]
Arana later moved to the Rancho Arroyo del Rodeo, a few miles to the east. The creek running through his former lands there is now called Arana Gulch or Arana Creek. The rancho passed into the hands of pioneer Isaac Graham. In gratitude for his help during what came to be known as "The Graham Affair", Graham gave the tract to Thomas J. Farnham after Graham's return to the Santa Cruz area in 1841. Farnham died in San Francisco, in 1848, without ever taking possession of the land, but his widow Eliza moved west from New York the following year and decided to remain.
Renaming the tract El Rancho La Libertad, Eliza Farnham attempted to establish a farm and build a house. [5] When that proved unsuccessful, she sold the land to Thomas Russell, who operated a distillery in the hills above. [6] Russell filed a petition in 1855 to patent the original Mexican grant through the Public Land Commission.
Russell's diseño (a rough map required to accompany a land grant petition), shows the rancho lands on either side of a creek identified as "Arroyo de San Pedro Regalado". That spring-fed, year-round creek is known today as Pogonip Creek. Four structures are identified: three "casas" (houses) and a "Molino" (mill). The San Lorenzo River is identified as the "Rio de Sta. Cruz".
Only a year later, Thomas Russell was murdered in a case that was never solved, and the land passed to his son Alexander before the grant was finally patented in 1859. [7] Alexander was apparently still in possession of at least part of the rancho when the first complete map of Santa Cruz County land ownership was published in 1889 - the name "Russell" appears on the map in the potrero area. [8]
Since that time, the tract has been progressively subdivided. California State Route 1 crosses the area from northeast to southwest, while California State Route 9 runs south to its terminus at Highway 1. Paralleling Highway 9 are the tracks of the Santa Cruz, Big Trees and Pacific Railway. The area is bounded by hills on three sides, and the San Lorenzo River on the east.
The neighborhood south of Highway 1 is still known as the potrero, while the area north of the highway has become the mixed use, primarily light-industrial "Harvey West" neighborhood at the northern edge of the city of Santa Cruz, California.
The hills to the north and west of the potrero are now a city-owned open-space preserve called Pogonip. [9] Uphill beyond the Pogonip greenbelt is the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California. As of 2019 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated Santa Cruz's population at 64,608.
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is a state park of California, USA, preserving mainly forest and riparian areas in the watershed of the San Lorenzo River, including a grove of old-growth coast redwood. It is located in Santa Cruz County, primarily in the area between the cities of Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley, near the community of Felton and the University of California at Santa Cruz. The park includes a non-contiguous extension in the Fall Creek area north of Felton. The 4,623-acre (1,871 ha) park was established in 1954.
The Redwood Grove of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, which is located in Santa Cruz County in Northern California, is a grove of Coast Redwoods with member trees extending into the 1400- to 1800-year-old range. This grove is notable because it allows for the use of self-guided tours of the flat, 0.8-mile (1.3 km) loop trail which is easily accessible. Dozens of large, old Redwood trees are located within a few feet of the walking trail.
The Spanish and Mexican governments made many concessions and land grants in Alta California from 1785 to 1846. The Spanish Concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an inducement for them to remain in the frontier. These Concessions reverted to the Spanish crown upon the death of the recipient. The Mexican government later encouraged settlement by issuing much larger land grants to both native-born and naturalized Mexican citizens. The grants were usually two or more square leagues, or 35 square kilometres (14 sq mi) in size. Unlike Spanish Concessions, Mexican land grants provided permanent, unencumbered ownership rights. Most ranchos granted by Mexico were located along the California coast around San Francisco Bay, inland along the Sacramento River, and within the San Joaquin Valley.
Arana Gulch is a creek and landform that forms part of the southeastern boundary of the city of Santa Cruz, California. The creek begins in the Santa Cruz Mountains and flows southwest into Monterey Bay into what was once called Woods Lagoon, now the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor.
Zayante is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California. It is a residential area located on Zayante Creek. Zayante sits at an elevation of 699 feet (213 m). The 2010 United States census reported Zayante's population was 705.
Wilder Ranch State Park is a California State Park on the Pacific Ocean coast north of Santa Cruz, California. The park was formerly a dairy ranch, and many of the ranch buildings have been restored for use as a museum. There are no campgrounds; a day-use parking lot provides access to the museum. Dogs are prohibited on the trails, but many trails allow bikes and/or horses. The long trails and ocean views make the area a favorite of hikers, equestrians and mountain bikers. Public beaches continue to the north in Coast Dairies State Park.
Rancho Rincón de los Bueyes was a 3,127-acre (12.65 km2) land grant in present-day Los Angeles County, California given in 1821 to Bernardo Higuera and Cornelio Lopez by Pablo Vicente de Sola, the Spanish Governor of Alta California. In 1843, this Spanish grant was confirmed by Mexican Governor Manuel Micheltorena. Rincón, translated from the Spanish, means corner or nook, and Bueyes are oxen or steer.
Rancho El Rincón was a 4,431-acre (17.93 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day San Bernardino County and Riverside County, California given in 1839 to Juan Bandini by Governor Juan Alvarado. El rincón means "the corner" in Spanish. The grant, located south of present-day Chino, was bounded on the east by Rancho Jurupa, on the south by the Santa Ana River, on the west by Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana, and extending northerly from the river one league. The rancho lands include Prado Regional Park.
Rancho Rincon de San Francisquito was a 8,418-acre (34.07 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Clara County, California given in 1841 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José Peña. The name means "corner or bend of the San Francisquito" referring to San Francisquito Creek. The grant extended along Matadero Creek to the hills and included the southern part of present-day Palo Alto and the southern part of the Stanford University campus.
Rancho Rincón de las Salinas y Potrero Viejo was a 4,446-acre (17.99 km2) Mexican land grant, largely within present day southeastern San Francisco, California, and extending to San Mateo County, California.
Isaac Graham was a fur trader, mountain man, and land grant owner in 19th century California.
Pierre "Don Pedro" Sainsevain was a French settler in California during the Mexican era. Sainsevain was the recipient of a Mexican land grant, and built a lumber mill and a flour mill. He was a delegate to the first California Constitutional Convention; and became a winemaker and the first producer of sparkling wine in California.
Rancho Cañada del Rincon en el Rio San Lorenzo was a 5,827-acre (23.58 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena, and confirmed in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico, to Pedro Sainsevain. The name means "valley on a corner on the San Lorenzo River". The grant was north of present-day Santa Cruz on the San Lorenzo River.
Rancho Zayante was a 2,658-acre (10.76 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California. The grant, measuring one league by one-half league, straddled Zayante Creek and the San Lorenzo River. It included most of the present-day communities of Felton, Mount Hermon and Olympia, along with parts of Ben Lomond, Quail Hollow and Brackney, but not Zayante.
Rancho Rincon de Sanjon was a 2,230-acre (9.0 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, California given in 1840 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to José Eusebio Boronda. The name means "corner of Sanjo del Alisal". The grant was located on the north side of the Sanjo del Alisal,, between Cooper's Rancho Bolsa del Potrero y Moro Cojo on the west, Castro's Rancho Sausal on the east, and bordering Espinosa's Rancho Bolsa de las Escorpinas on the north. The grant was on the northwest of present-day Salinas.
Rancho Potrero de San Luis Obispo was a 3,506-acre (14.19 km2) Mexican land grant in present day San Luis Obispo County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado to María Concepción Boronda. Potrero means "pasture" in Spanish. The grant was north of present day San Luis Obispo, and encompassed Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Rancho Potreros de San Juan Capistrano was a 1,168-acre (4.73 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Orange County and Riverside County, California given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to John Forster. The grant was composed of three detached tracts, called, Rancho Potrero los Pinos, Rancho Potrero el Cariso, and Rancho Potrero de la Cienega. The grants were located in the Santa Ana Mountains in the present-day Cleveland National Forest in the southeast corner of the Orange County and western Riverside County.
El Camino Viejo a Los Ángeles, also known as El Camino Viejo and the Old Los Angeles Trail, was the oldest north-south trail in the interior of Spanish colonial Las Californias (1769–1822) and Mexican Alta California (1822–1848), present day California. It became a well established inland route, and an alternative to the coastal El Camino Real trail used since the 1770s in the period.
Rancho Potrero de San Francisco or Rancho Potrero Nuevo was approximately 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) Mexican land grant in the present day Potrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California.