Rancho Butano was a 4439 acres (18 km²) Mexican land grant

Ranchos of California

The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...

 in present day San Mateo County, California

San Mateo County, California

San Mateo County is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. It covers most of the San Francisco Peninsula just south of San Francisco, and north of Santa Clara County. San Francisco International Airport is located at the northern end of the county, and...

 given in 1838 by Governor Juan Alvarado and confirmed in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena

Manuel Micheltorena

Manuel Micheltorena was a Brigadier General of the Mexican Army, Adjutant-General of the same, Governor, Commandant-General and Inspector of the Department of the California...

 to Ramona Sanchez. At the time, the grant was in Santa Cruz County

Santa Cruz County, California

Santa Cruz County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, on the California Central Coast. The county forms the northern coast of the Monterey Bay. . As of the 2010 U.S. Census, its population was 262,382. The county seat is Santa Cruz...

; an 1868 boundary adjustment gave the land to San Mateo County. The grant extended along the Pacific coast between Rancho Pescadero

Rancho Pescadero (Gonzalez)

Rancho Pescadero was a Mexican land grant in present day San Mateo County, California given in 1833 by Governor José Figueroa to Juan José Gonzales. At the time, the grant was in Santa Cruz County; an 1868 boundary adjustment gave the land to San Mateo County. The name means fishing place...

 and Rancho Punta del Año Nuevo

Rancho Punta del Año Nuevo

Rancho Punta del Año Nuevo was a Mexican land grant in present day San Mateo County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Simeon Castro. At the time, the grant was in Santa Cruz County; an 1868 boundary adjustment gave the land to San Mateo County...

, with Butano Creek

Butano Creek

Butano Creek is a principal river in San Mateo County, California and carries a large amount of the runoff of the Santa Cruz Mountains into the Pacific Ocean through the delta at its mouth Pescadero Marsh. The creek is long....

 on the north to Arroyo de los Frijoles ("Creek of the Beans") on the south, and encompassed present day Bean Hollow State Beach

Bean Hollow State Beach

Bean Hollow State Beach is a beach in the state park system of California, USA. It is located in San Mateo County near Pescadero. The beach offers fishing, picnicking and beachcombing. Visitors can explore tide pools with anemones, crab, sea urchins and other marine inhabitants. The beach also...

 and Butano State Park

Butano State Park

Butano State Park is a state park of California, USA, showcasing a secluded redwood-filled canyon. Located in San Mateo County near Pescadero, the park was established in 1956.....

.

History

Juan Venancio Galindo married María Ramona Lorenza Sanchez in 1795. Their son, José Antonio Galindo, was granted the Rancho Laguna de la Merced

Rancho Laguna de la Merced

Rancho Laguna de la Merced was a Mexican land grant, in present day San Francisco County and San Mateo County, California, given in 1835 by Governor José Castro to José Antonio Galindo...

 and Rancho Saucelito

Rancho Saucelito

Rancho Saucelito was a Mexican land grant in present day Marin County, California given in 1838 by Governor Juan Alvarado to William A. Richardson. The name means "ranch of the little willow grove"...

 in 1835. The one square league Butano Rancho was granted to Ramona Sanchez, widow of Venancio Galindo, in 1838 and re-granted to the same grantee, by Governor Manuel Micheltorena in 1844. In 1852, Ramona Sanchez sold the Rancho Butano to Manuel Rodriguez.

With the cession

Mexican Cession

The Mexican Cession of 1848 is a historical name in the United States for the region of the present day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the U.S...

 of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...

 provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Butano was filed with the Public Land Commission

Public Land Commission

The Public Land Commission, a former agency of the United States government, was created following the admission of California as a state in 1850 . The Commission's purpose was to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican land grants in California.California Senator William M...

 in 1853. Rodríguez won a dispute about the northern boundary with Rancho Pescadero in 1863, and the grant was patented to Manuel Rodríguez in 1866.

Rancho Butano was sold in 1862 to Clark & Coburn of San Francisco. Loren Coburn, born in Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

, came to California in 1851, and worked first in mining. Loren Coburn bought out his brother-in-law Jeremiah Clark. Coburn subsequently bought Rancho Punta del Año Nuevo directly to the south. He was an extremely aggressive land owner, contesting boundaries, and a perpetual litigant in the courts, and was widely disliked. In the 1890s, Coburn erected a large hotel on the bluff above Pebble Beach, hoping to make it a popular destination for vacationers taking the planned Ocean Shore Railroad from San Francisco. The San Francisco earthquake in 1906 ended construction on the railroad, and the hotel permanently closed. Coburn leased much of the land to a dairy enterprise run by the Steele family (Rensselaer, Isaac and Edgar) from Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

. Coburn and Clark's legacy of defending their land slowed the subdivision and development of Rancho Butano.