Rancho Cañada Larga o Verde was a 6659 acres (26.9 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 Ventura County, California

Ventura County, California

Ventura County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. It is located on California's Pacific coast. It is often referred to as the Gold Coast, and has a reputation of being one of the safest populated places and one of the most affluent places in the country...

 given in 1841 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Joaquina Alvarado. The grant extended along Sulphur Canyon Creek, east of the Ventura River

Ventura River

The Ventura River is a river in Ventura County, California. The river forms at the confluence of Matilija Creek and North Fork Matilija Creek, upstream from the Pacific Ocean...

, between Ventura

Ventura, California

Ventura is the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States, incorporated in 1866. The population was 106,433 at the 2010 census, up from 100,916 at the 2000 census. Ventura is accessible via U.S...

 and Ojai

Ojai, California

Ojai is a city in Ventura County, California, USA. It is situated in the Ojai Valley , surrounded by hills and mountains. The population was 7,461 at the 2010 census, down from 7,862 at the 2000 census.-History:Chumash Indians were the early inhabitants of the valley...

. To the west, across the Ventura River was Rancho Cañada de San Miguelito

Rancho Cañada de San Miguelito

Rancho Cañada de San Miguelito was a Mexican land grant in present day Ventura County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to Ramón Rodríguez. The name means valley of San Miguelito. The grant extended between the Pacific coast and the west bank of the Ventura River...

; to the north Rancho Ojai

Rancho Ojai

Rancho Ojai was a Mexican land grant in present day Ventura County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Fernando Tico. Rancho Ojai is located on the east side of the upper Ventura River across from the Rancho Santa Ana grant made in the same year. The grant encompassed present...

; and to the south and east Rancho Ex-Mission San Buenaventura

Rancho Ex-Mission San Buenaventura

Rancho Ex-Mission San Buenaventura was a Mexican land grant in present day Ventura County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pio Pico to José de Arnaz...

.

History

Ana Joaquina Alvarado (1788–1863) was the widow of Gabriel Moraga. Gabriel Antonio Moraga (1765–1823) came to California with the De Anza Expedition, and married Ana Maria Bernal (1770–1802) in 1784. Gabriel enlisted in the San Francisco Company in 1783 and served at the Presidio of San Francisco

Presidio of San Francisco

The Presidio of San Francisco is a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area...

 and Monterey

Presidio of Monterey, California

The Presidio of Monterey, located in Monterey, California, is an active US Army installation with historic ties to the Spanish colonial era. Currently it is the home of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center .-Spanish fort:...

. After Ana Bernal died, Moraga married Joaquina Alvarado in 1806. He was alferez in 1806; brevet lieutenant in 1811; full lieutenant at Santa Barbara in 1817.

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 Cañada Larga o Verde 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 1852, and the grant was patented

Land patent

A land patent is a land grant made patent by the sovereign lord over the land in question. To make a such a grant “patent”, such a sovereign lord must document the land grant, securely sign and seal the document and openly publish the same to the public for all to see...

 to Joaquina Alvarado in 1873. The grant was for one-half square league, but was surveyed as one and one-half square leagues.

Frenchman, Anselme Canet (1833–1914) came to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

and married Catherine Brannigan in 1863. Canet moved his family to Ventura in 1874 and immediately he branched out into the cattle business and acquired Rancho Cañada Larga y Verde.