Rancho El Sur was a 8949 acres (36.2 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 Monterey County, California

Monterey County, California

Monterey County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, its northwestern section forming the southern half of Monterey Bay. The northern half of the bay is in Santa Cruz County. As of 2010, the population was 415,057. The county seat and largest city is Salinas...

 given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa

José Figueroa

General José Figueroa , was a General and the Mexican territorial Governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835.Figueroa oversaw the initial secularization of the missions of upper California, which included the expulsion of the Spanish Franciscan mission officials.This also involved the issuing of...

 to Juan Alvarado. The grant extended between the Little Sur River

Little Sur River

The Little Sur River is on the Central Coast of California. The river drains a portion of the Big Sur area, a thinly settled region of the Central California coast where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean...

 and what is now called, Cooper Point.

History

Juan Bautista Alvarado (1809–1882) was granted the two square leagues in 1834. In 1840, Alvarado traded his Rancho El Sur to John B.R. Cooper

John B.R. Cooper

John Bautista Rogers Cooper was born in England and raised in Massachusetts. He came to California as master of the ship Rover, and was a pre-gold rush pioneer of Monterey, California...

 in exchange for Rancho Bolsa del Potrero y Moro Cojo

Rancho Bolsa del Potrero y Moro Cojo

Rancho Bolsa del Potrero y Moro Cojo was a Mexican land grant in present day Monterey County, California given in 1822 by Governor Pablo Vicente de Solá to Joaquín de la Torre...

. Captain John Bautista Rogers Cooper (1791–1872) had married General Vallejo

Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo

Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo was a Californian military commander, politician, and rancher. He was born a subject of Spain, performed his military duties as an officer of Mexico, and shaped the transition of California from a Mexican district to an American state...

 ’s sister, Encarnacion, in 1827. Alvarado was the nephew of Encarnacion Vallejo.

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 El Sur 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 John B. R. Cooper in 1866.

Cooper's daughter, Amelia, married Eusebio Joseph Molera in 1875. Frances M. Molera (1879-1968), daughter of Eusebio and Amelia Molera, donated the land as Andrew Molera State Park

Andrew Molera State Park

Andrew Molera State Park is a state park of California, USA, preserving relatively undeveloped land on the Big Sur coast. Situated at the mouth of the Big Sur River, the property was part of the Rancho El Sur land grant, and later owned by the Cooper-Molera ranching family. The park is named in ...

, named in honor of her brother Andrew M. Molera (d. 1931).