Rancho Potrero de San Luis Obispo was a 3506 acres (14.2 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 San Luis Obispo County, California

San Luis Obispo County, California

San Luis Obispo County is a county located along the Pacific Ocean in the Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census its population was 269,637, up from 246,681 at the 2000 census...

 given in 1842 by Governor uan Alvarado] to María Concepción Boronda. Potrero means "pasture" in Spanish. The grant was north of present day San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo, California

San Luis Obispo is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. Founded in 1772 by Spanish Fr. Junipero Serra, San Luis Obispo is one of California’s oldest communities...

, and encompassed Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

History

The Boronda family patriarch, Manuel Boronda (1750-1826) accompanied Junípero Serra

Junípero Serra

Blessed Junípero Serra, O.F.M., , known as Fra Juníper Serra in Catalan, his mother tongue was a Majorcan Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California of the Las Californias Province in New Spain—present day California, United States. Fr...

’s second expedition to Alta California. By 1790, Boronda was stationed 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 married Maria Gertrudis Higuera (1776-). The three sons of Manuel and Gertrudis Boronda were: José Canuto Boronda (1792-); José Eusebio Boronda (1801-) grantee of Rancho Rincon de Sanjon

Rancho Rincon de Sanjon

Rancho Rincon de Sanjon was a 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"...

; and José Manuel Boronda (1803-1878), grantee of Rancho Los Laureles

Rancho Los Laureles

Rancho Los Laureles was a Mexican land grant in present day Monterey County, California given in 1839 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José M. Boronda and Vicente Blas Martínez. Los Laureles refers to the California Bay Laurel tree...

.

José Canuto Boronda was a soldier at Monterey

Monterey, California

The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...

 and Missions San Antonio

Mission San Antonio de Padua

Mission San Antonio de Padua was founded on July 14, 1771, the third mission founded in Alta California by Father Presidente Junípero Serra, and site of the first Christian marriage and first use of fired-tile roofing in Upper California.-History:...

, San Miguel

Mission San Miguel Arcángel

Mission San Miguel Arcángel was founded on July 25, 1797 by the Franciscan order, on a site chosen specifically due to the large number of Salinan Indians that inhabited the area, whom the Spanish priests wanted to evangelize. It is located at 775 Mission Street, San Miguel, in San Luis Obispo...

 and San Juan Bautista

Mission San Juan Bautista

Mission San Juan Bautista was founded on June 24, 1797 in what is now the San Juan Bautista Historic District of San Juan Bautista, California. Barracks for the soldiers, a nunnery, the Jose Castro House, and other buildings were constructed around a large grassy plaza in front of the church and...

. He married Francisca Castro and they had nine children. He "apparently" received the one square league Rancho Potrero de San Luis Obispo land grant in about 1842. His daughter Maria Concepcion "Chona" Boronda (1820-1906) received the patent in 1870. She married Oliver Delaissegues, a French sea captain, and after his death she married Jose Maria Munoz in 1851.

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 Potrero de San Luis Obispo 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, 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 María Concepción Boronda in 1870.