Rancho Rincon de Sanjon was a 2230 acres (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 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 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, (the great slough, or deep ditch, of the alisal), between 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...

's 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...

 on the west, Castro's Rancho Sausal

Rancho Sausal

Rancho Sausal was a Mexican land grant in the Salinas Valley, in present day Monterey County, California given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to José Tibúrcio Castro. An additional grant was made by Governor Pío Pico in 1845. The name is Spanish for "willow grove"...

 on the east, and bordering Espinosa's Rancho Bolsa de las Escorpinas

Rancho Bolsa de las Escorpinas

Rancho Bolsa de las Escorpinas was a Mexican land grant in present day Monterey County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Salvador Espinoza . The grant was northwest of present day Salinas, bounded on the south by Espinosa Lake and Rancho Los Gatos or Santa Rita of his...

 on the north. The grant was on the north west of present day Salinas

Salinas, California

Salinas is the county seat and the largest municipality of Monterey County, California. Salinas is located east-southeast of the mouth of the Salinas River, at an elevation of about 52 feet above sea level. The population was 150,441 at the 2010 census...

.

History

The Boronda family partiarch, 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-). Besides his military duties, which included carpenter work, Manuel also conducted a class for boys. The couple then moved to Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, California

Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...

. In 1811, at age 61, Manuel retired from military service and with his family moved to 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...

, where he built an adobe house in 1817. The three sons of Manuel and Gertrudis Boronda were: José Canuto Boronda (1792-); José Eusebio Boronda (1808-1880); 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 Eusebio Boronda married Maria Josefa Buelna (1817-1864) in 1831. Maria Buelna was the daughter of Antonio Buelna, grantee of Rancho San Francisquito and Rancho San Gregorio

Rancho San Gregorio

Rancho San Gregorio was a Mexican land grant in present day San Mateo County, California given in 1839 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Antonio Buelna. At the time, the grant was in Santa Cruz County; an 1868 boundary adjustment gave the land to San Mateo County...

. Boronda served as Mayordomo of Rancho Los Vergeles

Rancho Los Vergeles

Rancho Los Vergeles was a Mexican land grant in present day Monterey County and San Benito County, California given in 1835 by Governor José Castro to José Joaquín Gómez. The name means "flower garden". Rancho La Natividad and Rancho Los Vergeles were adjoining ranchos, north of present day...

. In 1839, Boronda and his family settled on a one and one half square league, "mas o menos" ("more or less"), Rancho Rincon de Sanjon which he called San José, and which he was granted in 1840. Boronda was at the Battle of Natividad

Battle of Natividad

The Battle of the Natividad took place on November 16, 1846 in the Salinas Valley, in present day Monterey County, California, during the California Campaign of the Mexican-American War, between United States organized California militia and loyalist Mexican militia.-Battle:San Juan Bautista was...

 in 1846.

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 Rincon de Sanjon 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 José Eusebio Boronda in 1860.

Historic sites of the Rancho

• Jose Eusebio Boronda Adobe
  Jose Eusebio Boronda Adobe
  The Jose Eusebio Boronda Adobe is a Monterey Colonial style building from 1846, located in Salinas, Monterey County, California.This was the in-town Spanish Colonial adobe and wood home of José Eusebio Boronda, who was the grantee of Rancho Rincon de Sanjon that was located to the northwest of...
  
  . The home of José Eusebio Boronda built between 1844 and 1848.