Rancho San Francisco
Encyclopedia
Land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate – land or its privileges – made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service...
in present day northwestern Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
and eastern Ventura County
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...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It was of 48612 acres (196.7 km²) by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Antonio del Valle, a Spanish army officer, in recognition for his service to the state of Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
. It is not related to the city of San Francisco.
The rancho
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...
was the location of the first documented discovery of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1842, in Placerita Canyon
Placerita Canyon State Park
Placerita Canyon State Park is a California State Park in the San Gabriel Mountains, in an unincorporated rural area of Los Angeles County, north of Los Angeles near Santa Clarita, California.-Cultural History:...
. The current cities of Santa Clarita
Santa Clarita, California
Santa Clarita is the fourth largest city in Los Angeles County, California, United States and the twenty-fourth largest city in the state of California. The 2010 US Census reported the city's population grew 16.7% from the year 2000 to 176,320 residents. It is located about northwest of downtown...
and Piru
Piru, California
Piru is a small unincorporated census-designated town located in eastern Ventura County, California, in the Santa Clara River Valley near the Santa Clara River and Highway 126, about seven miles east of Fillmore and about west of Interstate 5. The population was 2,063 at the 2010 census, up from...
lie within the boundaries of Rancho San Francisco, later known as the Newhall Ranch. The adobe
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
headquarters of the rancho is a designated California Historical Landmark
California Historical Landmark
California Historical Landmarks are buildings, structures, sites, or places in the state of California that have been determined to have statewide historical significance by meeting at least one of the criteria listed below:...
. The rancho included portions of the San Gabriel
San Gabriel Mountains
The San Gabriel Mountains Range is located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert, with Interstate 5 to the west and Interstate 15 to the east...
, Santa Susana
Santa Susana Mountains
The Santa Susana Mountains are a transverse range of mountains in southern California, north of the city of Los Angeles, in the United States. The range runs east-west separating the San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley on its south, from Santa Clara River Valley to the north, and Santa Clarita...
, Topatopa
Topatopa Mountains
The Topatopa Mountains are a mountain range in Ventura County, California, north of Santa Paula. They are part of the Transverse Ranges of Southern California. The range lies in an east-west direction northeast of the community of Ojai, and west of the Sespe Condor Sanctuary. The ranges reaches an...
, and Sierra Pelona
Sierra Pelona Mountains
The Sierra Pelona Mountains , or the Sierra Pelona Ridge, is a mountain range in the Transverse Ranges of Southern California.. They are located within Los Angeles and Kern Counties.-Geography:...
Mountain range
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
s.
Early history
After Mission San Fernando Rey de EspañaMission San Fernando Rey de España
Mission San Fernando Rey de España was founded on "The Feast of the Birth of Mary" , 1797. The settlement is located on the former Encino Rancho in the Mission Hills community of northern Los Angeles, near the site of the first gold discovery in Alta California.-History:Mission San Fernando Rey de...
was established in 1797, the administrators there realized they would need more land for agriculture and livestock, and they looked north to the Santa Clarita Valley
Santa Clarita Valley
The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the Rancho San Francisco Mexican land grant...
to establish their estancia, or mission rancho. Subsequently, the Tataviam
Tataviam
The Tataviam , were called the Alliklik by their neighbors the Chumash , are a Native American group in southern California...
Indians who had been living there were relocated to the Mission, where they were baptized
Christianization
The historical phenomenon of Christianization is the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once...
and put to work. The Estancia de San Francisco Xavier was built in 1804 at the confluence of Castaic Creek
Castaic Creek
Castaic Creek is a stream in northern Los Angeles County, California. It is a tributary of the Santa Clara River.-Castaic Lake:Castaic Dam on the creek forms Castaic Lake, but most of the water comes from the West Branch of the California Aqueduct, also called the State Water Project. The lake is...
and the Santa Clara River
Santa Clara River (California)
The Santa Clara River is approximately long, located in southern California in the United States. It drains an area of the coastal mountains north of Los Angeles. The Santa Clara is one of the largest river systems along the coast of Southern California and one of only a few remaining river...
.
Following the Mexican War of Independence
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
, the missions
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...
were secularized and the land taken by the Mexican government. In 1834, Lt. Del Valle was assigned to inventory the property of Mission San Fernando. The rancho was supposed to be returned to the Tataviam, but Governor Alvarado deeded it to his friend Del Valle instead on January 22, 1839. The Del Valle family moved into the former estancia buildings (near what is now Castaic
Castaic, California
Castaic, California, is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, north of Santa Clarita and a few miles from Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. It is approximately 39 miles from the downtown Los Angeles Civic Center. As of the 2010...
).
Del Valle died in 1841. On his deathbed, he attempted to reconcile with his estranged son Ygnacio
Ygnacio del Valle
Ygnacio Ramón de Jesus del Valle was a rancher and landowner in the eastern Santa Clara River Valley, California, United States, as well as an alcalde of Los Angeles. His estate, Rancho Camulos, is registered as a National Historic Landmark.- Early life :Del Valle was born in Jalisco, Mexico...
by writing him a letter and offering the entire rancho to him as his inheritance. However, Del Valle died before the letter was delivered to his son. Regardless, Ygnacio took control over the land.
Gold discovery
On March 9, 1842, Francisco Lopez, the uncle of Antonio's second wife Jacoba Feliz, took a rest under an oak tree in Placerita CanyonPlacerita Canyon State Park
Placerita Canyon State Park is a California State Park in the San Gabriel Mountains, in an unincorporated rural area of Los Angeles County, north of Los Angeles near Santa Clarita, California.-Cultural History:...
and had a dream that he was floating on a pool of gold. When he awoke, he pulled a few wild onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
s from the ground only to find flakes of gold clinging to the roots. However, he was not just lucky. Lopez had studied mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
at the University of Mexico and it was likely he had been systematically looking for gold. Moreover, evidence suggests that gold had previously been found in the area as many as thirty years prior, but Lopez's discovery was the first documented discovery of gold in the state. This sparked a gold rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
on a much smaller scale than the more famous California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
several years later. About 2,000 people, mostly from the Mexican state of Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
, came to Rancho San Francisco to mine the gold.
This discovery was mostly ignored by the American public. For one thing, California was not yet a U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
, so this was in essence a Mexican discovery. However, certain people who later played a large role in the other gold rush took note. John Sutter
John Sutter
Johann Augus Sutter was a Swiss pioneer of California known for his association with the California Gold Rush by the discovery of gold by James W. Marshall and the mill making team at Sutter's Mill, and for establishing Sutter's Fort in the area that would eventually become Sacramento, the...
, who had sided with Gov. 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...
during his power struggle with former Gov. Alvarado, was imprisoned after the Battle of Providencia
Battle of Providencia
Battle of Providencia took place in 1845 on Rancho Providencia in the San Fernando Valley of southern California....
near Mission San Fernando after the insurrection had succeeded. After his release, he headed north through Placerita Canyon, and seeing the mining operation, determined to search for gold near his home, Sutter's Fort
Sutter's Fort
Sutter's Fort State Historic Park is a state-protected park in Sacramento, California which includes Sutter's Fort and the California State Indian Museum. Begun in 1839 and originally called "New Helvetia" by its builder, John Sutter, the fort was a 19th century agricultural and trade colony in...
.
During the Mexican–American War
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known as the First American Intervention, the Mexican War, or the U.S.–Mexican War, was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S...
, Del Valle destroyed the mine to prevent the Americans from gaining access to it. The tree where Lopez took his nap is now known as the "Oak of the Golden Dream" and is registered as California Historic Landmark #168.
Later history
Following the war, the Treaty of Guadalupe HidalgoTreaty 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...
allowed Mexican landowners to keep their lands. However, Jacoba Feliz sued for control of Rancho San Francisco. The judgment for Feliz's lawsuit was handed down in 1857. Ygnacio Del Valle received the westernmost portion of 13599 acres (55.03 km²), Feliz (now Salazár) took 21307 acres (86.23 km²), and her six children received 4684 acres (18.96 km²) each.
Unfortunately, at this time Southern California experienced a great deal of flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
ing, and ranchers were forced to mortgage their properties in order to pay for damages. Feliz mortgaged her portion of the land to William Wolfskill
William Wolfskill
William Wolfskill was a cowboy and agronomist from Los Angeles, California, who was highly influential in the development of California's agricultural industry in the 19th century.-Valencia orange:...
, who returned a portion of it back to Del Valle in exchange for him settling her debts. Floods were followed by drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
s, which again exacerbated the ranchers' problems. Finally, in 1862 Del Valle was forced to sell off most of his land to oil speculators (the Philadelphia and California Petroleum Company headed by Thomas A. Scott
Thomas Alexander Scott
Thomas Alexander Scott was an American businessman. He was the 4th president of what was the largest corporation in the world, the Pennsylvania Railroad, during the middle of the 19th century...
), keeping only his Rancho Camulos
Rancho Camulos
Rancho Camulos, now known as Rancho Camulos Museum, is a ranch located in the Santa Clara River Valley east of Piru, California and just north of the Santa Clara River, in present day Ventura County, California. It was the home of Ygnacio del Valle, an alcalde of the Pueblo de Los Angeles and...
. The oilmen were unable to find any oil, and Rancho San Francisco eventually landed in the hands of Henry Newhall
Henry Newhall
Henry Mayo Newhall was an American businessman, whose extensive land holdings became the current communities of Newhall, Saugus, Valencia, and the city of Santa Clarita, in Southern California.-Life:...
, whose name is now closely associated with the Santa Clarita Valley area.
Newhall granted right-of-way to Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
to build a rail line to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and sold them a portion of the land, upon which sprang a new town that the company named after him, Newhall. Another town grew around the train station
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
and Newhall named it after his hometown, Saugus.
After Newhall's death in 1882, his heirs formed the Newhall Land and Farming Company
Newhall Land and Farming Company
The Newhall Land and Farming Company is a land management company based in Valencia, California, United States. The company is responsible for the master community planning of Valencia, as well as the management of farm land elsewhere in the state...
, which managed the lands. In 1936, Atholl McBean, Newhall's grandson-in-law, discovered oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
on the property and changed the name to Newhall Ranch.
Historic designations
- California Historical Landmark NO. 556 RANCHO SAN FRANCISCO Adobe
- Placerita Canyon State ParkPlacerita Canyon State ParkPlacerita Canyon State Park is a California State Park in the San Gabriel Mountains, in an unincorporated rural area of Los Angeles County, north of Los Angeles near Santa Clarita, California.-Cultural History:...
- California Historical Landmark NO. 168 OAK OF THE GOLDEN DREAM: where Francisco Lopez found gold.