Rancho San Geronimo was a 8701 acres (35.2 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 Marin County, California

Marin County, California

Marin County is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2010, the population was 252,409. The county seat is San Rafael and the largest employer is the county government. Marin County is well...

 given in 1844 by Governor 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...

 to Rafael Cacho. The grant extended along San Geronimo Creek

San Geronimo Creek

San Geronimo Creek is a stream in Marin County, California, United States, which feeds into Lagunitas Creek below Kent Lake.-Course:The creek rises in the hills west of the town of Lucas Valley...

 and encompassed present day San Geronimo

San Geronimo, California

San Geronimo is a census-designated place located in the San Geronimo Valley in Marin County, California in the United States. San Geronimo is located southwest of downtown Novato, at an elevation of 292 feet...

, Woodacre

Woodacre, California

Woodacre is an unincorporated town and census-designated place located in the San Geronimo Valley in Marin County, California. Woodacre is located south-southwest of Novato, and 8 miles northwest of San Rafael, the nearest incorporated town is Fairfax, 4 miles east-southeast. Woodacre has the...

 and Forest Knolls

Lagunitas-Forest Knolls, California

Lagunitas-Forest Knolls is a census-designated place, composed of two unincorporated areas in the western half of the San Geronimo Valley in Marin County, California, United States. The population was 1,819 at the 2010 census....

History

In 1844, Rafael Cacho, a military ­officer, was granted Rancho San Geronimo in the San Geronimo Valley

San Geronimo Valley

San Geronimo Valley is a valley in Marin County, California, composed of four unincorporated towns: Woodacre, San Geronimo, Forest Knolls, and Lagunitas. Residents of San Geronimo Valley and surrounding areas refer to it as "The Valley." It is a fairly close-knit community, with a rather liberal...

, where he had been living since 1839. Cacho sold the rancho to Lieutenant Joseph Warren Revere. Joseph W. Revere

Joseph W. Revere

Joseph Warren Revere was a career United States Army officer. He is known for being a Union brigadier general during the Civil War, his embarrassment at the Battle of Chancellorsville and for his notable family....

 (1812–1880) came 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...

 on the USS Portsmouth to assume command of the American forces at Sonoma

Sonoma, California

Sonoma is a historically significant city in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, USA, surrounding its historic town plaza, a remnant of the town's Mexican colonial past. It was the capital of the short-lived California Republic...

. He was the one who took down the Bear Flag and raised the American Flag over Sonoma for the first time. In 1846, Revere bought Rancho San Geronimo from Cacho.

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 San Geronimo 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 Joseph Warren Revere in 1860.

In 1850, Revere left California for Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, and he sold a part of Rancho San Geronimo to Rodman M. Price

Rodman M. Price

Rodman McCamley Price was an American Democratic Party politician, who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1851–1853, and served as the 17th Governor of New Jersey, from 1854 to 1857.-Biography:...

. In 1851, Price returned to New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, where he was elected to Congress

32nd United States Congress

The Thirty-second United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1851 to March 3, 1853, during the third and...

 and later to Governor, and hired Lorenzo E. White to manage the rancho until 1855.

M. Hall McAllister, renowned San Francisco attorney and orator, bought the other part of Rancho San Geronimo in 1854. Samuel Cutler Ward

Samuel Cutler Ward

Samuel Ward , was a poet, author, and gourmet, and in the years after the Civil War he was widely known as the "King of the Lobby." He combined delicious food, fine wines, and good conversation to create a new type of lobbying in Washington, DC—social lobbying—over which he reigned for...

 and his two cousins M. Hall McAllister (1826–1888) and Ward McAllister (1827–1895) joined the 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...

 in 1849. Six months after his arrival in San Francisco, he returned to New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 with a newly acquired fortune. There he met financial failure, and returned to California in 1851, where he remained for the next five years.

In 1846, Adolphe Mailliard (1819–1896) married Annie Eliza Ward (1824–1895), sister of Samuel Ward and of Julia Ward Howe

Julia Ward Howe

Julia Ward Howe was a prominent American abolitionist, social activist, and poet, most famous as the author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic".-Biography:...

. Mailliard came to California in 1868 and bought San Rancho Geronimo.

Category:Ranchos of Marin County, California