Rancho San Ramon (Amador)
Encyclopedia
Rancho San Ramon was a 20968 acres (84.9 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 Contra Costa County, California
Contra Costa County, California
Contra Costa County is a primarily suburban county in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,049,025...

 given in 1834 by Governor Jose 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 Jose Maria Amador.

The five square league San Ramon grant stretched down the San Ramon Valley
San Ramon Valley
The San Ramon Valley is a region in Contra Costa County and Alameda County, California, east of Oakland. The cities of San Ramon, Danville and Alamo as well as the southern edge of Walnut Creek are located in the valley. Interstate 680 serves as the primary transportation route for the...

 from what is now Danville
Danville, California
The Town of Danville is located in the San Ramon Valley in Contra Costa County, California. It is one of the incorporated municipalities in California that uses "town" in its name instead of "city". The population was 42,039 in 2010. Danville is one of the wealthiest suburbs of Oakland and San...

 on the north to Dublin
Dublin, California
Dublin is a suburban city of the East Bay region of Alameda County, California, United States. Located along the north side of Interstate 580 at the intersection with Interstate 680, roughly east of Hayward, west of Livermore and north of San Jose, it was named after the city of Dublin in...

 on the south, and from the crest of the western ridge to the crest of the east, and encompassed present day Dougherty Valley
Dougherty, Alameda County, California
Dougherty is an unincorporated community in Alameda County, California. It is located just north of Dublin, at an elevation of 348 feet ....

. The Dublin area was called "Amador" for many years.

José María Amador

José María Amador (1794-1883), born 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...

, one of the youngest of eleven children of Pedro Amador and Ramona Noriega.

He very probably named his ranch after his mother and his maternal grandfather, Ramón Noriega. He was a younger brother of Sinforosa Amador
Sinforosa Amador
Sinforosa Amador Noriega was born at the Real Presidio de San Francisco on July 18, 1788 and was baptized at "Misión de Nuestro Seráfico Padre San Francisco", later known as Mission Dolores....

 (1788-1841).

Amador County
Amador County, California
Amador County is a county located in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 38,091. The county seat is Jackson.Amador County bills itself as "The Heart of the Mother Lode" and lies within the Gold Country...

 was named in his memory.

He spent his early years as a soldier and explorer, serving in the army of Nueva España, and was later administrator at the Mission San José.

Amador was married three times and had 22 children. He built several adobes at his rancho headquarters near Alamilla Springs in today’s Dublin, including a two-story adobe which was used by James Dougherty in the 1860s.

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 Ramon 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 16517 acres (66.8 km²) of 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 Jose Maria Amador in 1865.

Amador gradually sold his rancho. James Witt Dougherty bought 10000 acres (40 km²) in 1852.

San Ramon (Norris)

In 1850, Leo and Mary Jane Norris purchased one square league of land on the northwest corner of the rancho from Amador. A claim was filed with the Land Commission in 1852 and 4451 acres (18 km²) was patented to Leo Norris in 1882.
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