Rancho Santa Ana y Quien Sabe was a 48823 acres (197.6 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 Benito County, California

San Benito County, California

San Benito County is a county located in the Coast Range Mountains of the U.S. state of California, south of San Jose. As of 2010 the population was 55,269. The county seat is Hollister, which includes nearly two-thirds of the county's population. El Camino Real passes through the county and...

 given in 1839 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Manuel Larios and Juan M. Anzar. The grant, east of present day Hollister

Hollister, California

Hollister is a city in and the county seat of San Benito County, California, United States. The population was 34,928 at the 2010 census. Hollister is primarily an agricultural town.-History:...

, consisted of the one square league Rancho Santa Ana in the Santa Ana Creek valley on the north, and the six square league Rancho Quien Sabe in the Quien Sabe Creek valley on the south.

History

Luis del Castillo Negrete (–1843) came to 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,...

 in 1834 as a member of the Híjar-Padrés Colony. He was an advisor to Governor Mariano Chico

Mariano Chico

Colonel Mariano Chico served one of the briefest terms as Alta California governor from April 1836 to July 1836. He was both preceded and succeeded by the equally unpopular Lieutenant Colonel Nicolas Gutierrez, who joined him in exile in Mexico on November 5, 1836, by a northern...

, and returned to Mexico in 1836. His brother, Francisco Javier del Castillo Negrete, received the six square league Rancho Quien Sabe in 1836 from Governor Nicolás Gutiérrez

Nicolás Gutiérrez

Lieutenant Colonel Nicolás Gutiérrez was a twice acting governor of Alta California in 1836 from January to May and July to November.Gutierrez served two abbreviated terms in less than a year as acting governor of Alta California in 1836...

.

In 1839, the land was re-granted by Governor Alvarado to Manuel Larios and Juan Miguel Anzar. Anzar paid Larios to oversee the property. In 1848 the two men agreed to divide the grant; Larios took Rancho Santa Ana, and Anzar took Rancho Quien Sabe. Later, when title to the land was being determined, the courts ruled that Anzar and Larios owned equal shares.

Manuel Salvador Larios

Manuel Salvador Larios (1798–1865) was married three times; first to Maria Antonia del Carmen Pacheco, then secondly to Guadalupe Castro, and thirdly to Maria Rosario Armas de Higuera (who had been married to Juan Jose Saturio Higuera (1801– 1845)). When Larios died in 1865, his two surviving minor children were Martin del Patricinio (his mother was Maria Pacheco) and Estolano (his mother was Rosario Armas). Rosario Armas de Larios, with her son, Estolano Larios, and her Higuera children from a previous marriage moved to New Idria

New Idria, California

New Idria was an unincorporated town in San Benito County, California. It is named after a now-inoperative quicksilver mine of the same name. The mine itself was named in honor of the world's second largest quicksilver mine in Idrija, Slovenia The town grew to support the mining operations, but...

Juan Miguel Anzar

Juan Miguel Anzar was the brother of padre Jose Antonio Anzar (1792-) who served at the Mission 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...

 until he returned to Mexico in 1835.
Juan Miguel Anzar was the grantee of Rancho Los Aromitas y Agua Caliente

Rancho Los Aromitas y Agua Caliente

Rancho Los Aromitas y Agua Caliente was a Mexican land grant in present day San Benito County, California given in 1835 by Governor José Castro to Juan Miguel Anzar. The name means "little perfumes and hot spring" and refers to nearby sulfur springs...

 in 1835. Juan Miguel Anzar (-1852) married Maria Antonia Castro. When Juan Miguel Anzar died in 1853, he held title to Rancho Los Aromitas y Agua Caliente, Rancho Santa Ana y Quien Sabe, Rancho Real de los Aguilas

Rancho Real de los Aguilas

Rancho Real de los Aguilas was a Mexican land grant in present day San Benito County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Francisco Arias and Saturnino Carriaga. The name means "rancho royal of the eagles"...

 and Rancho Los Carneros

Rancho Los Carneros (McDougall)

Rancho Los Carneros was a Mexican land grant in present day Monterey County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to María Antonia Linares. The name means "sheep". The grant was near the San Benito County, California line and south of Rancho Cañada de la Carpenteria...

. His widow, Maria Antonia Castro de Anzar, married Frederick A. McDougall (a doctor from Scotland). Maria Antonia Castro de Anzar de MacDougall died in 1855, leaving McDougal and her children (Anatolio Anzar, Juan Francisco Anzar and Policronio Anzar) as heirs.

Post-statehood

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 Santa Ana y Quien Sabe 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 combined 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 Manuel Larios and Juan Miguel Anzar in 1860.

A claim based on the Nicolas Gutierrez grant of six square leagues to Luis del Castillo Negrete, was filed by Josefa Morales del Castillo Negrete with the Land Commission in 1852, but was rejected. A claim based on the Nicolas Gutierrez grant of six square leagues to Francisco Javier del Castillo Negrete filed by Francisco Castillo Negrete with the Land Commission in 1852 was also rejected.

In 1866, the heirs of Manuel Larios sold 23000 acres (93 km²) of Rancho Santa Ana y Quien Sabe to Joaquin Bolado (1822–1894) and his business partner José G. Arques.

In 1869, Juan Francisco Anzar sold Rancho Santa Ana and Quien Sabe to Estanislao Hernandez (1821–1893).