Rancho Santa Gertrudes
Encyclopedia
Rancho Santa Gertrudes was a 21298 acres (86.2 km²) 1834 Mexican land grant
, in present day Los Angeles County, California
resulting from a partition of Rancho Los Nietos
. A former site of Nacaugna
, the rancho lands included the present day cities of Downey
and Santa Fe Springs
.
heirs, governor José Figueroa
in 1834, officially declared the 167000 acres (675.8 km²) Rancho Los Nietos
grant under Mexican
rule and ordered its partition into five smaller ranchos: Las Bolsas
, Los Alamitos
, Los Cerritos
, Los Coyotes
, and Santa Gertrudes.
Josefa Cota (widow of Antonio Maria Nieto, son of Manuel Nieto) received the Rancho Santa Gertrudes grant. Lemuel Carpenter
(1808–1859), who had married Maria de Los Angeles Dominguez, a niece of Josefa Cota, bought the rancho in 1843 from Josefa Cota, his aunt by marriage.
With the cession
of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for part of Rancho Santa Gertrudes was filed Lemuel Carpenter with the Public Land Commission
in 1852. Carpenter, who was deeply in debt to John G. Downey
, killed himself in 1859. In 1859 the rancho was sold at a sheriff's auction to John G. Downey
and James P. McFarland. 17602 acres (71.2 km²) of the grant was patented
to McFarland and Downey in 1870.
A claim for part of Rancho Santa Gertrudes was filed by Thomas Sanchez Colima with the Public Land Commission in 1852, and 3696 acres (15 km²) of the grant was patented to Thomas Sanchez Colima in 1877.
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 Los Angeles County, California
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...
resulting from a partition of Rancho Los Nietos
Rancho Los Nietos
Rancho Los Nietos was one of the first, and the largest, Spanish land concession in Alta California. Located in present day Los Angeles County and Orange County, California. Rancho Los Nietos was awarded to Manuel Nieto in 1784...
. A former site of Nacaugna
Nacaugna, California
Nacaugna is a former Tongva-Gabrieleño Native American settlement in Los Angeles County, California. It was located at Rancho Santa Gertrudes - Carpenter's Ranch, the Lemuel Carpenter ranch in present day Downey, California.-See also:...
, the rancho lands included the present day cities of Downey
Downey, California
Downey is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city is best known as the birthplace of the Apollo space program, and is the city where folk singer Karen Carpenter lived and died...
and Santa Fe Springs
Santa Fe Springs, California
Santa Fe Springs is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is one of the Gateway Cities of southeast Los Angeles County. The population was 16,223 at the 2010 census, down from 17,438 at the 2000 census....
.
History
At the request of Manuel NietoManuel Nieto
Jose Manuel Nieto was a soldier from the Presidio of San Diego who was assigned to the Mission San Gabriel at the time his land was granted by the Spanish Empire in 1784.-Spanish soldier:...
heirs, governor José 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...
in 1834, officially declared the 167000 acres (675.8 km²) Rancho Los Nietos
Rancho Los Nietos
Rancho Los Nietos was one of the first, and the largest, Spanish land concession in Alta California. Located in present day Los Angeles County and Orange County, California. Rancho Los Nietos was awarded to Manuel Nieto in 1784...
grant under Mexican
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...
rule and ordered its partition into five smaller ranchos: Las Bolsas
Rancho Las Bolsas
Rancho Las Bolsas was a 1834 Mexican land grant resulting from the partition of Rancho Los Nietos, located from the coast on inland within present day northwestern Orange County, California. The Spanish name "las bolsas" means "the pockets", and refers to pockets of land amongst the marsh ...
, Los Alamitos
Rancho Los Alamitos
Rancho Los Alamitos takes its name from a Mexican land grant in southwestern Los Angeles County and northwestern Orange County, California. Los Alamitos means the Little Cottonwoods or Poplars in Spanish, after the native Fremont Cottonwood trees there.Rancho Los Alamitos originally included...
, Los Cerritos
Rancho Los Cerritos
Rancho Los Cerritos was a 1834 land grant in present day eastern Los Angeles County and Orange County, California The grant was the result of a partition of the Rancho Los Nietos grant. "Cerritos" means "little hills" in Spanish...
, Los Coyotes
Rancho Los Coyotes
Rancho Los Coyotes was a 1834 Mexican land grant resulting from the partition of the Rancho Los Nietos grant, in present day southeastern Los Angeles County and northwestern Orange County, California...
, and Santa Gertrudes.
Josefa Cota (widow of Antonio Maria Nieto, son of Manuel Nieto) received the Rancho Santa Gertrudes grant. Lemuel Carpenter
Lemuel Carpenter
Lemuel Carpenter, was one of the first Anglo-American settlers of what is now the Los Angeles, California metropolitan area.-Early life:Lemuel Carpenter was born ca. 1808 in Kentucky...
(1808–1859), who had married Maria de Los Angeles Dominguez, a niece of Josefa Cota, bought the rancho in 1843 from Josefa Cota, his aunt by marriage.
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 part of Rancho Santa Gertrudes was filed Lemuel Carpenter 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. Carpenter, who was deeply in debt to John G. Downey
John G. Downey
John Gately Downey was an Irish-American politician and the seventh Governor of California from January 14, 1860 to January 10, 1862. Until the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003, Downey was California's only foreign-born governor...
, killed himself in 1859. In 1859 the rancho was sold at a sheriff's auction to John G. Downey
John G. Downey
John Gately Downey was an Irish-American politician and the seventh Governor of California from January 14, 1860 to January 10, 1862. Until the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003, Downey was California's only foreign-born governor...
and James P. McFarland. 17602 acres (71.2 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 McFarland and Downey in 1870.
A claim for part of Rancho Santa Gertrudes was filed by Thomas Sanchez Colima with the Public Land Commission in 1852, and 3696 acres (15 km²) of the grant was patented to Thomas Sanchez Colima in 1877.
Historic sites of the Rancho
- Hathaway Ranch MuseumHathaway Ranch MuseumThe Hathaway Ranch Museum in Santa Fe Springs, CA is a museum of five generations of Hathaway family and Southern California history. The five-acre facility includes hundreds of artifacts and buildings showing the initial usage of the land in farming and ranching, as well as the major transition...
- Historical Railroad Exhibit
- Ranchos of CaliforniaRanchos of CaliforniaThe 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...
- List of Ranchos of California