Rancho Saucos was a 22212 acres (89.9 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 Tehama County, California 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 Robert H. Thomes. The name means "Ranch of the Elder trees". The grant extended along the west side of the Sacramento River

Sacramento River

The Sacramento River is an important watercourse of Northern and Central California in the United States. The largest river in California, it rises on the eastern slopes of the Klamath Mountains, and after a journey south of over , empties into Suisun Bay, an arm of the San Francisco Bay, and...

 from Elder Creek and Rancho Las Flores

Rancho Las Flores

Rancho Las Flores was a Mexican land grant in present day Tehama County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to William Chard. The name means "ranch of the flowers"...

 on the north to Thomes Creek on the south, and encompassed present day Tehama

Tehama, California

Tehama is a city in Tehama County, California, United States. The population was 418 at the 2010 census, down from 432 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Tehama is located at ....

.

History

Robert Hasty Thomes (1817–1878), was born in Cumberland County, Maine

Cumberland County, Maine

Cumberland County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of 2010, the population was 281,674. Its county seat is Portland, and is the most populous of the sixteen Maine counties, as well as the most affluent. Cumberland County has the deepest and second largest body of water in the...

 and came to California in 1841 with the Bartleson-Bidwell Party

Bartleson-Bidwell Party

In 1841, the Bartleson–Bidwell Party led by Captain John Bartleson and John Bidwell, became the first American emigrants to attempt a wagon crossing from Missouri to California.-The trail:...

.

Thomes and Albert G. Toomes became partners in a carpentry business in 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...

. They built a house in Monterey for Governor pro tem Manuel Jimeno. Thomes arrived in the Tehama area in the company of Albert G. Toomes (Rancho Rio de los Molinos

Rancho Rio de los Molinos

Rancho Rio de los Molinos was a Mexican land grant in present day Tehama County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Albert Gallatin Toomes. "Rio de los Molinos" means "River of the Mills"...

), William Chard

William Chard

-Life:William George Chard was born in Columbia County, New York in 1812. He came to California via New Mexico with trappers Cyrus Alexander and Lemuel Carpenter, arriving in Los Angeles in 1832. He travelled to Santa Barbara, and Monterey. Chard married Maria Esteven Robles in 1837...

 (Rancho Las Flores

Rancho Las Flores

Rancho Las Flores was a Mexican land grant in present day Tehama County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to William Chard. The name means "ranch of the flowers"...

), and Job Francis Dye (Rancho Primer Cañon o Rio de Los Berrendos

Rancho Primer Cañon o Rio de Los Berrendos

Rancho Primer Cañon o Rio de Los Berrendos was a Mexican land grant in present day Tehama County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Job Francis Dye. Rio de Los Berrendos means River of the Antelopes...

). Thomes five square league grant was directly across the Sacramento River from the five square league Rancho Rio de los Molinos grant of Toomes. In 1850, Thomes mapped out on the land grant what would become the city of Tehama. It was the last stop for the riverboats for a few years, and the first county seat. When the boats started going further up the river, Red Bluff became the center of trade and the county seat.

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 Saucos 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 Robert H. Thomes in 1857.

Thomes died in Tehama March 26,1878, unmarried.