| Rancho La Tajauta | |
| State: | California |
| Country: | United States |
| Coordinates: | 33.9294°N -118.2425°W |
| Established: | 1843 |
| Owner: | Anastasio Avila |
| Area: | 3560acres |
| Status: | Limited public access |
Rancho Tajauta was a 3560acres Mexican land grant in present-day Los Angeles County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Anastasio Avila.[1] The grant was named for the Gabrielino/Tongva place name of Tajáuta. The grant encompassed present-day Willowbrook and Watts.[2]
Anastasio Avila, one of the sons of Cornelio Avila, was alcalde of Los Angeles in 1819 - 1821, and granted one square league in 1843.
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 Rancho La Tajauta was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852,[3] [4] and the grant was patented to Anastasio's son Enrique Avila in 1873.[5] Rancho Tajauta was surveyed in 1858 by Henry Hancock, deputy United States surveyor, and the survey approved in 1860.[6]
The legacy of Rancho Tajauta survives in the name Tajauta Avenue in the Compton/Carson area.