Rancho Los Coches Explained

Rancho Los Coches was a 2219acres Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Clara County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Roberto Balemino, an Indian.[1] The name means Ranch of the Pigs. The grant was located on the west bank of Los Gatos Creek, south of San Jose, near the present-day Burbank.[2] [3] The historic Roberto Adobe & Suñol House is located within the former rancho.

History

Roberto Balemino held a responsible position at Mission Santa Clara. In 1844 he was granted the half square league Rancho Los Coches and was issued a "Certificate of Emancipation", giving him full citizenship. Antonio Suñol obtained the Rancho Los Coches in 1847 from Roberto as payment on a debt.[4]

Antonio Suñol (1796-1865), born in Spain, was a seaman on a French merchant ship and arrived in the Pueblo of San José in 1818. He married María Dolores Bernal and held several public offices including Postmaster (1826-1829), and Alcalde (mayor) in 1841. He was a grantee of Rancho Valle de San Jose with his three brothers-in-law. Sunol, California is named for him. In 1849, Suñol divided Los Coches into thirds; one-third went to his eldest daughter, Paula and her husband Pierre Sainsevain, grantee of Rancho Cañada del Rincon en el Rio San Lorenzo, and one-third was sold to Henry Morris Naglee.

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 Los Coches was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852,[5] [6] and the grant was patented to Antonio Suñol, Paula Sainsevain, and Henry Morris Naglee in 1857.[7]

Historic sites of the Rancho

External links

37.32°N -121.91°W

Notes and References

  1. Ogden Hoffman, 1862, Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Numa Hubert, San Francisco
  2. http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb1v19n68m/?&brand=oac Diseño del Rancho Los Coches
  3. http://cagenweb.com/santaclara/landgrants.html Early Santa Clara Ranchos, Grants, Patents and Maps
  4. Book: Hoover, Mildred B. . Rensch . Hero . Rensch . Ethel . Abeloe . William N. . Historic Spots in California . 1966 . Stanford University Press . registration . 978-0-8047-4482-9.
  5. http://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/264167 United States. District Court (California : Northern District) Land Case 289 ND
  6. http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/hb109nb422/ Finding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852-1892
  7. http://www.slc.ca.gov/Misc_Pages/Historical/Surveyors_General/reports/Willey_1884_1886.pdf Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886
  8. http://www.preservation.org/events/celebration2007/roberto_adobe_history.html History of the Roberto-Sunol Adobe