Rancho San Benito Explained

Rancho San Benito was a 6671acres Mexican land grant in the Salinas Valley, in present day Monterey County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Francisco Garcia.^[1] The grant extended along the Salinas River south of Rancho San Bernardo. Present day San Lucas is within the boundaries of the grant.^[2]

History

Francisco Garcia received one and half square leagues, and built an adobe house.^[3]

James Watson (1800-1863), born in Scotland, arrived by ship from the Sandwich Islands in Santa Barbara in 1824, and went to Monterey. He established a hide and tallow business, and married Mariana Escamilla (1805-1871) in 1830. In 1850, Garcia sold Rancho San Benito to James Watson.^[4] 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 San Benito was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1853,^{[5] [6]} and the grant was patented to James Watson in 1869.^[7]

Watson sold Rancho San Benito to Alberto Trescony of the adjacent Rancho San Lucas in 1885.^[8]

See also

• Ranchos of California
• List of Ranchos of California

References

36.16°N -121.03°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/hb45800530/?&brand=oac Diseño del Rancho San Benito
3. 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.
4. A Memorial and biographical history of the coast counties of central California, Lewis Publishing Co. 1893
5. http://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/265818 United States. District Court (California : Southern District) Land Case 68 SD
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. Galvin Preservation Associates. Andrea Galvin. Jennifer Krintz. Nicole Collum. Monterey County Parks Reconnaissance Survey of Agricultural Resources In The South County Planning Area 2008-2009 Certified Local Government Grant. Redondo Beach, California. October 2009.