Rancho Tequepis was a 8919acres Mexican land grant in the upper Santa Ynez Valley of present-day Santa Barbara County, California. The grant extended along both sides of the Santa Ynez River at the mouth of Cachuma Creek east of present-day Santa Ynez and north/below San Marco Pass. Much of the grant is now under the waters of Lake Cachuma which was formed in 1953.[1] [2]
It was given in 1845 by Governor Pio Pico to Joaquin Villa.[3]
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 Tequepis was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852,[4] [5] and the grant was patented to Joaquin Villa's son, Antonio Maria Villa (1829 - 1899) in 1869.[6]
William Pierce acquired Rancho Tequepis from Villa’s heirs in 1868. Pierce also owned the adjoining Rancho San Marcos and Rancho Nojoqui.