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33-431: José Reyes Berreyesa (1785–1846) was the son of Nicholas Antonio Berreyesa (1761–1804). José Reyes Berreyesa married Maria Zacarais Bernal (1791–) in 1805. One of their sons was the grantee of Rancho Mallacomes , and three other sons were the grantees of Rancho Canada de Capay . Berreyesa was a teacher at San Francisco in 1823. He retired as sergeant with thirty-seven years' of service to his credit, and

66-695: A bill that was approved by the Senate and the House and became law on March 3, 1851. That for the purpose of ascertaining and settling private land claims in the State of California, a commission shall be, and is hereby, constituted, which shall consist of three commissioners, to be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, which commission shall continue for three years from

99-497: A claim for Rancho El Sur with the Public Land Commission in 1852 but he only received the legal land patent after years of litigation in 1866. While the majority (97%) of these cases were resolved by 1885, a few cases were litigated into the 1940s. Jose Castro filed a claim for Rancho San Jose y Sur Chiquito in 1853. He sold his land before his claim was decided. Before his case was decided, 32 others filed claims with

132-859: The land grants made during the Spanish and Mexican administrations in Alta California . This article established that "All grants of land, made by the Mexican Government... will be respected as valid, to the same extent as they were granted". However, the Congress of the United States eliminated this article on March 10, 1848. As part of the California Land Act of 1851, James Crawford required that official proceedings in California be printed only in English,

165-676: The Bear Flag Revolt , bought two square leagues of the northern portion of the valley from Berryessa in 1853. Knight expanded the adobe hunting lodge built by Berryessa and called his rancho, Muristood. Knight was born in Vermont , and came across the plains from Missouri in 1845, and settled in California. In 1854 he married Serena Haines in Napa Valley, and retired to San Francisco in 1870. Mallacomes Valley would be renamed "Knights Valley" after Thomas Knight. Lovett P. Rockwell (1790 - 1860) who

198-558: The Supreme Court . The confirmation process required lawyers, translators, and surveyors, and took an average of 17 years (including the Civil War , 1861–1865) to resolve. It proved expensive for landholders to defend their titles through the court system. In many cases, they had to sell a portion of their land to pay for defense fees or gave attorneys land in lieu of payment. Land under Spanish and Mexican land titles that were rejected by

231-619: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the admission of California as a state in 1850, established a three-member Public Land Commission to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican land grants . It required landowners who claimed title under the Mexican government to file their claim with a commission within two years. Contrary to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which guaranteed full protection of all property rights for Mexican citizens, it placed

264-704: The United States Supreme Court whereupon it was finally decided in 1862 that, the mine was on Rancho Los Capitancillos, and that the furnaces and improvements of the company below the hill were on Rancho San Vicente. The company bought into these two titles and then sold the entire operation in 1864 to the Quicksilver Mining Company . 37°11′24″N 121°48′36″W  /  37.190°N 121.810°W  / 37.190; -121.810 Rancho Mallacomes Rancho Mallacomes (also called Moristul and Mallacomes y Plano de Agua Caliente )

297-613: The 1820s or 1830s and lay wholly in what is now Baja California as was the Rancho San Antonio Abad , whose origin and title is more obscure. Their titles were never subjected to dispute in U.S. courts. Juana Briones, whose early life started with her selling milk in Yerba Buena (today San Francisco), became the owner of Rancho La Purísima Concepción in Santa Clara County. The rancho had been part of Mission Santa Clara and

330-628: The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852, and the grant was patented to Berreyesa's widow Maria Zacarias Berreyesa in 1868. The New Almaden Quicksilver Mines were discovered in 1845, and mining operations began in 1847, just in time for the California Gold Rush . José Reyes Berreyessa laid claim to

363-516: The Land Commission in 1852, and 8,329 acres (33.7 km ) was patented in 1873. Calvin Holmes and his wife Elvira purchased much of Knights Valley in 1861. Real estate barons F.E. Kellogg and W.A. Stuart began building a small resort town modeled after Calistoga, called Kellogg. The town, which can still be found on present day maps, never developed into the vision held by Kellogg and it eventually

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396-464: 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 Mallacomes was filed by José de los Santos Berreyesa with the Public Land Commission in 1852, and 12,540 acres (50.7 km ) patented in 1873. Thomas P. Knight (1820 - 1903), a participant in

429-451: The board finally adjourned sine die . American officials acquired the provincial land records of the Spanish and Mexican governments in the capital at Monterey. The new state's leaders soon discovered that the Mexican government had given a number of grants to Californios just before the Americans gained control. The Mexican governors had rewarded faithful supporters and hoped to prevent

462-430: The burden on landholders to prove their title. While the commission eventually confirmed 604 of the 813 claims, almost all of the claims went to court and resulted in protracted litigation. The expense of the long court battles required many land holders to sell portions of the property or even trade it in payment for legal services. A few cases were litigated into the 1940s. California Senator William M. Gwin presented

495-450: The commission. Unless grantees presented evidence supporting their title within two years, the property would automatically pass into the public domain . This requirement was contrary to Article Eight of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , under which the United States agreed to respect the hundreds of land grants, many quite substantial, granted by the Spanish and Mexican governments to private landowners. Articles Nine and Ten guaranteed

528-416: The court that they owned a portion of his rancho. His successors litigated the claim for years. In 1882, Castro's original claim was finally validated by the court, and President Grover Cleveland signed the land patent on May 4, 1888, 35 years after Castro's initial filing. Article X of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, drafted by Bernardo Couto, Miguel Aristáin, and Luis Cuevas , was intended to protect

561-421: The courts entered the public domain. This resulted in conflicting claims by the grantees, squatters, and settlers seeking the same land. Congress was pressured to change the law. Under the earlier Preemption Act of 1841 , squatters were able to pre-empt others' claims to land and acquire clear title by paying $ 1.25 an acre for up to a maximum of 160 acres (0.65 km ). After the federal Homestead Act of 1862

594-415: The date of this act, unless sooner discontinued by the President of the United States. The Act established a three-member Board of Land Commissioners, to be appointed by the President for a three-year term (the period was twice extended by Congress, resulting in a five-year total term of service). The Act required all holders of Spanish and Mexican land grants to present their titles for confirmation before

627-525: The first “English only” rule in the US that lasted until 1966. This is a state that had almost no English speakers until the 1848 Gold Rush. "Legal battles have continued into the 21st century over the ownership of the land grants" and many people claim their land was unfairly seized as a direct consequence of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which itself was the outcome of the Mexican-American war. One of

660-448: The gold rush been of little value and boundary locations were often quite vague, referring to an oak tree, a cow skull on a pile of rocks, a creek, and in some cases a mountain range. Even in cases where the boundaries were more specific, many markers had been destroyed before accurate surveys could be made. While the Land Commission confirmed 604 of the 813 claims it reviewed, most decisions were appealed to US District Court and some to

693-412: The mine on the basis that it lay on Rancho San Vicente. However, Justo Larios of Rancho Los Capitancillos also claimed ownership, and the United States government even stepped in to claim that the mine lay on public land. A complex legal case described by The New York Times as "one of the most remarkable civil trials in this or any other country", United States v. Andres Castillero eventually reached

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726-479: The more significant sets of claims was filed on February 19, 1853, on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church by Archbishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany , wherein he sought the return of all former mission lands in the State. Ownership of 1,051 acres (4.25 km ) (for all practical intents being the exact area of land occupied by the original mission buildings, cemeteries, and gardens) was subsequently conveyed to

759-515: The property rights of Mexican nationals. The land commission opened its sessions at San Francisco on January 2, 1852. It then consisted, by appointment of President Millard Fillmore , of Hiland Hall , Harry I. Thornton , and James Wilson as commissioners. In 1853 President Franklin Pierce changed the board by the appointment of Alpheus Felch , Thompson Campbell and R. Augustus Thompson as commissioners. Their commissions would, in accordance with

792-463: The recent American arrivals from gaining control of the land. The commission required grantees to prove the validity of the grants they had received, including whether the grantee had fulfilled the requirements of the Mexican colonization laws. This included establishing a home in the land within one year. Grantees also had to establish their grant's exact boundaries. The early diseños or maps available were often little more than sketches. Land had until

825-512: The sliver of Alta California that Mexico retained under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which became part of Baja California . Rancho Tía Juana lost the title to its land in San Diego County but the balance of the rancho in Mexico was confirmed by the Mexican government in the 1880s. Rancho El Rosario , Rancho Cueros de Venado and Rancho Tecate were each granted to citizens of San Diego in

858-454: The terms of the act, have expired in March, 1854; but previous to that time the operation of its provisions as to their power to act was extended for one year longer and afterward for another year. In 1854 Peter Lott was appointed commissioner in place of Campbell; and in 1855 S. B. Farwell was appointed commissioner in place of Lott. On March 3, 1856, five years after the passage of the original act,

891-464: The warms springs near Calistoga. José Santos Berreyesa (1817 – 1864) was the son of José de los Reyes Berreyesa (1785 - 1846), the grantee of Rancho San Vicente . José Santos Berreyesa was a soldier at the Presidio of Sonoma from 1840 - 1842, and alcalde in 1846. He was jailed with two of his brothers by John C. Frémont in 1846 during the Bear Flag Revolt . With the cession of California to

924-645: Was a 17,742-acre (71.80 km ) Mexican land grant in present-day Napa County and Sonoma County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to José de los Santos Berreyesa . The grant was located in the Napa Valley , just north of present-day Calistoga and consisted of Mallacomes or Moristul and Plano de Agua Caliente. Mallacomes comes from mountain chain Serro de los Mallacomes ( Mount Saint Helena ) and included most of Knights Valley (previously known as Mallacomes Valley). Agua Caliente refers to

957-481: Was born in Connecticut , came to Sumner, Illinois in 1832. His health started to fail and he decided to go west in 1850, to look for gold. He bought part of the rancho from Knight but returned to Illinois in 1853. He was taken sick on the return home. In 1857, Rockwell returned to California, but came back in 1858 in no better health and died in 1860. A claim was filed by Lovett P. Rockwell and Thomas P. Knight with

990-490: Was destroyed through a series of fires. Martin E. Cook, who represented the 11th state senatorial district , and Quartmaster General Rufus Ingalls , filed a claim with the Public Land Commission in 1853 and 4 square miles (10 km ) was patented in 1873. 38°37′48″N 122°39′36″W  /  38.630°N 122.660°W  / 38.630; -122.660 Public Land Commission The California Land Act of 1851 (9  Stat.   631 ), enacted following

1023-464: Was granted the one square league Rancho San Vicente by Governor Alvarado in 1842. José Reyes Berreyesa was killed by John C. Frémont 's men on June 28, 1846, as he landed from a boat at San Rafael on his way to Sonoma to visit his son Jose de los Santos Berreyesa, the Alcalde of Sonoma, who was being held prisoner. With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War ,

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1056-443: Was granted to Gorgonio, a well-respected Indian of that mission. Juana was a friend of Gorgonio and his family bought the 4,400-acre rancho from Gorgonio in 1844. The rancho took in what is today Sunnyvale and Los Altos. Later, she was one of the founding members of Mayfield (today's Palo Alto), where she lived until she died in 1889. The Commission eventually confirmed 604 of the 813 claims received. John Bautista Rogers Cooper filed

1089-401: Was passed, anyone could claim up to 160 acres (0.65 km ) of public land. This resulted in additional pressure on Congress, and beginning with Rancho Suscol in 1863, it passed special acts that allowed certain claimants to pre-empt their land without regard to acreage. By 1866 this privilege was extended to all owners of rejected claims. A number of ranchos remained in whole or part in

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