Rancho Pastoria de las Borregas

Rancho Pastoría de las Borregas was a 9,066-acre (36.69 km2) Mexican land grant in present day Santa Clara County, California, United States, given in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Francisco Estrada.[1] The name means "Ranch of the Ewe/Lamb Pasture" in Spanish. The rancho lands encompassed the present day cities of Sunnyvale and Mountain View.[2][3][4][5]

History

Francisco M. Estrada received the land grant in 1842. Estrada's wife Inez Castro Estrada died in 1844 and Estrada died in 1845. His father, Jose Mariano Estrada, inherited the land and transferred it to Inez Castro Estrada's father, Mariano Castro (1784–1857). He was born in San Francisco and served in the Spanish army. He was made Alcalde of the San Jose Pueblo.[6]

In 1849, Mariano Castro sold half the rancho to Martin Murphy, Jr.,[7] (1807–1884), the son of Martin Murphy Sr., who brought his family to California with the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party in 1844.[8][9]

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 Pastoría de las Borregas was filed by Mariano Castro with the Public Land Commission in 1852,[10] and the grant was patented for 4,172 acres (16.9 km2)in 1881.[11]

A claim was filed by Murphy, Jr. with the Land Commission in 1852,[12][2][13] and the grant was patented for 4,894 acres (19.8 km2) in 1865.[14]

Murphy, Jr. died in 1884, and his wife, Mary Bolger Murphy, died in 1892. Their rancho was divided among their children and grandchildren; each received 820 acres (3.3 km2).[15]

Historic sites of the Rancho

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. "[Diseño del Rancho del Refugio o Pastoría de las Borregas : Santa Clara Co., Calif.]". Calisphere. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  3. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Rancho Pastoría de las Borregas
  4. Early Santa Clara Ranchos, Grants, Patents and Maps
  5. Gates, Mary J (1895). Rancho Pastoría de las Borregas. Mountain View, California. Cottle & Murgotten.
  6. Hoover, Mildred B.; Rensch, Hero; Rensch, Ethel; Abeloe, William N. (1966). Historic Spots in California. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4482-9.
  7. "Sunnyvale History" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2010.
  8. Feroben, Carolyn; Sedler, Kathy. "Martin Murphy Sr and Son Martin Jr. BIOGRAPHIES- 1888". www.mariposaresearch.net. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  9. "Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum – The Murphy Family Story". www.heritageparkmuseum.org. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  10. United States. District Court (California : Northern District) Land Case 97 ND
  11. Report of the Surveyor General 1844–1886 Archived 2013-03-20 at the Wayback Machine
  12. "Finding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852–1892". content.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  13. "Map of land bought by Martin Murphy Jr. Esq., of Don Mariano Castro, being part of the Rancho del Refugio : [Rancho Pastoría de las Borregas, Santa Clara Co., Calif.] / Surveyed by Wm. J. Lewis, Co. Surveyor ; drawn by S. Day". Calisphere. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  14. Report of the Surveyor General 1844–1886 Archived 2013-03-20 at the Wayback Machine
  15. Santa Clara Historic Resource Inventory

Bibliography

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.