Rancho Santa Ysabel was a

Mexican land grant The Spanish and Mexican governments made many concessions and land grants in Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish Concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an inducement for ...

in present-day

San Luis Obispo County, California San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a County (United States), county on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 282, ...

given in 1844 by Governor

Manuel Micheltorena Joseph Manuel María Joaquin Micheltorena y Llano (8 June 1804 – 7 September 1853) was a brigadier general of the Mexican Army, adjutant-general of the same, governor, commandant-general and inspector of the department of Las Californias, then ...

to Francisco Arce. The grant was southeast of present-day

Paso Robles Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish for "The Pass of Oaks"), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River approximately north of San Luis Obispo, the city is known for its hot ...

, between the Salinas River on the west and Huerhuero Creek on the east.

History

Francisco Casimiro Arce (1821–1878) came as a boy to

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under both ...

in 1833. He was a Mexican cavalry officer, and secretary to General

José Castro José Antonio Castro (1808 – February 1860) was a Californio politician, statesman, and general who served as interim Governor of Alta California and later Governor of Baja California. During the Bear Flag Revolt and the American Conquest of ...

. He was granted the four square league, former

Mission San Miguel Arcángel Mission San Miguel Arcángel is a Spanish mission in San Miguel, California. It was established on July 25, 1797 by the Franciscan order, on a site chosen specifically due to the large number of Salinan Indians that inhabited the area, whom the ...

lands, Rancho Santa Ysabel in 1844. In 1846, a small group of resident Americans captured, from Lieutenant Arce, a band of horses being taken to General Castro. The taking of these horses was the first stroke of an insurgency which came to be called the

Bear Flag Revolt The California Republic ( es, La República de California), or Bear Flag Republic, was an unrecognized breakaway state from Mexico, that for 25 days in 1846 militarily controlled an area north of San Francisco, in and around what is now Son ...

. Arce left California with José Castro in 1846. With the

cession The act of cession is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty. Ballentine's Law Dictionary defines cession as "a surrender; a giving up; a relinquishment of jurisdictio ...

of California to the United States following the

Mexican-American War Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexicans, Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% ...

, the 1848

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...

provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Santa Ysabel was filed with the

Public Land Commission The California Land Act of 1851 (), enacted following 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 la ...

in 1852, and the grant was

patented A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

to Francisco Arce in 1866. Arce sold parts of the rancho to Jeremiah Clark in 1853, to Manual Castro in 1855, to Theodoro Gonzales in 1859, and to Maurice Dore 1874. Francisco Arce died in 1878. Chauncey Hatch Phillips bought Rancho Santa Ysabel in 1886, and subdivided it to be sold as farm lots to individuals ready to settle in the area being opened up by the arrival of the railroad.

Chauncey Hatch Phillips

Chauncey Hatch Phillips (1837–1902) was a

San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...

real estate developer who acquired, subdivided and sold a number of Mexican land grants. Phillips was born in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and in 1862 married Jane Woods in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. In 1864, leaving his wife and child behind, Phillips came to Napa as a teacher. He entered a law office and studied law. From 1865 to 1870, he worked for the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

. In 1871 he moved to San Luis Obispo, and opened a bank. In 1875, he purchased

Rancho Moro y Cayucos Rancho Moro y Cayucos was a Mexican land grant in present-day San Luis Obispo County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Martin Olivera and Vicente Feliz (Felis). The grant extended along the Pacific Coast from just north ...

, and laid out the town of

Cayucos Cayucos (Spanish for "Canoe") is an unincorporated coastal town in San Luis Obispo County, California, along California State Route 1 between Cambria to the north and Morro Bay to the south. The population was 2,505 at the 2020 census, down fro ...

. In 1878, he retired from the bank, to devote his time to real estate ventures. In 1882, he made arrangements with Steele Brothers to sell their lands on the Rancho Corral de Piedra, Rancho Bolsa de Chamisal, Rancho Arroyo Grande, and

Rancho Pismo Rancho Pismo was a Mexican land grant in present day San Luis Obispo County, California, given in 1840 by acting governor Manuel Jimeno Casarin to José Ortega (probably a descendant or other relative of José Francisco Ortega). The grant extend ...

. In 1883 Phillips bought and sold

Rancho San Miguelito Rancho San Miguelito was a Mexican land grant in present-day San Luis Obispo County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Miguel Ávila, and an addition granted in 1846 by Governor Pio Pico. The grant extended along the Pacific ...

. In 1886, Phillips founded the West Coast Land Company.Yda Addis Storke, 1891,''Memorial and Biographical History of the Counties of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura, California'', The Lewis Publishing Company

References

{{California history Santa Ysabel (Arce) Paso Robles, California 1844 establishments in Alta California Santa Ysabel (Arce)

History

Chauncey Hatch Phillips

See also

References