Rancho Boca de Santa Mónica 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

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

given by governor Juan Alvarado in 1839 to

Ysidro Reyes Ysidro Reyes (1813–1863) was a Los Angeles-based business man and grandson of Juan Francisco Reyes, the first ''alcalde'' (mayor) of the Los Angeles pueblo. Life Reyes acquired half of a Mexican Land Grant called the Rancho Boca de Santa Mo ...

and Francisco Marquez.

History

In 1839, Ysidro Reyes (1813–1861) and Francisco Marquez (1798–1850) were granted Rancho Boca de Santa Mónica, comprising what is now Santa Monica Canyon, the Pacific Palisades, and parts of

Topanga Canyon Topanga () (Tongva: ''Topaa'nga'') is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Monica Mountains, the community exists in Topanga Canyon and the surrounding hills. The narrow s ...

. The name means “mouth of Saint Monica” — the nearby

Tongva Sacred Springs The Tongva Sacred Springs are a group of springs located on the campus of University High School in Los Angeles, California. The springs, called Kuruvungna by the native Gabrieleno Tongva people, were used as a source of natural fresh water by ...

reminded Spanish diarist Juan Crespi of Saint Monica, “the weeping saint” and the adjacent area became known as Santa Mónica. Francisco Marquez and his wife, Roque Valenzuela, built an adobe house in the upper mesa of the canyon. Marquez built a blacksmith shop and continued to live and work the rancho until his death in 1850. With the cession of California to the United States following the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

, 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 Boca de Santa Mónica 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. The boundary with Rancho San Vicente y Santa Mónica was disputed, and was not finally resolved of until 1882, when the United States courts patented Rancho Boca de Santa Mónica to Marquez and Reyes at . Historical marker LAHCM 685 Pascual Marquez Family Cemetery

Historical marker LAHCM 685 Pascual Marquez Family Cemetery

Ysidro Reyes and his wife, Maria Antonia Villa, built a house in what is now the Huntington Palisades. Ysidro Reyes died in 1861, leaving his undivided one-half interest in the rancho to his widow Maria Antonia. In 1872, Maria Antonia Reyes sold that interest to Col.

Robert S. Baker Robert Sidney Baker (27 October 1916 – 30 September 2009) was a British film and television producer, who at times was also a cinematographer and director. Born in London and serving as an artillery man in the British Army, he was posted to Nor ...

. In 1874, Baker filed suit to partition the land among himself and the heirs of Francisco Marquez, who jointly held the other one-half interest. In the mid-1920s, the families sold the land to Santa Monica Land & Water Co., owned by Robert Gillis. Descendant Ernest Marquez has documented the Rancho Boca de Santa Mónica since the 1950s.

Pascual Marquez Family Cemetery The Pascual Marquez Family Cemetery, located in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California, is the family burial ground of one of the original grantees of the Rancho Boca de Santa Monica. “This is not only one of the original pioneer settlements ...

is a designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. Map of the Spanish and Mexican ranchos of Los Angeles County

Historic sites of the Rancho

* Marquez Family Cemetery. *Hacienda de Jose Mojica (Hacienda La Finca de la Senoras de Guadelupe) the 1929 house of Mexican opera singer

José Mojica Fray José de Guadalupe Mojica (14 September 1895 – 20 September 1974) was a Mexican Franciscan friar and former tenor and film actor. He was known in the music and film fields as José Mojica. (Spanish) Mojica joined the world of the Americ ...

. * La Señora Research Institute.La Señora Research Institute
/ref>

References

External links

Map of old Spanish and Mexican ranchos in Los Angeles County
* {{Coord , 34.060, -118.520, region:US-CA, display=title Boca de Santa Monica Boca de Santa Monica History of Santa Monica, California History of Los Angeles Santa Monica Mountains

History

Historic sites of the Rancho

See also

References

External links