Rancho Cañada de San Miguelito 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 Ventura County, California, given in 1846 by Governor

Pío Pico Don Pío de Jesús Pico (May 5, 1801 – September 11, 1894) was a Californio politician, ranchero, and entrepreneur, famous for serving as the last governor of California (present-day U.S. state of California) under Mexican rule. A member of ...

to Ramón Rodríguez. The name means valley of San Miguelito. The grant extended between the Pacific coast and the west bank of the Ventura River. On the east bank of the Ventura River was

Rancho Cañada Larga o Verde Rancho Cañada Larga o Verde was a Ranchos of California, Mexican land grant in present-day Ventura County, California given in 1841 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Joaquina Alvarado. The grant extended along Sulphur Canyon Creek, east of the Ve ...

and to the south was

Rancho San Miguel Rancho San Miguel is a Neighborhood in Walnut Creek, California. It is named after the Alta California Rancho Rancho Arroyo de Las Nueces y Bolbones which was also referred to as Rancho San Miguel. Until the mid-1950s the area consisted largely o ...

Rancho Ex-Mission San Buenaventura Rancho Ex-Mission San Buenaventura was a Mexican land grant in present-day Ventura County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to José de Arnaz. The grant derives its name from the secularized Mission San Buenaventura, and was called ...

, and present day Ventura.

History

The two square league Rancho Cañada de San Miguelito (which included Cañada del Diablo) was granted to Ramón Rodríguez. Rodríguez married Juana Tico. Rodríguez was killed in 1848 while part of a posse looking for bandits who had been terrorizing ranches in the region. A bandit was mortally wounded by Rodríguez, who was, in turn, killed by a bullet from that bandit's gun. The surviving bandits, Joseph Lynch, Peter Remer and Peter Quin were executed by firing squad in Santa Barbara on December 28, 1848. With the cession 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 provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Cañada de San Miguelito 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 1853, and the grant was patented to Juana Tico de Rodríguez heirs of Ramón Rodríguez in 1871.

Taylor Ranch

Green B. Taylor, born 1819 in Alabama, married Nancy A. Donohoo in Tennessee in 1846. Taylor came to California by sea in 1852, and engaged in farming and stock-raising in northern and southern California. In 1870, he bought Rancho Cañada de San Miguelito, and the property became known as the Taylor Ranch. Taylor ran sheep on the land until his death near the turn of the century.Mason, Jesse D., 1961, Reproduction of Thompson and West's ''History of Santa Barbara & Ventura Counties California'', Howell North Books, Berkeley, California, page 409. On the death in 1911 of Taylor's widow, her will stipulated that her assets be sold and one-third of the proceeds be used to found a university in Ventura County. Taylor’s three surviving children successfully contested their mother’s will and the property reverted to Edward Taylor, Charles Taylor and Alice Taylor Grubb. In 1931, oil was discovered on the ranch, commencing development of the San Miguelito Oil Field. This field became one of the most prolific oil fields in the region. Alice Taylor Grubb was the principal owner until she died at age 81 in 1935."Foundation deeply rooted in area's history"
''Ventura County Star'', January 22, 2011. Accessed February 20, 2015 Her children assumed control around 1936. Son Percy Grubb died soon after, leaving the 30,000-acre Taylor Ranch to daughter Emma Grubb Wood and her rancher/philanthropist husband Adrian "Buddy" Wood.Cynthia Wood
"Refined Rich : Life of Ranch Heiress: Horses, Opera, Theater"
''L.A. Times'', June 30, 1988 . accessed 2.20.2015 When Emma Wood died in 1944 at age 63, Buddy Wood became the sole owner. He donated coastal land in her memory for

Emma Wood State Beach Emma Wood State Beach is a California State Beach in Ventura, California. It is located on the Santa Barbara Channel on the west side of the Ventura River estuary and south of the railroad tracks of the Coast Line and the US Highway 101 freeway ...

. When Buddy Wood died in 1971, the estate was divided between second wife Ailene Barnes Wood and her daughter Cynthia Wood. It is now owned by the Wood-Claeyssens Foundation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canada de San Miguelito California ranchos Ranchos of Ventura County, California