Rancho Huasna 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 1843 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 Isaac J. Sparks. The grant extended along the
Huasna River and the western slope of the
Santa Lucia Range, east of present-day
Arroyo Grande and encompassing
Huasna.
History
Isaac Sparks (1804–1867) was born in
Maine. He arrived in
Los Angeles in 1832, and by 1848 had established a large otter trapping and merchant business in
Santa Barbara. In 1836, he married Maria De Los Remedios Josefa Eayrs (1813–1893), daughter of sea captain George Washington Eayrs (1775–1855). They had three surviving daughters: Manuela Flora Sparks (1846–1933) who married Irish sea captain Marcus Harloe (1833–1908) in 1866; Maria Rosa Sparks (1851–1933) who married Arza Porter (1838 –1899) in 1870; and Norberta Sallie Sparks (1854–1930) who married Frederick K. Harkness (1852–1905) in 1874.
Sparks was granted the five-square-league Rancho Huasna in 1843 and bought
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 ...
from José Ortega in 1846. He never lived at Rancho Huasna, preferring instead to be closer to his business holdings in Santa Barbara. Rancho Huasna was managed by the Englishman John Price, who later acquired Rancho Pismo from Sparks.
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 Huasna 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 to Isaac J. Sparks in 1879.
On Sparks' death in 1867, Rancho Huasna was divided among his three daughters: Manuela Flora Sparks de Harloe, Maria Rosa Sparks de Porter, and Norberta Sallie Sparks de Harkness.
Huasna
/ref>
See also
*Ranchos of California
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 ...
* List of Ranchos of California
References
{{California history
Huasna
Huasna