Rancho La Laguna 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

Santa Barbara County, California Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara ( es, Condado de Santa Bárbara, link=), is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city ...

given in 1845 by Governor

Pio Pico Pio may refer to: Places * Pio Lake, Italy * Pio Island, Solomon Islands * Pio Point, Bird Island, south Atlantic Ocean People * Pio (given name) * Pio (surname) * Pio (footballer, born 1986), Brazilian footballer * Pio (footballer, born 1988), B ...

to Octaviano Gutierrez. The name means "the Lake". The grant extended along the

Santa Ynez Valley The Santa Ynez Valley is located in Santa Barbara County, California, between the Santa Ynez Mountains to the south and the San Rafael Mountains to the north. The Santa Ynez River flows through the valley from east to west. The Santa Ynez Valle ...

east of present-day Los Alamos.

History

Octaviano Gutierrez (1794 -1866) born in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, was a soldier at the

Presidio of Santa Barbara A presidio ( en, jail, fortification) was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire around between 16th century, 16th and 18th century, 18th centuries in areas in condition of their control or influence. The presidios of Captaincy Genera ...

. In 1827 he married Maria Caledonia Ruiz (1810 - 1893). When he retired as artillery sergeant of the Mexican army, he was granted the eleven square league Rancho La Laguna. 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 La Laguna 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 Octaviano Gutierrez in 1867. Gutierrez sold a large portion of the rancho to Dr. Samuel B. Brinkerhoff in 1865. Samuel Brinkerhoff (1824-1883) was born in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and came to Santa Barbara in 1852 as the resident physician. History of Rancho La Laguna
/ref> In 1876,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

financier Thomas Bell along with his son John S. Bell, and James B. Shaw, purchased acreage from Rancho La Laguna and the neighboring

Rancho Los Alamos Rancho Los Álamos was a Ranchos of California, Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Barbara County, California given in 1839 by Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado, Juan Alvarado to José Antonio de la Guerra, a son of José de la Guerra y Nor ...

. Both families allocated a half square mile from each of their new ranches to create the Los Alamos town site with "Centennial Street" as the central thoroughfare.

References

External links

Ranchos of Santa Barbara County Map
{{California history Laguna (Gutierrez), La Laguna (Gutierrez), La

History

See also

References

External links