Rancho La Purísima Concepción was a

Mexican land grant In Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California, ranchos were concessions and land grants made by the Spanish and Mexican governments from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an indu ...

in present day

Santa Clara County, California Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring Sa ...

given in 1840 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José Gorgonio and his son José Ramon,

Ohlone The Ohlone ( ), formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the l ...

Native Americans. The granted extended from Matadero Creek ( Rancho Corte de Madera) to Adobe Creek and encompassed present day Los Altos Hills.

History

José Gorgonio and his son José Ramon, were Native Americans at the

Mission Santa Clara de Asís Mission Santa Clara de Asís () is a Spanish mission in the city of Santa Clara, California. The mission, which was the eighth in California, was founded on January 12, 1777, by the Franciscans. Named for Saint Clare of Assisi, who founded th ...

. In 1844 Gorgonio sold the one square league Rancho La Purísima Concepción to

Juana Briones de Miranda Juana Briones de Miranda (c. 1802 – 1889) was a Californio ranchera, medical practitioner, and merchant, often remembered as the "Founding Mother of San Francisco", for her noted involvement in the early development of the city of San Francisco ...

(1802-1889), the daughter of Marcos Briones, who came with his father Ygnacio Briones to San Diego in 1769 and Maria Tapia, who came with her parents to San Francisco with the Anza Party. Her brother, Gregorio Briones, was grantee of Rancho Las Baulines. She married Apolinario Miranda, a

Presidio of San Francisco The Presidio of San Francisco (originally, El Presidio Real de San Francisco or The Royal Fortress of Saint Francis) is a park and former U.S. Army post on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, and is part ...

soldier, in 1820, and later gained a legal separation. The name translates literally to "The land of the Immaculate Conception". 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 jurisdicti ...

of California to the United States following the

Mexican-American War Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

, the 1848

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). It was signed on 2 February 1848 in the town of Villa de Guadalupe, Mexico City, Guadalupe Hidalgo. After the defeat of its army and the fall of the cap ...

provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho La Purísima Concepción 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 the California State Lands Commission to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican l ...

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 ...

to Juana Briones de Miranda in 1871. Juana Briones sold about three quarters of her rancho in 1861 to Martin Murphy Jr. (1807-1884) of

Sunnyvale Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the north, ...

, who had come to California with the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy Party in 1844. Biography of Martin Murphy, Jr.
/ref> She gave the remaining of her rancho to her children, who bore their father’s name, Miranda.

Historic site

The registration for the site of

home as a historic resource dates back to November 1, 1954. A commemorative plaque that designates this site as

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

524 plaque commemorating the site of

home on Rancho La Purísima Concepción at 4157 Old Adobe Road, Palo Alto, California. The plaque was placed by the

California State Parks California State Parks is the state park system for the U.S. state of California. The system is administered by the California Department of Parks and Recreation, a department under the California Natural Resources Agency. The California State ...

in cooperation with the Juana Briones Heritage Foundation and the city of Palo Alto, on March 12, 2007. The inscription on the marker reads:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rancho La Purisima Concepcion La Purísima Concepción Los Altos, California La Purísima Concepción