Rancho Las Ánimas (also called Las Ánimas o La Poza de Carnedero or La Brea) was a Spanish land concession in present-day

Santa Clara County 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 1803 by Viceroy

Félix Berenguer de Marquina Félix Ignacio Juan Nicolás Antonio José Joaquín Buenaventura Berenguer de Marquina y FitzGerald, KOS (November 20, 1733 – October 30, 1826) was a Spanish naval officer, colonial official and, from April 30, 1800 to January 4, 1803, v ...

to José Mariano Castro. The rancho was regranted in 1835 to Castro's widow Josefa Romero de Castro by Mexican Governor

José Figueroa José Figueroa (1792 – 29 September 1835), was a General and the Mexican Governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835. He wrote the first book to be published in California. Background and governorship Figueroa was a Mestizo of Spanish a ...

. The present-day city of Gilroy is within the grant.

History

In 1803, Feliz Beranceur, then Viceroy and Governor of New Spain, made a conditional grant of the Las Ánimas Ranch to José Mariano Castro (1765–1828). Castro, the son of Joaquin Ysidro de Castro and Maria Marina Botiller, was a soldier in the Monterey garrison. Mariano Castro died in 1828, leaving a widow, Josefa Romero de Castro, and eight children. The property descended to his heirs in the following proportions: To the widow, one-half, and to the children each one-sixteenth. Governor Figueroa confirmed the grant to Josefa Romero de Castro in 1835. In 1835, Josefa Romero de Castro and four of the children sold their interest in the rancho to Jose Maria Sanchez (1804 - 1852), thus giving Sanchez a title to three-fourths of the property. The remaining fourth continuing to be the property of the other four Castro children. Sanchez was also the owner of

Rancho Llano de Tesquisquita Rancho Llano de Tesquisquita was a Mexican land grant in present-day San Benito County and Santa Clara County, California given in 1835 by Governor José Castro to José María Sanchez. The name means "flats of Tesquisquita". The grant extended ...

and Rancho Lomerias Muertas. 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, José Maria Sanchez filed his petition for Rancho Las Ánimas 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. Shortly after, Sanchez drowned in the Pajaro River on Christmas Eve, 1852 leaving his widow, Maria Encarnacion Ortega Sanchez, and five children (sisters: Vicenta; Refugia; Candelaria; Guadalupe and one brother, José Gregorio). In 1873, a

patent 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 ...

for was issued to the heirs of Jose Maria Sanchez. Josefa Castro sold her one sixteenth interest to Martin Murphy, who sold it Johanna Fitzgerald. Vicente Castro sold his sixteenth interest to

Alexis Godey Alexis Godey also called Alec Godey and Alejandro Godey, born Alexander Godey, was a trapper, scout, and mountain man. He was an associate of Jim Bridger and was lead scout for John C. Frémont. Biography Godey was born in 1818 in St. ...

, who sold it to Thomas Rea. Encarnacion Castro and Maria Lugardo Castro sold their sixteenth interests to

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...

. When the land commission issued its patent in 1871, Johanna Fitzgerald, Thomas Rea and Henry Miller owned over 80% of the rancho.

References

{{California history Animas, Las Las Animas Las Animas Las Animas