Rancho Los Ulpinos 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 Solano County, California given in 1844 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 John Bidwell. The grant was located on the west bank of the

Sacramento River The Sacramento River ( es, Río Sacramento) is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–S ...

at the junction with Cache Slough, and encompassed the

Montezuma Hills The Montezuma Hills comprise a small range of low-elevation hills at the northern banks of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and southwestern Sacramento Valley in California in the United States. Geography The Montezuma Hills are located in ...

and present-day Rio Vista.

History

John Bidwell (1819–1900) was born in

Chautauqua County, New York Chautauqua County is the westernmost County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the population was 127,657. Its county seat is Mayville, New York, Mayville, an ...

, and led the Bartleson-Bidwell Party to California in 1841. John Sutter employed Bidwell as his business manager shortly after Bidwell's arrival in California. Bidwell obtained the four square league Rancho Los Ulpinos Mexican land grant in 1844. Bidwell obtained the two square league Rancho Colus in 1845. Bidwell built an adobe house in the vicinity of present-day Rio Vista, and attempted to cultivate the land. Bidwell's efforts at agriculture, as well as those of subsequent settlers on the ranch, were unsuccessful. 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 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 Los Ulpinos 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 John Bidwell in 1866. A separate claim filed by Juan M. Luco was rejected due to fraud. Rancho Los Ulpinos was subdivided into 20 equal parcels and sold on the

Benicia Benicia ( , ) is a waterside city in Solano County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the capital of California for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at the ...

courthouse steps in 1855.Munro-Fraser, J. P, 1879, ''History of Solano County'',San Francisco, Cal., East Oakland, Wood, Alley & co. Among those who purchased lots was Colonel N.H. Davis, who founded Rio Vista in 1857. Jospeph Bruning (1822–), a German, came to the mines on Yuba River in 1850. He then went to San Francisco and engaged in the hotel business until 1858, when he settled on the Los Ulpinos grant.

References

{{California history Ulpinos, Los Los Ulpinos

History

See also

References