Rancho Los Vergeles 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

Monterey County Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas. Montere ...

and San Benito County, California given in 1835 by Governor José Castro to José Joaquín Gómez. The name means " flower garden".

Rancho La Natividad Rancho La Natividad was a Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Manuel Butrón and his son-in-law, Nicolás Alviso. Rancho La Natividad and Rancho Los Vergeles were adjoining ...

and Rancho Los Vergeles were adjoining ranchos, north of present-day Salinas. The rancho headquarters of each were close to the entrance to the pass through the

Gabilan Range The Gabilan Range or Gabilán Range (Spanish for "sparrow hawk") are a mountain range in the inner California Coast Ranges System, located in Monterey County and San Benito County of central California. Pinnacles National Park is located in the so ...

San Juan Bautista San Juan Bautista is the Spanish-language name of Saint John the Baptist. It may refer to: Places Bolivia *San Juan Bautista, Bolivia, Jesuit mission ruins near the village of San Juan de Taperas Chile *San Juan Bautista, Chile, Juan Fernández ...

History

José Joaquín Gómez came to California from Mexico in 1830. He was regidor at Monterey in 1834–1835. In 1835 he was commissioned to secularize Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo, and was the grantee of the two square league Rancho Los Vergeles. José Eusebio Boronda, grantee of Rancho Rincon de Sanjon, served as Mayordomo. It was at Gómez rancho in 1846, that American consul,

Thomas O. Larkin Thomas Oliver Larkin (September 16, 1802 – October 27, 1858), known in Spanish as Don Tomás Larkin, was an American diplomat and businessman. Larkin served as the only U.S. consul to Alta California during the Mexican era and was covertly in ...

, was taken prisoner by the Californios during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

. To clear debts, Gómez sold Rancho Los Vergeles to James Stokes in 1848. James (Santiago) Stokes (–1864), an English seaman, came to California in 1840. He was a doctor, druggist, and mayor of Monterey. In 1844, he married the widow, Maria Josefa Soto De Cano (1810–1855), who was the grantee of Rancho Capay. The Stokes lived in Monterey. With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican–American War, 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 Vergeles 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 James Stokes in 1875. Maria Josefa Soto de Stokes died in Monterey in 1855 leaving as her heirs, her husband and children. In 1858, James Stokes married Arabella Clark (1838–), and gave her title to Rancho Los Vergeles. It was a disastrous second marriage, and Stokes killed himself in 1864. In his will, Stokes appointed Frederick Sherwood, who had married his daughter Catherine, and George H. Winterburn, who had married his daughter Josephine, executors of his estate. The executors took possession of Rancho Los Vergeles, and ousted the widow Arabella.''Miles Hills v. Frederick Sherwood'', 1874, Reports of cases determined in the Supreme Court of the State of California, Volume 48, pp.386-394, Bancroft-Whitney Company

References

{{California history Vergeles, Los Los Vergeles Los Vergeles

History

See also

References