Rancho Potrero de los Cerritos 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 Alameda 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 Augustin Alviso and Tomás Pacheco. The name means "pasture of the little hills" and included the

Coyote Hills Coyote Hills may refer to: * Coyote Hills (Alameda County), California, USA ** Coyote Hills Regional Park * Coyote Hills, Orange County, California, consists of: ** East Coyote Hills, Orange County, California, USA ** West Coyote Hills, Orange C ...

. The three square league grant, part of former

Mission San José Mission San José may refer to: *Mission San José (California), a Spanish mission in Fremont, California * Mission San Jose, Fremont, California, a neighborhood *Mission San Jose High School, a high school in Fremont, California *Mission San José ...

lands, encompassed present day Alvarado.

History

Augustin Alviso (1809–1880), son of Josè Ygnacio Alviso, married Maria Josefa Antonia Pacheco (1812–1870) in 1830. Maria Pacheco was the daughter of Bartolome Pacheco, grantee of Rancho San Ramon. Her sister, Maria Antonia de Jesus Pacheco (1796–1852) married in 1816 Augustin Alviso's brother, Josef Antonio Alviso (1796–1880). Augustin Alviso was mayor domo of Mission San José in 1840. In 1853, Augustin Alviso bought Rancho Santa Rita. Tomás Pacheco was a soldier of the San Francisco Company from 1826 to 1832, and later held various offices in the Pueblo of San José from 1834 to 1843. 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 provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Potrero de los Cerritos 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 Tomás Pacheco and Agustín Alviso in 1886. Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886
After the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

, the rancho lands were sold to American ranchers, such as George Patterson, John M. Horner, and Henry C. Smith (who laid out the town of New Haven).

References

External links

Diseño del Rancho Potrero de los Cerritos
at

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

otro Diseño del Rancho Potrero de los Cerritos
at

{{California history Potrero de los Cerritos Potrero Fremont, California Potrero