Rancho Potrero de San Luis Obispo 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

San Luis Obispo County, California San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a County (United States), county on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 282, ...

given in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado to María Concepción Boronda. Potrero means "pasture" in Spanish. The grant was north of present day San Luis Obispo, and encompassed

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (California Polytechnic State University, Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata, California or California State Polytechnic Univ ...

History

The Boronda family patriarch, Manuel Boronda (1750-1826) accompanied

Junípero Serra Junípero Serra y Ferrer (; ; ca, Juníper Serra i Ferrer; November 24, 1713August 28, 1784) was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size ...

’s second expedition to

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

. By 1790, Boronda was stationed at the

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 o ...

and married Maria Gertrudis Higuera (1776-1851). The three sons of Manuel and Gertrudis Boronda were: José Canuto Boronda (1792-1882); José Eusebio Boronda (1808-1880) grantee of Rancho Rincon de Sanjon; and

José Manuel Boronda José Manuel Boronda (September 5, 1803 – July 24, 1878), was the first ranchero settler in Carmel Valley, California. He and Vicente Blas Martínez were given the Rancho Los Laureles Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, Californ ...

(1803-1878), grantee of

Rancho Los Laureles Rancho Los Laureles was a Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, California given in 1839 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José M. Boronda and Vicente Blas Martínez. Los Laureles refers to the California Bay Laurel tree. The grant e ...

. José Canuto Boronda was a soldier at Monterey and Missions San Antonio, San Miguel and

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 ...

. He married Francisca Castro (1799-1830) and they had nine children. He received the one square league Rancho Potrero de San Luis Obispo land grant in about 1842. His daughter Maria Concepcion Boronda (1820-1906) received the patent in 1870. She married Oliver Deleissegues, a French sea captain, and after his death she married Jose Maria Munoz, an attorney in 1851. 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 San Luis Obispo 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 1853, and the grant was patented to María Concepción Boronda in 1870. Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886
In 1854, Francisco Estevan Quintana (1809–1880) purchased Rancho Potrero de San Luis Obispo from Maria Concepcion "Chona" Boronda Munoz. After visiting

in 1839 and 1841, Quintana bought a ranch near in the vicinity of

Paso Robles Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish for "The Pass of Oaks"), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River approximately north of San Luis Obispo, the city is known for its hot ...

. In 1843 he left with a party from New Mexico with his family and livestock, traveling over the Old Spanish Trail to the San Bernardino Valley, then on to San Luis Obispo in 1844. There he served as

alcalde Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) a ...

of San Luis Obispo in 1845 and 1849. In 1880, Estevan's wife, Maria de Guadalupe Lujan Quintana inherited the ranch house and surrounding farm lands on the Rancho Potrero. Half of the rancho went to the heirs of his deceased daughter Manuela, minor children of her husband Dolores Herrera: sons Francisco, Estevan and Benito Herrera and daughters Dolores and Hellena Herrera.The Biography of Francisco Estevan Quintana (1801--1880) and Maria de Guadalupe Lujan (1809--1884) by Donald Rivara, Copyright January 2, 2009 by Don Rivara
from oldmorrobay.com accessed July 18, 2017

References

{{California history Potrero de San Luis Obispo Potrero de San Luis Obispo California Polytechnic State University

History

See also

References