Rancho Rio de los Putos 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 the western

Sacramento Valley , photo =Sacramento Riverfront.jpg , photo_caption= Sacramento , map_image=Map california central valley.jpg , map_caption= The Central Valley of California , location = California, United States , coordinates = , boundaries = Sierra Nevada (ea ...

, within present-day Solano County and Yolo County, California. It was given in 1842 by Governor

Juan B. Alvarado Juan Bautista Valentín Alvarado y Vallejo (February 14, 1809 – July 13, 1882) was a Californio politician that served as Governor of Alta California from 1837-42. Prior to his term as governor, Alvarado briefly led a movement for independen ...

to William Wolfskill. The grant extended along both banks of Putah Creek (formerly Rio Los Putos) and encompassed present day Winters. On current maps, the four leagues include on the south side of Putah Creek in Solano County, and on the north side of Putah Creek in Yolo County.

History

John Reid Wolfskill John Reid Wolfskill (September 16, 1804 – May 27, 1897) was a California pioneer who helped establish development of California's agricultural industry in the Sacramento Valley in the 19th century. In 1842, Wolfskill was the first settler to pl ...

(1804–1897) was born in Kentucky, and in 1828 followed his eldest brother, William Wolfskill to New Mexico. John spent ten years in New Mexico, then joined his brother William in Southern California in 1838. John wasn't a Mexican citizen and could not receive a land grant. In 1842, Governor Alvarado granted the four square league Rancho Rio de los Putos to William Wolfskill, a Mexican citizen. Brother John set out a short time later with cattle, oxen, a few horses and a satchel of cuttings and seeds to settle on his dream land, and arrived at Putah Creek in mid-July 1842—the first American settler in Solano County. In 1849, William Wolfskill transferred half of Rancho Rio de los Putos to John, and transferred the rest to John in 1854. With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican–American War, 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 Rio de los Putos 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 William Wolfskill in 1858. There was a boundary dispute as the grant overlapped the

Rancho Los Putos Rancho Los Putos also called Rancho Lihuaytos was a Mexican land grant in present-day Solano County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Juan Felipe Peña and Juan Manuel Vaca. The Los Putos name comes from the nearby Puta ...

grant of Peña and Vaca. A survey adjusting the boundaries was made in 1858. 59 US 556 The United States v. Juan Manuel Vaca and Juan Felipe Peña
/ref>

References

{{Yolo County, California Rio de los Putos Rio de los Putos Rio de los Putos Geography of the Sacramento Valley Winters, California 1842 establishments in Alta California

History

See also

References