Rancho San Vicente 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 fo ...

in present day Santa Clara County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado to

José de los Reyes Berreyesa José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

. The grant was located west of the

Santa Teresa Hills The Santa Teresa Hills are a range of mountains in Santa Clara County, California, located primarily in the city of San Jose. They separate the San Jose neighborhoods of Almaden Valley to the west and Santa Teresa to the east. Geography The ra ...

at the south end of Almaden Valley. The grant was bounded on the north by

Rancho Los Capitancillos Rancho Los Capitancillos was a Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Clara County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Justo Larios. Los Capitancillos means the Little Captains in Spanish. The grant was south of present ...

History

José Reyes Berreyesa (1785–1846) was the son of Nicholas Antonio Berreyesa (1761–1804). José Reyes Berreyesa married Maria Zacarais Bernal (1791–) in 1805. One of their sons was the grantee of

Rancho Mallacomes Rancho Mallacomes (also called Moristul and Mallacomes y Plano de Agua Caliente) was a Mexican land grant in present-day Napa County and Sonoma County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to José de los Santos Berreyesa. T ...

, and three other sons were the grantees of

Rancho Canada de Capay Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad *Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California **List of California Ranchos *Ranchos, Buenos Ai ...

. Berreyesa was a teacher at San Francisco in 1823. He retired as sergeant with thirty-seven years' of service to his credit, and was granted the one square league Rancho San Vicente by Governor Alvarado in 1842. José Reyes Berreyesa was killed by John C. Frémont's men on June 28, 1846 as he landed from a boat at San Rafael on his way to Sonoma to visit his son Jose de los Santos Berreyesa, the

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 Sonoma, who was being held prisoner. 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 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 Berreyesa's widow Maria Zacarias Berreyesa in 1868. The New Almaden Quicksilver Mines were discovered in 1845, and mining operations began in 1847, just in time for 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 ...

. José Reyes Berreyessa laid claim to the mine on the basis that it lay on Rancho San Vicente. However, Justo Larios of Rancho Los Capitancillos also claimed ownership, and the United States government even stepped in to claim that the mine lay on public land. A complex legal case described by '' The New York Times'' as "one of the most remarkable civil trials in this or any other country", '' United States v. Andres Castillero'' eventually reached the United States Supreme Court whereupon it was finally decided in 1862 that, the mine was on Rancho Los Capitancillos, and that the furnaces and improvements of the company below the hill were on Rancho San Vicente. The company bought into these two titles and then sold the entire operation in 1864 to the

Quicksilver Mining Company Quicksilver may refer to: * Quicksilver (metal), the chemical element mercury Arts and entertainment Music * Quicksilver, a bluegrass band fronted by Doyle Lawson * "Quicksilver" (song), a 1950 hit for Bing Crosby * ''Quicksilver'' (sound ...

References

{{Santa Clara County, California San Vicente San Vicente Morgan Hill, California San Vicente

History

See also

References