Rancho Santa Ana 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 Ventura County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Crisogono Ayala and Cosme Vanegas. Rancho Santa Ana was located inland in the Ventura River Valley on the west side of the

Ventura River The Ventura River, in western Ventura County in southern California, United States, flows from its headwaters to the Pacific Ocean. The smallest of the three major rivers in Ventura County, it flows through the steeply sloped, narrow Ventura V ...

across from Rancho Ojai which was granted in the same year. Rancho Santa Ana encompassed present day

Lake Casitas Lake Casitas is a reservoir in Ventura County, California, built by the United States Bureau of Reclamation and completed in 1959. The project provides drinking water and water for irrigation. A secondary benefit is flood control. It was the ven ...

and Oak View.

History

The four square league Rancho Santa Ana was granted to Crisógono Ayala and his father-in-law Cosme Vanegas was part of the lands of

Mission San Buenaventura Mission San Buenaventura ( es, Misión San Buenaventura), formally known as the Mission Basilica of San Buenaventura, is a Catholic parish and basilica in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The parish church in the city of Ventura, California, Unite ...

. Cosme Damien Vanegas (1780-), was the son of

Los Angeles Pobladores Los pobladores del pueblo de los Ángeles (English: ''The townspeople of Los Angeles'') refers to the 44 original settlers and 4 soldiers from New Spain (Mexico) who founded the Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles in 1781, which is ...

Jose Maria Vanegas (1753-) and Maria Bonifacia Maxima Aguilar(-1801). Jose Maria Vanegas was alcalde (mayor) of Los Angeles from about 1786 to 1788 and again in 1796. Jose Crisógono Dolores Ayala (1793 - 1866) married Bárbara Bernidina Vanegas (1800-). 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 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 Santa Ana 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 Crisogono Ayala and Cosme Vanegas in 1870. José de Arnaz (1820–1895), grantee of

Rancho Ex-Mission San Buenaventura Rancho Ex-Mission San Buenaventura was a Mexican land grant in present-day Ventura County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to José de Arnaz. The grant derives its name from the secularized Mission San Buenaventura, and was called ...

, bought a one sixth share of Rancho Santa Ana in 1854. In 1874, Arnaz sold the land to sea captain Richard Robinson, Judge Eugene Fawcett, Jr., and H.C. Dean, who subdivided the land and started the development of the

Valley.

Historic sites of the Rancho

* Santa Ana Rancho Adobe. Adobe house, two-story, built in the late 1850s by José de Arnaz. www.laokay.com: Historic Ventura Adobes
accessed 8/28/20109 miles north of the City of Ventura, just east of Highway 33 on Old Creek Road

Notes

References

{{Ventura River Santa Ana Santa Ana Santa Ana