Rancho Santa Paula y Saticoy 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

Santa Clara River Valley The Santa Clara River Valley is a rural, mainly agricultural, valley in Ventura County, California that has been given the moniker Heritage Valley by the namesake tourism bureau. The valley includes the communities of Santa Paula, Fillmore, Piru ...

, in present-day

Ventura County, California Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises the Oxn ...

, and granted in 1843 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 Manuel Jimeno Casarin. The rancho lands include the modern communities of Saticoy and

Santa Paula Santa Paula (Spanish for " St. Paula") is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. Situated amid the orchards of the Santa Clara River Valley, the city advertises itself to tourists as the "Citrus Capital of the World". Santa Pau ...

along the Santa Clara River.

History

Micheltorena granted four leagues to Casarin. Manual Jimeno Casarin served as

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 ...

Secretary of State under Governor Alvarado and Governor Micheltorena, was a senior member of the State Assembly, and occasionally acting governor. He was married to María de las Angustias, the daughter of

José de la Guerra y Noriega José Antonio de la Guerra y Noriega (March 6, 1779 – February 18, 1858) was a Californio military officer, ranchero, and founder of the prominent Guerra family of California. He served as the Commandant of the Presidio of Santa Barbara and the ...

. Casarin, who lived in

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under both ...

, also owned

Rancho Salsipuedes Rancho Salsipuedes was a Mexican land grant in present day Santa Cruz County, California. Two leagues were granted in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to Francisco de Haro. Eight leagues were granted in 1840 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Manuel ...

in Santa Cruz County and

Rancho Jimeno Rancho Jimeno was a Ranchos of California, Mexican land grant in present-day Colusa County, California, Colusa County and Yolo County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Manuel Jimeno Casarin. The grant extended along the ...

Yolo County Yolo County (; Wintun: ''Yo-loy''), officially the County of Yolo, is a county located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 216,403. Its county seat is Woodland. Yolo County is incl ...

. Unlike many land grants holders, Casarin was not required to show any use or development of the land and apparently he did not use the land, either for agriculture or ranching. He died in 1853 during a visit to Mexico. Levi Parsons, Eugene Casserly, J. B. Crocket, David Mahoney and others, purchased the rancho from Casarin in 1852. With the

cession The act of cession is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty. Ballentine's Law Dictionary defines cession as "a surrender; a giving up; a relinquishment of jurisdictio ...

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 Paula y Saticoy 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 A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

to John P. Davidson in 1872. In the 1850s, the ranch came under the ownership of T. Wallace More, and his brothers Andrew and Henry, owners also of the neighboring

Rancho Sespe Rancho Sespe was a Mexican land grant in present-day Ventura County, California given in 1833 by Governor José Figueroa to Carlos Antonio Carrillo. The grant encompassed the Santa Clara River Valley between Piru Creek on the east and Santa Pa ...

. By 1860, the More brothers were the largest landowner in Santa Barbara County (which at the time included all of present-day Ventura County). Besides Rancho Santa Paula y Saticoy and Rancho Sespe, the More brothers owned Santa Rosa Island,

Rancho Lompoc Rancho Lompoc was a Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Barbara County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Joaquín Carrillo and José Antonio Carrillo. The grant extended from present-day Lompoc west to the Pacific coast ...

and

Rancho Mission Vieja de la Purisma Rancho Mission Vieja de la Purisma was a Mexican land grant in present-day northern Santa Barbara County, California given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to Joaquín Carrillo and José Antonio Carrillo. The grant included the original site of Mis ...

. The drought of 1863 and 1864 forced the More brothers to dissolve their partnership and divide up their lands. George G. Briggs, of

Marysville, California Marysville is a city and the county seat of Yuba County, California, located in the Gold Country region of Northern California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 12,072, reflecting a decrease of 196 from the 12,268 counted ...

, purchased the rancho from the More Brothers in 1862, planning to plant fruit orchards. Discouraged by droughts and the death of his wife, Briggs returned to northern California in 1864. In 1867 Briggs subdivided the rancho and sold it for smaller farms. In 1872 Nathan Weston Blanchard, purchased from Briggs and founded

Thomas R. Bard Thomas Robert Bard (December 8, 1841March 5, 1915) was an American political leader in California who assisted in the organization of Ventura County and represented the state in the United States Senate from 1900 to 1905 as a Republican. He is kn ...

, representing

Thomas Alexander Scott Thomas Alexander Scott (December 28, 1823 – May 21, 1881) was an American businessman, railroad executive, and industrialist. In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln appointed him to serve as U.S. Assistant Secretary of War, and during the American ...

of the Philadelphia and California Petroleum Company arrived in Ventura in 1867 with the intent of purchasing land for oil exploration. During the early 1880s, Pennsylvania oil men

Wallace Hardison Wallace Libby Hardison (August 26, 1850 – April 10, 1909) was a co-founder of the Union Oil Company of California, later known as Unocal. Hardison was born in Caribou, Aroostook County, Maine, the youngest of eleven children. He followed his b ...

and

Lyman Stewart Lyman Stewart (July 22, 1840 – September 28, 1923) was a U.S. businessman and co-founder of Union Oil Company of California, which eventually became Unocal. Stewart was also a significant Christian philanthropist and cofounder of the Bible Insti ...

established the Hardison and Stewart Oil Company in Santa Paula. In 1890 several small oil companies owned by Hardison, Stewart and Bard combined to become the

Union Oil Company Union Oil Company of California, and its holding company Unocal Corporation, together known as Unocal was a major petroleum explorer and marketer in the late 19th century, through the 20th century, and into the early 21st century. It was headqu ...

. After the patent was issued, a dispute arose over the boundary between Rancho Santa Paula y Saticoy and the adjacent Rancho Ex-Mission San Buenaventura. ''More v. Steinbach'', U.S. Supreme Court, 127 U.S. 70 (1888)
/ref> When the

St. Francis Dam The St. Francis Dam was a concrete gravity dam located in San Francisquito Canyon in Los Angeles County, California, United States, built from 1924 to 1926 to serve Los Angeles's growing water needs. It catastrophically failed in 1928 due to a d ...

broke in 1928 upstream a devastating

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

came down the river, very wide at a speed of 5 miles (8 km) per hour, adding the rancho's river adjacent settlements to the losses and destruction.

References

{{Santa Clara River Santa Paula y Saticoy Santa Paula y Saticoy Santa Clara River (California) Santa Paula, California