Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit was a Spanish land grant in the

Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains is a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. Because of its proximity to densely populated regions, it is one of the most visited natural areas in ...

and adjacent coast, within present day

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

. It was given by Spanish Governor

José Joaquín de Arrillaga José Joaquín de Arrillaga was a Basque people, Basque officer that served twice as Governor of the Californias and as the first Governor of Alta California, following the partition of the Californias in 1804. He is the only Spanish-era governor ...

in 1804 to José Bartolomé Tapia. The present day communities of Malibu and western

Topanga Topanga () (Tongva: ''Topaa'nga'') is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Monica Mountains, the community exists in Topanga Canyon and the surrounding hills. The narrow s ...

are located on parts of the former rancho.

History

José Bartolomé Tapia was the eldest of nine children of Felipe Santiago Tapia, a soldier in the

De Anza Expedition Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto (July 6 or 7, 1736 – December 19, 1788) was an expeditionary leader, military officer, and politician primarily in California and New Mexico under the Spanish Empire. He is credited as one of the founding fa ...

of 1775. In 1800, José Bartolomé Tapia applied, as a reward for his own Army service, for a grant of the land he saw as a youth. The grant was made in 1804, and Tapia settled on the land, to graze his cattle and raise his family. In 1848 Tapia's widow (Maria Francisca Mauricia Villalobo) sold the rancho to her grandson-in-law, Leon Victor Prudhomme who had married a daughter of Tiburcio Tapia, grantee of

Rancho Cucamonga Rancho Cucamonga was a Mexican land grant in present-day San Bernardino County, California, given in 1839 to the dedicated soldier, smuggler and politician Tiburcio Tapia by Mexican governor Juan Bautista Alvarado. The grant formed parts of pr ...

. 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 The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

, 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, Prudhomme filed a claim for Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit but could not document the Tapia title and the claim was rejected. In 1857 he sold his undefined interest in the land to Irishman Matthew (Mateo) Keller (1811–1881). Keller was able to perfect his claim to the land, and receive a

patent 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 ...

in 1872. Eleven years after Keller's death, the rancho was sold to Boston and Los Angeles businessman and philanthropist

Frederick Hastings Rindge Frederick Hastings Rindge (1857–1905) was an American business magnate, patriarch of the illustrious and prominent Rindge family, real estate developer, philanthropist, and writer, of Los Angeles, California. He was a major benefactor to his ...

in 1891.

Historic sites of the Rancho

Adamson House The Adamson House and its associated land, which was known as Vaquero Hill in the 19th century, is a historic house and gardens in Malibu, California. The residence and estate is on the coast, within Malibu Lagoon State Beach park. It has been ...

. A home designed by Stiles O. Clements, and completed in 1929 for Rindge's daughter, Rhoda Agatha Rindge, and her husband, Merritt Huntley Adamson.

Tapia family

* Felipe Santiago Tapia (1745–1811), soldier in the

de Anza Expedition Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto (July 6 or 7, 1736 – December 19, 1788) was an expeditionary leader, military officer, and politician primarily in California and New Mexico under the Spanish Empire. He is credited as one of the founding fa ...

. Tapia Drive in San Francisco's

Parkmerced Parkmerced is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, designed by architects Schultze & Weaver, Leonard Schultze and Thomas Dolliver Church in the early 1940s. Parkmerced is the second-largest single-owner neighborhood of apartment blocks wes ...

is named for him. The nearby Cardenas Avenue is named for his wife. ''The Chronicle'' 12 April 1987 p.7 * Jose Bartolome Tapia (1766–1824), son of Felipe Santiago Tapia, eldest of nine children, grantee of Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit. *

Tiburcio Tapia Tapia Adobe was the home of Tiburcio Tapia (1789–1845). Tiburcio Tapia was a Mexican soldier, politician, then became a merchant, winery owner and ranch owner, in what is now Cucamonga, California. The place of Tapia Adobe (home) was designat ...

(1789–1845), son of Jose Bartolome Tapia, grantee of

Mayor of Los Angeles The mayor of the City of Los Angeles is the official head and chief executive officer of Los Angeles. The officeholder is elected for a four-year term and is term limit, limited to serving no more than two terms. (Under the Constitution of Califo ...

1830, 1839 and 1840. Married María Tomasa Valdéz. * Maria Merced Tapia de Prudhomme, daughter of Tiburcio Tapia, married Leon Victor Prudhomme.

References

External links

The Rindge and Adamson Family Papers

Map of old Spanish and Mexican ranchos in Los Angeles County
{{DEFAULTSORT:Topanga Malibu Sequit California ranchos Ranchos of Los Angeles County, California Malibu, California Santa Monica Mountains Topanga, California 1804 in Alta California 1804 establishments in Alta California

History

Historic sites of the Rancho

Tapia family

See also

References

External links