Rancho Valle de Pamo (also called Rancho Santa María) 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

San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

, given 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 José Joaquín Ortega and Edward Stokes. The grant occupied the

Santa Maria Valley The Santa Maria Valley is an American Viticultural Area, American Viticultural Area (AVA) which straddles the boundary of Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo County, California, San Luis Obispo counties in Califor ...

and was centered on present-day

Ramona ''Ramona'' is a 1884 American novel written by Helen Hunt Jackson. Set in Southern California after the Mexican–American War, it portrays the life of a mixed-race Scottish– Native American orphan girl, who suffers racial discrimination and ...

History

The four square league former San Diego Mission lands in the Santa Maria Valley were granted to José Joaquin Ortega and his son-in-law, Edward Stokes. Stokes and his father-in-law Ortega received two Mexican land grants - Rancho Valle de Pamo in the Santa María Valley in 1843, and Rancho Santa Ysabel in the Santa Ysabel Valley in 1844. José Joaquin Geronimo Ortega (1801–1865), grandson of

José Francisco Ortega José Francisco Ortega (1734 – February 1798) was an indigenous Californio soldier and early settler of Alta California. He joined the military at the age of twenty-one and rose to the rank of sergeant by the time he joined the Portola expedition ...

, married Maria Casimira Pico (1804–1883), sister of

Pío Pico Don Pío de Jesús Pico (May 5, 1801 – September 11, 1894) was a Californio politician, ranchero, and entrepreneur, famous for serving as the last governor of California (present-day U.S. state of California) under Mexican rule. A member of ...

and

Andrés Pico Andrés Pico (November 18, 1810 – February 14, 1876) was a Californio who became a successful rancher, fought in the contested Battle of San Pascual during the Mexican–American War, and negotiated promises of post-war protections for Calif ...

, in 1821. José Joaquin Ortega served as

majordomo A majordomo is a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. Typically, this is the highest (''major'') person of a household (''domūs'' or ''domicile'') staff, a head servant who acts on behalf of the owner of a large ...

and administrator of San Diego Mission from 1835 to 1840, and as majordomo of San Luis Rey Mission from 1843 to 1845. From this experience, he knew which were the best of the ex-mission lands when seeking grants. He also served as justice, elector, alternate member of the assembly,

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 ...

, and county supervisor. Edward Stokes was an English sailor who came to California from

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. In 1842 he married Maria del Refugio Ortega (1823–1918), daughter of José Joaquin Ortega. Stokes died soon after the

Battle of San Pasqual The Battle of San Pasqual, also spelled San Pascual, was a military encounter that occurred during the Mexican–American War in what is now the San Pasqual Valley community of the city of San Diego, California. The series of military skirmishes ...

. His widow Maria Ortega married in 1859

Agustin Olvera Agustin Olvera (1820-1876) was a pioneer of Los Angeles, California, and was active in the political affairs of the time. Biography Accompanying his uncle, Ygnacio Coronel, he came to California in 1834 as a member of the Híjar-Padrés Colony. I ...

, grantee of the

Rancho Cuyamaca Rancho Cuyamaca was a Mexican land grant in the Cuyamaca Mountains and Laguna Mountains, in present-day San Diego County, California, United States. It was given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to Agustín Olvera. The grant extended south of ...

. 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, a claim for Rancho Valle de Pamo 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 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 José Joaquín Ortega and Eduardo Stokes in 1872. In 1852, José Joaquin Ortega and María del Refugio Stokes sold the rancho to Susan McKinstry, but by 1856 had re-acquired the property, and José Joaquin Ortega mortgaged his half share of the property to William C. Ferrell. Edward Stokes and María del Refugio Ortega had had three sons, Alfredo (b. 1840), Adolfo (b. 1843), and Eduardo (b. 1846). By 1870, Adolfo Stokes became the sole owner, and in 1872, sold the property to Juan B. Arrambide. In 1878 Arrambide sold the rancho to Bernard Etcheverry (1836–1912). Etcheverry had emigrated from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1856 to seek his fortune in the California gold mines. After a few years, Etcheverry moved back to his native France, but then returned to San Diego County in 1872.William A. Douglass,2005,''Amerikanuak: Basques In The New World'',University of Nevada Press, In 1886, Etcheverry sold to Milton Santee, a Los Angeles

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

and land developer. Santee then started the Santa Maria Land and Water Company and subdivided what is now the townsite of Ramona.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rancho Valle De Pamo Valle de Pamo Valle de Pamo East County (San Diego County) Ramona, San Diego County, California 1846 establishments in Alta California

History

See also

References