Rancho Milpitas 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

Monterey County, California Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas. Monte ...

given in 1838 by governor Juan Alvarado to Ygnacio Pastor. The grant encompassed present day

Jolon Jolon (; Spanish: ''Jolón''; Salinan: ''Xolon'') is small unincorporated village in southern Monterey County, California. Jolon is located in the San Antonio River Valley, west of Salinas Valley. The origins of Jolon date to 1771, when the Spa ...

History

With secularization, the lands of the

Mission San Antonio de Padua Mission San Antonio de Padua is a Spanish mission established by the Franciscan order in present-day Monterey County, California, near the present-day town of Jolon. Founded on July 14, 1771, it was the third mission founded in Alta California ...

were divided into at least ten Mexican land grants (including Rancho Milpitas (Little Fields), Rancho El Piojo (The Louse),

Rancho San Miguelito de Trinidad Rancho San Miguelito de Trinidad was a Mexican land grant in present day southern Monterey County, California given in 1841 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to José Rafael Gonzalez. The grant extended along the Nacimiento River and Stony Creek, west ...

, and

Rancho Los Ojitos Rancho Los Ojitos was a Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Mariano de Jesus Soberanes. The grant is now mostly Lake San Antonio which was created when the San Antonio dam was b ...

(Little Springs)). Ygnacio Pastor, a neophyte of the San Antonio Mission, received the grant of Rancho Milpitas from Governor Alvarado in 1838. 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 Milpitas 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 Ygnacio Pastor in 1875.

Faxon Atherton Faxon Dean Atherton (1815–1877) was an American businessman, trader and landowner; initially successful in Valparaíso, Chile, he became a prominent citizen of San Mateo County, California. He is the namesake of Atherton, California. Early ...

purchased Rancho Milpitas from Ygnacio Pastor immediately upon its title clearance in 1875. By 1880, the James Brown Cattle Company owned and operated Rancho Milpitas and Rancho Los Ojitos.

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

's Piedmont Land and Cattle Company acquired the rancho in 1925. In 1940, in preparation for involvement in World War II, the U.S. War Department purchased the land from Hearst to create a troop training facility known as the Hunter Liggett Military Reservation.Draft Fort Hunter Ligget Special Resource Study & Environmental Assessment: Chapter 2 Cultural Resources
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Historic sites of the Rancho

* The Hacienda was completed in 1930 for use by William Randolph Hearst, and it is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

References

{{coord , 36.010, -121.243, region:US-CA_type:landmark, display=title Milpitas (Pastor) Milpitas (Pastor)

Milpitas Milpitas (Spanish for "little milpas") is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in Silicon Valley. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 80,273. The city's origins lie in Rancho Milpitas, granted to Californio ranchero José Marí ...

History

Historic sites of the Rancho

See also

References