Rancho Rincón de los Bueyes was a

land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

in 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, ...

, given in 1821 to Bernardo Higuera and Cornelio Lopez by Pablo Vicente de Sola, the Spanish Governor of

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 ...

. In 1843, this Spanish grant was confirmed by Mexican 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 ...

. ''Rincón'', translated from Spanish, means corner or nook, and ''Bueyes'' are oxen or steer.

Geography

The grant was, for the most part, diamond shaped, with the exception of the southeast corner extending over one mile deeper than the other three corners. It was relatively small for a Spanish concession at that time and it was surrounded on all sides by five different ranchos. To the east there were two:

Rancho Las Cienegas Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad * Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California **List of California Ranchos * Ranchos, Buenos ...

and

Rancho La Cienega o Paso de la Tijera Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad * Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California **List of California Ranchos *Ranchos, Buenos A ...

. On the west, there was

Rancho La Ballona Rancho La Ballona was a Mexican land grant in the present-day Westside region of Los Angeles County, Southern California. The rancho was confirmed by Alta California Governor Juan Alvarado in 1839, to Ygnacio and Augustin Machado and Felipe ...

. Bordering the northwest boundary was

Rancho San Jose de Buenos Ayres Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad * Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California ** List of California Ranchos * Ranchos, Buenos ...

and to the northeast there was

Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas was a land grant in present day Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County, California given to María Rita Quinteros Valdez de Villa in 1838. Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas (Ranch of the Gathering Waters), is named for the streams ...

. Rincón de Los Bueyes encompasses present day

Cheviot Hills The Cheviot Hills (), or sometimes The Cheviots, are a range of uplands straddling the Anglo-Scottish border between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. The English section is within the Northumberland National Park. The range includes T ...

Rancho Park Rancho Park is a residential neighborhood in the Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California with mostly single family homes and tree lined streets. The community is nestled between West Los Angeles and Cheviot Hills. This enclave draws young ...

, the northeast extension of

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...

, and a small section of Baldwin Hills with

Ballona Creek Ballona Creek (pronunciation: “Bah-yo-nuh” or “Buy-yo-nah” ) is an channelized stream in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, that was once a “year-round river lined with sycamores and willows.” Ballona Creek ...

History

Governor Vicente de Sola granted a concession to Bernardo Higuera (1790–1837) and Cornelio Lopez (born 1792) in 1821. Lopez soon quarreled with Higuera, leaving the latter in possession. Bernardo Higuera was the son of Joaquin Higuera, the

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 ...

of the

Pueblo de Los Angeles In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

in 1800. In 1834 Bernardo Higuera, and his wife, Maria del Rosario Palomares (born 1792), moved to Los Angeles, leaving his brothers Mariano (baptized 23 July 1804 Mission, San Gabriel) and Policarpio (baptized 27 January 1799, same mission) to run the ranch. Bernardo Higuera bequeathed his Rancho Rincón de los Bueyes to his two sons, Francisco and Secundino. 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, Francisco and Secundino Higuera filed their claim for Rancho Rincón de los Bueyes 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. Their claim was rejected by the Commission in 1854, but upheld by the District Court in 1861. 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 Francisco and Secundino Higuera in 1872. In 1849, José De Arnaz (1820–1895), the grantee of Rancho Ex-Mission San Buenaventura, bought Secundino Higuera's half share, and in 1867 bought Francisco Higuera's. In 1853, José de Arnaz, filed a claim for five square leagues of Santa Clara Mission rejected. In 1869 after the death of his wife, Maria Mercedes de Avila (1832–1867), Arnaz married Maria Camarillo (1848–1916) and moved to San Jose. He later returned to live on Rancho Rincón de los Bueyes.Romance of a Rancho
''The Beverly Hills Citizen'', Volume XVII – No. 2, June 23, 1939, pages 9, 12

References

External links

Map of old Spanish and Mexican ranchos in Los Angeles County
{{California history Rincon de los Bueyes Rincon de los Bueyes History of Los Angeles Baldwin Hills (mountain range) Culver City, California Rancho Park, Los Angeles 1821 in Alta California 1821 establishments in Alta California 19th century in Los Angeles

Geography

History

See also

References

External links