Rancho Ulistac 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

Santa Clara County, California Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring Sa ...

, given in 1845 by Governor

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 ...

to Marcello and Cristobal, Indians. The grant extended across lowlands reaching from the Alviso shoreline southward and encompassing the land between the Guadalupe River and

Saratoga Creek Saratoga Creek is a north-northeast flowing creek in Santa Clara County, California. History Saratoga Creek was originally called Arroyo Quito and then Campbell Creek after immigrant William Campbell, who operated a sawmill in 1848 in "Campbell's ...

, and the town of Agnew.

History

In 1846, Governor Pico granted one-half square league to

Santa Clara Mission Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...

Indian Marcello and his companion Cristobal.

Jacob David Hoppe Jacob David Hoppe (c. 1813 — 1853) was a 19th-century Californian newspaperman and politician. Jacob Hoppe was born in Maryland and came to California in 1846. He established a newspaper, which later became ''The Daily Alta California''. He w ...

(1813–1853), was born in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and came to California in 1846. He established a newspaper, which later became the "Alta California". He was elected a delegate to the

1849 California Constitutional Convention The California Constitutional Conventions were two separate constitutional conventions that took place in California during the nineteenth century which led to the creation of the modern Constitution of California. The first, known as the 1849 ...

. After the discovery of gold, he went to the mines, where he remained a few months with some profit, and returned to San Jose, where he became the first American Postmaster. Hoppe acquired Rancho Ulistac from the original Indian grantees. Hoppe was killed in the explosion of the SS ''Jenny Lind'' en route from Alviso to San Francisco on April 11, 1853. 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 Ulistac 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 heirs of Jacob D. Hoppe in 1868. The Hoppe heirs sold the land in 1860. In 1885, of Rancho Ulistac were developed as a site of the Agnew state hospital for the insane. The hospital was destroyed in the

1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sha ...

, leaving 125 dead, but was quickly rebuilt. The name "Ulistac" derives from the language of the

Ohlone people The Ohlone, formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the ...

who once inhabited the area. ''Uli'' is believed to be the name of an Ohlone chief, and the suffix ''-tac'' means "place", so that "Ulistac" likely meant "Uli's place". However, other sources define it to mean "at Ulis". In 1916, linguist A. L. Kroeber wrote that, while ''-tac'' is a

Tamyen The Tamien people (also spelled as ''Tamyen'', ''Thamien'') are one of eight linguistic divisions of the Ohlone (Costanoan) people groups of Native Americans who lived in Northern California. The Tamien traditionally lived throughout the Santa ...

suffix meaning "place of", the rest of the name is unidentifiable.

Historic sites of the Rancho

James Lick Mansion The James Lick Mansion, in Santa Clara, California, United States, is the estate of James Lick, who was the richest man in California at the time of his death in 1876. The estate is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This proper ...

– a large house built by

James Lick James Lick (August 25, 1796 – October 1, 1876) was an American real estate investor, carpenter, piano builder, land baron, and patron of the sciences. The wealthiest man in California at the time of his death, Lick left the majority of his es ...

around 1858

Ulistac Natural Area

The Ulistac Natural Area is a 40-acre volunteer-maintained natural area within the original rancho, between Lick Mill Blvd. and the Guadalupe River, showcasing seven distinctive natural habitats.

References

{{California history Ulistac Ulis Ulis