Rancho Arroyo de Las Nueces y Bolbones (also called "San Miguel") was a Mexican land grant in present-day

Contra Costa County, California ) of the San Francisco Bay , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = California , subdivision_type2 ...

given in 1834 by Governor

José Figueroa José Figueroa (1792 – 29 September 1835), was a General and the Mexican Governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835. He wrote the first book to be published in California. Background and governorship Figueroa was a Mestizo of Spanish ...

to Juana Sanchez de Pacheco. The grant was named after the principal waterway, ''Arroyo de las Nueces'' (Walnut Creek), and for the local group of indigenous Americans (known as ''Bolbones'' in Spanish, also known as ''Volvon''). The grant was on the western slope of

Mount Diablo Mount Diablo is a mountain of the Diablo Range, in Contra Costa County of the eastern San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. It is south of Clayton and northeast of Danville. It is an isolated upthrust peak of , visible from most ...

and includes the area of the present-day city of Walnut Creek. Approximately a quarter of the original rancho has been protected since the early 20th century within the boundaries of

Mt. Diablo State Park Mount Diablo is a mountain of the Diablo Range, in Contra Costa County of the eastern San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. It is south of Clayton and northeast of Danville. It is an isolated upthrust peak of , visible from most o ...

History

Juana Lorenza Sanchez de Pacheco (1776–1853) was the widow of Miguel Antonio Pacheco (1745–1829), a soldier. He was the son of Juan Salvio Pacheco (1729–1777) and Maria Carmen del Valle, who came to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

in 1776 with 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 ...

. He was a cousin of

Salvio Pacheco Don Juan Salvio Pacheco II (1793-1876) was a Californio ranchero and soldier. He founded the city of Concord, then known as Todos Santos. Pacheco also served three terms as Alcalde of San José (mayor of San Jose). Biography Pacheco was born in ...

, founder of

Concord, California Concord ( ) is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California. According to an estimate completed by the United States Census Bureau, the city had a population of 129,295 in 2019 making it the eighth largest city in the San Francisco Bay ...

. The Pacheco family used its land for grazing cattle, but did not settle on the rancho. 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 its victory in the

Mexican-American War Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...

, 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 historic Spanish and Mexican land grants would be honored. As required by the

Land Act of 1851 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 ...

, descendants of the Pacheco family filed a claim for Rancho Arroyo de Las Nueces y Bolbones 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 ...

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 ...

in 1866 to the heirs of Juana Lorenza Sanchez de Pacheco. The grant was for two leagues (approx. 8857 acres; see

Spanish customary units There are a number of Spanish units of measurement of length or area that are virtually obsolete due to metrication. They include the vara, the cordel, the league and the labor. The units of area used to express the area of land are still encount ...

), but was confirmed for nearly four leagues (approx. 17,714 acres or 28 square miles). Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886
Rosa Maria Pacheco, daughter of Miguel Antonio Pacheco, married Jose Maria Sibrian (1798 - ). Their two sons, Jose Ysidro Sibrian (1821 - ) and Jose Ygnacio Sibrian (1822 - ), inherited the rancho. Ygnacio Sibrian built the first roofed residence in the valley around 1850 and was the namesake of the Ygnacio Valley. Shortly before American pioneer

John Marsh John Marsh may refer to: Politicians * John Marsh (MP fl. 1394–1397), MP for Bath * John Marsh (MP fl. 1414–1421), MP for Bath *John Allmond Marsh (1894–1952), Canadian Member of Parliament * John Otho Marsh Jr. (1926–2019), American c ...

Rancho Los Meganos 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 ...

died in 1856, he and Ygnacio Sibrian were involved in a bitter court trial.

Historic sites of the Rancho

* Old Borges Ranch. The former ranch of American pioneer Frank Borges, who was associated with Walnut Creek. *

Shadelands Ranch Shadelands Ranch was established by Hiram Penniman, an early American settler of California in 1856 as one of the first and largest farms in California's Ygnacio Valley.Isles, Elizabeth; Rovanpera, Brad. ''Shadelands: Yesterday and Today''. The W ...

. Developed by Hiram Penniman, an American who arrived in California in 1853. In 1856 he purchased of land from Encarnación Pacheco, daughter of Juana Sanchez de Pacheco. Shadelands Ranch House is listed 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 ...

for Contra Costa County.

References

External links

Rancho Arroyo de las Nueces y Bolbones
at

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

{{California history Arroyo de Las Nueces y Bolbones Arroyo Diablo Range Walnut Creek, California Arroyo