Rancho Del Paso
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Rancho Del Paso 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
Sacramento County, California Sacramento County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 1,585,055. Its county seat is Sacramento, California, Sacramento, which has been the List of capital ...
, In 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena, Captain John Sutter’s old friend, gave 44,000 acres to Elijah Grimes. Grimes called it the Rancho del Paso because it was on the road to the pass of the American River through the Sierra.  . The grant extended along the north bank of the
American River , name_etymology = , image = American River CA.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = The American River at Folsom , map = Americanrivermap.png , map_size = 300 , map_caption ...
and was bounded roughly by today’s Northgate Boulevard, Manzanita Avenue, and Elkhorn Boulevard. The grant encompassed present-day North
Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
, Del Paso Heights, Rio Linda,
Arden-Arcade Arden-Arcade is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sacramento County, California, United States. The population was 92,186 at the 2010 census, making it the second most populous census-designated place in California. It is east of the city of Sacr ...
, and a portion of Carmichael.


History

John Sutter John Augustus Sutter (February 23, 1803 – June 18, 1880), born Johann August Sutter and known in Spanish as Don Juan Sutter, was a Swiss immigrant of Mexican and American citizenship, known for establishing Sutter's Fort in the area th ...
gave the land north of the American River to Eliab Grimes, Hiram Grimes, and John Sinclair. Captain Eliab Grimes (1780–1848), a native of
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
, was a
Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
merchant of many years and operated with his nephew, Hiram, as the firm E & H Grimes. Hiram Grimes would later own
Rancho San Juan Rancho San Juan was a Mexican land grant in present-day Sacramento County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Joel P. Dedmond. The grant extended east of Captain Eliab Grimes Rancho Del Paso along the north bank of t ...
and Rancho Pescadero. Eliab Grimes persuaded Sinclair to occupy the Rancho Del Paso, until such time as he (Grimes) could take legal title to it. In 1843, John Sinclair, who had gone to work for Sutter in 1840, and his wife Mary Sinclair occupied the Rancho. In 1844, Eliab Grimes received the official ten square league land grant. Over the next four years, Grimes and Sinclair raised cattle and harvested wheat on the property. Grimes, who subsequently became an important trader and political figure in
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 17th ...
, died in 1848, leaving his share of the rancho to his nephew, Hiram Grimes. Three months later, in 1849, John Sinclair sold his share of the property to Hiram Grimes. Hiram Grimes later owned
Rancho San Juan Rancho San Juan was a Mexican land grant in present-day Sacramento County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Joel P. Dedmond. The grant extended east of Captain Eliab Grimes Rancho Del Paso along the north bank of t ...
and Rancho Pescadero. In 1852, Grimes sold the entire Rancho Del Paso to San Francisco trader Samuel Norris. Originally named Gotthilf Wilhelm Becher Christensen, Norris was an immigrant from
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...
who came to California in 1839 and renamed himself.Chickering, Allen L., 1946, "Samuel Norris: Litigious Pioneer" 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 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 Del Paso was filed with the Public Land Commission 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 Samuel Norris in 1858. During the 1850s, Norris remained embroiled in a legal battle with the descendants of Eliab Grimes, who contested Eliab Grimes' will, and hence Norris' claim to the rancho. In 1860, the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
sided with Norris. Norris emerged deep in debt to his lawyers James Ben Ali Haggin (1822–1914) and
Lloyd Tevis Lloyd Tevis (March 20, 1824 – July 24, 1899) was a banker and capitalist who served as president of Wells Fargo & Company from 1872 to 1892. Early life Lloyd Tevis was born in Shelbyville, Kentucky, the son of Samuel and Sarah (née Greathouse) ...
(1824–1899); and in 1862, Norris sold Rancho del Paso to them. Norris later unsuccessfully sued Haggin and Tevis, claiming fraud.


The Haggin Years

Rancho Del Paso became nationally prominent during the 1880s for its extensive horse breeding facilities. Haggin stopped using the ranch as a horse breeding operation in 1905,''New York Times'' - October 8, 1905 article titled "The Passing of Rancho Del Paso"
/ref> and concentrated his breeding efforts at his
Elmendorf Farm Elmendorf Farm is a Kentucky Thoroughbred horse farm in Fayette County, Kentucky, involved with horse racing since the 19th century. Once the North Elkhorn Farm, many owners and tenants have occupied the area, even during the American Civil War. Mo ...
in Lexington, Kentucky. With the rapid growth of the Sacramento Valley, the Rancho Del Paso Land Company was incorporated in 1891, and sold to the Sacramento Valley Colonization Company in 1910.


References

{{California history, state=collapsed Paso, Del Del Paso Carmichael, California Horse farms in the United States Del Paso