Rancho San Andrés was an

Mexican land grant In Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California, ranchos were concessions and land grants made by the Spanish and Mexican governments from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an indu ...

in present-day

Santa Cruz County, California Santa Cruz County (), officially the County of Santa Cruz, is a county on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 270,861. The county seat is Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz County comprises the Sa ...

, given in 1833 by Governor

José Figueroa José María Figueroa (1792 – 29 September 1835) was a Californio politician and military leader. He was a General and the Mexican Governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835. His ''Manifesto'' (1835) was the first book published in Calif ...

José Joaquín Castro José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''J ...

. The grant on

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by about 75 miles (120 km), accessible via California S ...

extended from La Selva Beach on the north to Watsonville Slough on the south.

Rancho Aptos Rancho Aptos was a Mexican land grant in present day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1833 by Governor José Figueroa to Rafael Castro. The grant on the Monterey Bay was immediately downcoast of his sister, Martina Castro's Rancho Soquel ...

, belonging to Castro's son Rafael Castro, formed the north boundary of the grant.

History

José Joaquín Castro (1768–1838), the son of Joaquin Ysidro de Castro and Maria Marina Botiller, had come as a boy with his family to California from Mexico with the

De Anza Expedition Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto (July 6 or 7, 1736 – December 19, 1788) was a Novohispanic/Mexican expeditionary leader, military officer, and politician primarily in California and New Mexico under the Spanish Empire. He is credited as on ...

in 1775. His brother José Mariano Castro (1765–1828) was the grantee of Rancho Las Animas; his brother Carlos Antonio Castro (b.1775) was the grantee of

Rancho San Francisco de las Llagas Rancho San Francisco de las Llagas was a Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Clara County, California given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to Carlos Antonio Castro. The grant extended along Llagas Creek from about one mile south of pre ...

; and his brother

Francisco María Castro Don Francisco María Castro (1770–1831), nicknamed El Curioso, was a Californio landowner in an area of Alta California which later became part of Contra Costa County, California. Biography Francisco María Castro was the third son of Mari ...

(1775 – 1831) was the grantee of

Rancho San Pablo Rancho San Pablo was a land grant in present-day Contra Costa County, California given in 1823 by Governor Luís Antonio Argüello to Francisco María Castro (1775–1831), a former soldier at the San Francisco Presidio and one-time ''alcalde' ...

. Jose Joaquin Castro, after serving as a soldier for 13 years, came with his wife Maria Antonia Amador (1780–1827) to settle the new community of Villa de Branciforte in 1798. Maria Antonia Amador died in 1827, and Castro married Maria Rosario Briones (b. 1816) in 1830. Castro received the two square league Rancho San Andrés grant in 1833. In 1838, José Joaquín Castro died of smallpox. 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 jurisdicti ...

of California to the United States following the

Mexican-American War Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

, the 1848

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). It was signed on 2 February 1848 in the town of Villa de Guadalupe, Mexico City, Guadalupe Hidalgo. After the defeat of its army and the fall of the cap ...

provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho San Andrés 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 the California State Lands Commission to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican l ...

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 ...

to Guadalupe Castro and Juan José Castro et al. (the 13 children of José Joaquín Castro) in 1876. After the patent was issued, there was a boundary dispute with José Amesti's Rancho Los Corralitos which adjoined Rancho San Andrés on the east. In 1877, a partition suit (''Briody vs. Hale'') was brought and Rancho San Andrés was subdivided.

Historic sites of the Rancho

Castro Adobe The Rancho San Andrés Castro Adobe is a historically and architecturally significant house located in the Pájaro Valley, California. The two-story Rancho San Andrés Castro Adobe is a historic rancho hacienda that was built between 1848 and 18 ...

. Rancho San Andrés Castro Adobe.Rancho San Andrés Castro Adobe
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rancho San Andres San Andres San And