Rancho Tularcitos was a

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

Monterey County, California Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county (United States), county located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 439,035. The count ...

given in 1834 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 ...

to Rafael Gómez. Tularcitos means "place of the little

Tule ''Schoenoplectus acutus'' ( syn. ''Scirpus acutus, Schoenoplectus lacustris, Scirpus lacustris'' subsp. ''acutus''), called tule , common tule, hardstem tule, tule rush, hardstem bulrush, or viscid bulrush, is a giant species of sedge in the p ...

thickets". The grant was in the upper Carmel Valley, along Tularcitos Creek, and was bounded on the west by

Rancho Los Laureles Rancho Los Laureles was a Ranchos of California, Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, California given in 1839 by Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado, Juan Alvarado to José Manuel Boronda and Vicente Blas Martínez. Los Laureles refe ...

History

Rafael Gómez (1784-1838), born in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, came to California in 1830 as a legal advisor to Governor

Manuel Victoria Manuel Victoria (died 1833) was governor of the Mexican-ruled territory of Alta California from January 1831 to December 6, 1831. He died in exile. He was appointed governor on March 8, 1830 by Lucas Alamán. Exile The revolt, called Battle of ...

. In 1831, he married Josefa Antonia Estrada (1813-1890), a daughter of José Mariano Estrada, grantee of Rancho Buena Vista. Gómez was a supporter of Figueroa, but resigned his position, and was granted the six square league Rancho Tularcitos in 1834. He held public offices in

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

in 1835-36. Rafael Gómez died in an accident on Rancho Tularcitos in 1838. 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 Tularcitos 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 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 ...

to Josefa Antonia Estrada de Gómez in 1866. After Rafael Gómez died in 1838, Josefa Antonia Gómez married Charles Wolter, a German sea captain of a Mexican ship, who settled in Monterey in 1833. Josefa Antonia Gómez sold Rancho Tularcitos to Andrew J. Ogletree. Ogletree lost the rancho to Alberto Trescony, owner of

Rancho San Lucas Rancho San Lucas was a Mexican land grant in the Salinas Valley, in present-day Monterey County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Rafael Estrada. The grant extended along the west bank of the Salinas River south of ...

, in a mortgage foreclosure in 1880. Trescony gradually sold off the land, except for . Andrius Blomquist was born in Sweden in 1846 and emigrated to the United States in 1867 to start a new life. He eventually settled in upper Carmel Valley in 1885 and acquired nearly of Rancho Tularcitos. In 1924, Rancho Tularcitos came under the ownership of John E. Marble, and the Marble family took on the responsibility of managing the ranching operations for a considerable duration thereafter. The ranch was eventually divided between his sons, John M. and Robert. John M. inherited the ranch headquarters, while Robert received the eastern section of the ranch. By the late 1940s, Bill Dorrance served as the ranch superintendent. Robert Marble decided to rename his portion of the ranch to Rana Creek Ranch.

Mike Markkula Armas Clifford "Mike" Markkula Jr. (; born February 11, 1942) is an American electrical engineer, businessman and investor. He was the original angel investor, first chairman, and second CEO for Apple Computer, Inc., providing critical early fu ...

bought the Rana Creek Ranch in 1982 from the Marble family.

The Wildlands Conservancy The Wildlands Conservancy is a nonprofit organization with a mission to preserve land for public recreation. It manages 25 preserves, detailed in the list of its preserves, covering over across the western United States. The preserve system en ...

acquired Rana Creek Ranch in July 2023 and created Rana Creek Preserve which it plans to open to the public.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tularcitos (Gomez) Tula Tula

History

See also

References