Rancho Las Positas was a
Mexican land grant in present-day
Alameda County, California
Alameda County ( ) is a List of counties in California, county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and List ...
given in 1839 by governor
Juan Alvarado to
Robert Livermore and
José Noriega. Las Positas means "little watering holes" in Spanish. The rancho included the present-day city of
Livermore.
History
In 1834 Livermore and his business partner José Noriega were keeping livestock at Rancho Las Positas, where they also built an adobe. Livermore and his wife Josefa Higuera Molina, first settled in the
Sunol Valley, but later moved to Rancho Las Positas, as Livermore was making regular trips there to manage his rancho. Initially an adobe structure built by Livermore and Amador served as their house on the rancho.
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Livermore Heritage GuildLivermore-Amador Genealogical Society
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 Las Positas 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 to Livermore and Noriega in 1872.
In 1847 José Noriega and Robert Livermore also purchased
Rancho Canada de los Vaqueros
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 ...
to the north of Rancho Las Positas. In 1854, Livermore and Noriega came to an agreement to separate their properties. Livermore purchased Noriega's half of Rancho Las Positas and sold his half of Rancho Canada de los Vaqueros to Noreiga. But Livermore had already conveyed all his interest in Rancho Canada de los Vaqueros to his wife and children in 1852, of which fact Noriega was ignorant; so that the deed from Livermore to Noriega in fact conveyed nothing, inasmuch as Livermore had then no title to convey. This was the beginning of several lawsuits. When Livermore died in 1858, before the establishment of the town that bears his name, he left behind Josefa and eight children.
Historic sites of the Rancho
The first building on the ranch was an adobe on Las Positas Creek, and in 1849 a two-story house was added; it was the first wooden building in the valley.
See also
*
References
{{Alameda County, California
Las Positas
Livermore Valley
Diablo Range
El Camino Viejo
Las Positas