Rancho El Pinole 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 ...

along

Carquinez Strait The Carquinez Strait (; Spanish: ''Estrecho de Carquinez'') is a narrow tidal strait in Northern California. It is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers as they drain into the San Francisco Bay. The strait is ...

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 ...

. It was given in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Ygnacio Martinez. Rancho El Pinole extended over land that today includes most of the Franklin Ridge, Crockett,

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

, Martinez, Oleum, Pinole, Rodeo, Selby and Tormey.

History

Ygnacio Martínez (1774–1848) was commandant of the Presidio of San Francisco from 1822–1827, and again from 1828–1832, and was a member of the

town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second t ...

in 1824 and 1827. Martinez retired in 1831. Martinez represented to the Mexican authorities in 1834, that in consideration of his military service, Governor Luís Antonio Argüello in 1823 gave him title to a tract of land known as Pinole y Cañada del Hambre. Martinez stated that he had lost his title papers. Record evidence was not found to support his claim, and he was required to petition anew, which he did in 1837. While proceedings were pending upon the Martinez petition, Felipe Briones in 1839, also petitioned for a grant of El Pinole. In 1842, Governor Alvarado, made a four square league grant of Rancho El Pinole to Ygnacio Martinez, and a three square league grant of Rancho Boca de la Cañada del Pinole to Briones. Martínez did not move his family to the rancho until 1836, living until that time at the

Pueblo of San José San Jose, California, is the third largest city in the state, and the largest of all cities in the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California, with a population of 1,021,795. Site chosen by Anza For thousands of years before the arrival of E ...

. To fulfill the requirements upon which grants were made by the government, he proceeded to build a home and other homes of adobe in the valley of Pinole about two and half miles from

San Pablo Bay San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep water c ...

. Martinez occupied and cultivated a large portion of the land, and set out a vineyard and fruit orchards. Ygnacio Martinez died in 1848, and his eleven children inherited his property. Ygnacio Martinez’s daughter, Maria A. Martinez, was married to William A. Richardson. Martinez's daughter Susana, was married to Colonel William M. Smith. 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 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 María Antonia Martínez de Richardson et al. in 1868. In 1849, William M. Smith established the town site of Martinez on . Later the heirs of William Welch of the adjacent Rancho Las Juntas, who owned the property on the east side of Arroyo del Hambre ( Alhambra Creek), contributed another to be included in the new town. In 1865, John Tormey purchased of the Rancho El Pinole from some of the Martinez heirs. And in 1867, John Tormey and his brother Patrick purchased an additional from the Martinez heirs. The Tormey brothers divided their purchase into two portions. John Tormey took the western half, which encompassed

Pinole Pinole, also called pinol or pinolillo, is roasted ground maize, which is then mixed with a combination of cocoa, agave, cinnamon, chia seeds, vanilla, or other spices. The resulting powder is then used as a nutrient-dense ingredient to make d ...

and additional parts of the Pinole and Briones Valleys. Patrick Tormey's share to the north and east, included the Rodeo Valley and what would eventually become the towns of Rodeo, Oleum,

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse, with a population at the 2011 census of 14,731. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until ...

and Tormey.

Historic sites

*Vicente Martinez Adobe. A two-story adobe ranch house built in 1849 by Ygnacio Martinez's son Vicente J. Martínez. In 1853, Vicente sold the adobe to Edward Franklin, after whom Franklin Canyon in which the adobe was located was named, and the adobe was known as the Franklin Canyon Adobe. *Fernandez Mansion. During the 1850s Bernardo Fernandez, a Portuguese immigrant, started a trading facility on the shores of San Pablo Bay and eventually built the historic Fernandez Mansion.Bernardo Fernandez House (National Register #73000399)
/ref> *Samuel Tennent House. The 1851 home of early Anglo-American settler in Contra Costa County, Dr. Samuel J. Tennent, who married Ygnacio Martinez’s daughter Rafaela. Tennent, through his wife Rafaela, owned much of the land in the area.

References

{{East Bay Pinole, El El Pinole Carquinez Strait Hercules, California Martinez, California Pinole, California El Pinole