Rancho Acalanes 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

Contra Costa County, California Contra Costa County (; ''Contra Costa'', Spanish for 'Opposite Coast') is a county located in the U.S. state of California, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,165,927. Th ...

. It was 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 Candelario Valencia. The name Acalanes seems to have come from ''Ahala-n'', the name of a

Costanoan The Ohlone ( ), formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited ...

native village in the area, or from the Saklan tribe, sometimes known as the Sacalanes The rancho included present-day Lafayette and northern Orinda.

History

Candelario Valencia was the son of Jose Manuel Valencia, one of Anza's soldiers. Candelario had himself been a soldier in the San Francisco company from 1823 to 1833, where he continued to serve in minor official posts until 1846. Candelario Valencia was married to Paula Sánchez who was the sister of Francisco Sanchez and José de la Cruz Sánchez. Candalario's sister, Maria Manuela Valencia, received Rancho Boca de la Canada del Pinole, a grant located between Martinez and Lafayette in 1842. Valencia was involved in a boundary dispute with his

Rancho Laguna de los Palos Colorados 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 ...

neighbor to the south, Joaquin Moraga. The conflict was temporarily resolved in 1844 by Governor Micheltorena, who set the boundary line by decree, but the dispute was not finally resolved until there had been a survey in 1860, and a re-survey in 1875. Valencia lived on Rancho Acalanes, near present-day Lafayette, for five years. Valencia returned to his other property near

Mission Dolores Dolores, Spanish for "pain; grief", most commonly refers to: * Our Lady of Sorrows or La Virgen María de los Dolores * Dolores (given name), including list of people and fictional characters with the name Dolores may also refer to: Film * '' ...

in San Francisco, complaining of harassment by Indians (his sister Maria Manuela's husband, Felipé Briones, was killed by Indians in 1839). Most records indicate that Valencia Street in San Francisco was named either for him or for the family. Valencia sold Rancho Acalanes to

William Leidesdorff William Alexander Leidesdorff Jr. (1810 – May 18, 1848) was an Afro-Caribbean settler in California and one of the founders of the city that became San Francisco. A highly successful, enterprising businessman, he is thought to have been the fir ...

, who may never have seen the rancho before he resold it to

Elam Brown Elam Brown (June 10, 1797 - August 10, 1889) was an early pioneer, settler, and politician in California, founding the City of Lafayette, and serving as an Alcalde, Representative for the District of San Jose at the California Constitutional Con ...

in late 1847, complete with 300 head of cattle. Brown sold (an undivided tenth) of the rancho to Nathaniel Jones, a native of Tennessee. Nathaniel Jones would become Contra Costa County's first sheriff. Brown and Jones took up residence in early 1848 and began the growing of barley and wheat in addition to raising cattle. Brown was soon chosen

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

of his area, and was a delegate to the

1849 California Constitutional Convention The California Constitutional Conventions were two separate constitutional conventions that took place in California during the nineteenth century which led to the creation of the modern Constitution of California. The first, known as the 1849 ...

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 ...

. Brown also became a representative to his district in the first and second sessions of the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

, but he withdrew from politics after 1852 to devote his time to his rancho. As a member of the State Assembly and a ranch-owner, Brown - together with John Bidwell,

Mariano Vallejo Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (July 4, 1807 – January 18, 1890) was a Californio general, statesman, and public figure. He was born a subject of Spain, performed his military duties as an officer of the Republic of Mexico, and shaped the trans ...

, and David Douglas - was responsible for writing the 1850 "Act for the Government and Protection of Indians," which allowed any white male, with a judge's approval, to take on

Indigenous Californian Indigenous peoples of California, commonly known as Indigenous Californians or Native Californians, are a diverse group of nations and peoples that are indigenous to the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and afte ...

children as "apprentices" or involuntary servants, ostensibly for the purpose of "civilizing" them; "like the other authors" of this Act, Brown "made extensive use of servile Indian laborers" at the Rancho Acalanes. 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 Acalanes 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 Elam Brown in 1858. Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886

References

{{Contra Costa County, California Acalanes Lafayette, California Orinda, California Acalanes

History

See also

References