Rancho del Arroyo Chico 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

Butte County, California Butte County () is a county located in the northern central part of the U.S. state of California. In the 2020 census, its population was 211,632. The county seat is Oroville. Butte County comprises the Chico, California, metropolitan stat ...

, which ultimately laid the foundation for the city of Chico. The name means 'little stream' and refers to

Big Chico Creek Big Chico Creek is a creek in northeastern California that originates near Colby Mountain in Lassen National Park. It flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 1 ...

. The grant was located along the north bank of Big Chico Creek, east of the

Sacramento River The Sacramento River () is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento–San Joaquin River D ...

and it encompassed present-day Chico.

History

With

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

under the control of the Mexican government, Governor

Manuel Micheltorena Joseph Manuel María Joaquin Micheltorena y Llano (8 June 1804 – 7 September 1853) was a brigadier general and adjutant-general of the Mexican Army, List_of_governors_of_California_before_1850#Mexican_governors_of_California_(1837–47), gover ...

granted Rancho del Arroyo Chico to William Dickey in 1844. Within a decade, ownership of the land transferred hands a number of times and settled in John Bidwell's (1819–1900) possession. Dickey, Bidwell, and George McKinstry, Jr. (1810–1882) had all worked at one time for

John Sutter John Augustus Sutter (February 23, 1803 – June 18, 1880), born Johann August Sutter and known in Spanish as Don Juan Sutter, was a Switzerland, Swiss immigrant who became a Mexican and later an American citizen, known for establishing Sutter ...

and were also partners in various mining ventures. McKinstry came to California in 1846, worked for Sutter as clerk and as sheriff of Northern California District, and assisted in the rescue of the

Donner Party The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California interim government, 1846-1850, California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent ...

. Dickey, wanting to return to his eastern home, sold Rancho Arroyo Chico to McKinstry in 1849. Within a few years, the rancho ended up under Bidwell's ownership. Eight years after selling the rancho, McKinstry moved to San Diego and practised as a physician there until his death. Bidwell had been in the California scene for several years, having led the Bartleson-Bidwell Party in 1841. He soon found employment as Sutter's business manager, and within a few years he obtained a couple of Mexican land grants, including Rancho Los Ulpinos and

Rancho Colus Rancho Colus was a Mexican land grant in present-day Colusa County, California given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to John Bidwell. The name is derived from the name of a Native American tribe living on the west side of the Sacramento River. ...

. In 1848, Bidwell discovered gold in

Feather River The Feather River is the principal tributary of the Sacramento River, in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. The river's main stem is about long. Its length to its most distant headwater tributary is just over . The main stem Feather ...

, at a place now call Bidwell's Bar. Bidwell sold Rancho Colus, then acquired Rancho Arroyo Chico in two separate purchases. In 1849, McKinstry sold to Bidwell an undivided half of the rancho. The following year he sold the other half interest to his brother-in-law Justus McKinstry, who sold it over to Bidwell in 1851. With the cession 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 Arroyo Chico 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 John Bidwell in 1860. Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886
Bidwell founded the city of Chico in 1860, laying out the community on the land of his Rancho Arroyo Chico on the north side of Chico Creek, as well as on part of Rancho Farwell on the south side of Chico Creek.

Historic sites of the Rancho

* Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park

References

{{California history Ranchos of California Ranchos of Butte County, California Chico, California