Rancho Buena Vista 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

San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county (United States), county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its Mexico-United States border, border with Mexico. As of the 2020 United States Cen ...

, given in 1845 by Governor

Pío Pico Don (honorific), Don Pío de Jesús Pico IV (May 5, 1801 – September 11, 1894) was a California politician, ranchero, and entrepreneur, famous for serving as the List of governors of California before 1850, last governor of Alta California und ...

to Felipe, an Indian. The name means "good view" in Spanish. The grant was south of

San Luis Rey River The San Luis Rey River is a river in northern San Diego County, California. The river's headwaters are in the Palomar Mountain Range and Cleveland National Forest, near Palomar Mountain and the Santa Rosa Mountains. The river mouth, on the Pac ...

and

Rancho Monserate Rancho Monserate was a Mexican land grant in present-day San Diego County, California, given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to Ysidro María Alvarado. The grant extended south and east of the present day Fallbrook down to the San Luis Rey River ...

and encompassed present day

Vista Vista may refer to: Software *Windows Vista, the line of Microsoft Windows client operating systems released in 2006 and 2007 * VistA, (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) a medical records system of the United States ...

History

Formerly a part of

Mission San Luis Rey Mission San Luis Rey de Francia () is a former Spanish mission in San Luis Rey, a neighborhood in Oceanside, California. This Mission lent its name to the Luiseño tribe of Mission Indians. At its prime, Mission San Luis Rey's structures an ...

lands, the grant was made to Felipe Subria, a mission Indian. His daughter Maria La Garcia, who married William B. Dunn, inherited the property, and then sold it to Jesus Machado. 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 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 1853, 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 Jesús Machado. Jesús Machado (1823-?) in 1850 married Lugarda Osuna de Alvarado, whose husband, José María Alvarado, had been killed in the

Pauma Massacre The Pauma massacre occurred in December 1846, at Pauma Valley north of Escondido, California. Luiseño Indians killed eleven Mexicans, Californio lancers who had stolen horses from them. The action was related to a series of regional conflicts du ...

. When Jesús Machado was killed by Indians, his son, Luis G. Machado, inherited the rancho. Lorenzo Soto acquired the rancho from

foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has Default (finance), stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the Collateral (finance), coll ...

in 1860. Lorenzo Soto (1821–1863) was the son of Francisco Soto of Rancho San Lorenzo Baja. Soto married María Ygnacia Morena after his first wife died in 1857. After Lorenzo Soto's death, his wife married Tomas Alvarado of Rancho Monserate. They then sold the Rancho to

Cave Johnson Couts Cave "Don Cuevas" Johnson Couts (November 11, 1821 – July 10, 1874) was an American military officer, rancher, and judge. After a commission to San Diego County, California, in 1849 amid the California Gold Rush, he wrote meticulous records, bec ...

in 1866. Couts (1821–1874) was a native of

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, and was a nephew of

Cave Johnson Cave Johnson (January 11, 1793 – November 23, 1866) was an American politician who served the state of Tennessee as a Democratic congressman in the United States House of Representatives. Johnson was the 12th United States Postmaster Gener ...

. Couts graduated from

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

in 1843 and came to California in 1849 as a lieutenant with the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

forces occupying California following the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

. Couts left the Army, and settled in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. In 1849 he was commissioned to survey and map the pueblo lands of San Diego. He married Ysidora Bandini, the daughter of

Juan Bandini Juan Bandini (1800 – November 4, 1859) was a Peruvian-born Californio public figure, politician, and ranchero. He is best known for his role in the development of San Diego in the mid-19th century. Early history Bandini was born in 1800 in Lima ...

, in 1851. Couts began buying property and developing political influence in the area. Couts also owned

Rancho Guajome Rancho Guajome was a Mexican land grant in present-day San Diego County, California, given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to Indian brothers Andrés and José Manuel. The name comes from a Luiseño phrase involving the word "frog", likely ''wakh ...

and

Rancho Vallecitos de San Marcos Rancho Vallecitos de San Marcos was a Mexican land grant in present-day northern San Diego County, California, given in 1840 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Jose María Alvarado. The name means little valleys of St. Mark. The grant was located ...

. Having been appointed sub-agent for the San Luis Rey Indians in 1853, Couts employed Indian labor to improve the properties. After Couts died, his son, Cave J. Couts Jr.(1856–1943), took over management of the rancho. In 1874 Couts’ widow, Ysidora Bandini, gave Rancho Buena Vista to their daughter, Maria Antonia, who had married Chalmers Scott, as a wedding gift. Scott moved to San Diego and Maria Antonia gave Rancho Buena Vista to her sister, Ysidora, who had married George Fuller.

Historic sites of the Rancho

*Rancho Buena Vista Adobe.Rancho Buena Vista Adobe

References

{{California history Buena Vista Vista, California 1845 establishments in Alta California Native American history of California