Rancho Farwell 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 ...

given in 1844 by 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 ...

to Edward A. Farwell. The grant was located 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 ...

along the south bank of Chico Creek and encompassed part of present-day Chico.

History

Edward Augustus Farwell (1814–1845), born in

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, came to California in 1842. In 1843 he became a Mexican citizen, and the next year obtained the five-square-league Rancho Farwell grant. In 1845 Farwell sold the north half of the grant to brothers James and John S. Williams. John S. Williams (–1849) worked for Thomas O. Larkin on

Rancho Larkin’s Children Rancho Larkin's Children was a Ranchos of California, Mexican land grant in present-day Glenn County, California, Glenn County and Colusa County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Francisco Larkin, Caroline Ann Larkin, an ...

. In 1845, Farwell died having neither wife nor children, but a mother, four brothers and one sister in Maine. At the time of his death, Edward A. Farwell was indebted to

John Bidwell John Bidwell (August 5, 1819 – April 4, 1900), known in Spanish as Don Juan Bidwell, was an American pioneer, politician, and soldier. Bidwell is known as the founder of the city of Chico, California. Born in New York, he emigrated at the age ...

. Bidwell claimed authority to settle the estate of Farwell, and 1849, sold the southern half of the grant to John Potter. 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, James Williams and the heirs of John S. Williams (Maria Louisa Carson, widow and John Shelby Williams, Jr., son), and the heirs of John Potter, filed a claim for Rancho Farwell 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. The Commission and the District Court confirmed the grant to the Williams and the heirs of Edward A. Farwell, but not to the heirs of J. Potter. 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 the Williams heirs and the heirs of Edward A. Farwell in 1863. Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886
In 1860, heirs of Edward A. Farwell from Maine started litigation to recover the southern half of the grant that was then occupied by Henry Gerke of

Rancho Bosquejo Rancho Bosquejo (also called Lassen's Rancho) was a Mexican land grant in present-day Tehama County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Peter Lassen. The name means "Wooded Ranch" in Spanish. The grant extended along ...

. In 1875, the 1849 sale of the southern half of the grant to John Potter was declared by the court to be void.

References

{{California history Farwell Ranchos of Butte County, California