Rancho Guajome was a Mexican land grant 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 Indian brothers Andrés and José Manuel. The name comes from a

Luiseño The Luiseño or Payómkawichum are an Indigenous people of California who, at the time of the first contacts with the Spanish in the 16th century, inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging from the present-day southern part of ...

phrase involving the word "frog", likely ''wakhavumi'' "frog pond" or ''waxáawu-may'' "little frog". The grant was south of the San Luis Rey River and Rancho Monserate and north of present-day Vista. The site is now registered as

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

#940.

History

Formerly a part of Mission San Luis Rey lands, the half square league grant was made to Andrés and José Manuel, two mission Indians. The brothers sold the land to Abel Stearns. Stearns held onto the land for a few years before giving it to his sister-in-law, Ysidora Bandini, as a wedding gift when she married Lieutenant Cave Johnson Couts in 1851. Stearns was married to Ysidora Bandini's sister Arcadia. Cave Johnson Couts (pron. "cow-ts", 1821–1874) was a native of Tennessee and was a nephew of Cave Johnson. 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 U.S Army lieutenant in the 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 the

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 ...

area. In 1849 he was commissioned to survey and map the

pueblo Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlement ...

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 Buena Vista and Rancho Vallecitos de San Marcos. Having been appointed sub-agent for the San Luis Rey Indians in 1853, Couts employed Indian labor to improve the properties. With the cession of California to the United States following the

, 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 Guajome 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 Andres Solme and Catarina in 1871. By the time the Couts family settled on Rancho Guajome in 1853, Cave was prospering by supplying beef and leather to the Bay Area during the gold rush era.Rancho Guajome An Architectural Legacy Preserved
by Iris H. W. Engstrand and Mary F. Ward After Couts's death in 1874, the Rancho was managed by his son, Cave Couts, Jr. (1856–1943). Cave Couts, Jr. left the Rancho to his children. San Diego County acquired the rancho adobe from Earl Richardson, Couts' youngest son, in 1973.

Historic sites of the Rancho

* Rancho Guajome Adobe. Adobe built by Cave Johnson Couts. Rancho Guajome Adobe
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guajome Ranchos of San Diego County, California 1845 establishments in Alta California