Rancho Jamul 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 1829 by Mexican governor

José María de Echeandía José María de Echeandía (?–1871) was the Mexican governor of Alta California from 1825 to 1831 and again from 1832 to 1833. He was the only governor of The Californias that lived in San Diego.José Bandini, in a note to Governor Echeandía ...

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 ...

. In 1831, Governor

Manuel Victoria Manuel Victoria (died 1833) was governor of the Mexican-ruled territory of Alta California from January 1831 to December 6, 1831. He died in exile. He was appointed governor on March 8, 1830 by Lucas Alamán. Exile The revolt, called Battle of ...

reconfirmed the grant to Pío Pico. The grant extended from present day Jamul southeast to Dulzura. It is currently the 5,600-acre Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve, operated by the

California Department of Fish and Wildlife The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), formerly known as the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), is an American state agency under the California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Wildlife manages ...

History

Pío Pico was given a provisional grant of one square league Governor Victoria in 1831. His brother,

Andrés Pico Andrés Pico (November 18, 1810 – February 14, 1876) was a Californio who became a successful rancher, fought in the contested Battle of San Pascual during the Mexican–American War, and negotiated promises of post-war protections for Calif ...

, ran the rancho from 1836 to 1838. In 1837 the rancho was attacked by Indians, and the rancho abandoned. In 1851, Pico's brother-in-law, John Forster, claiming to be acting as Pico's agent, sold Rancho Jamul to Bonifacio Lopez,

Philip Crosthwaite Philip Crosthwaite (December 27, 1825 – February 19, 1903) was an early settler of San Diego, California, and Rosarito, Baja California. Early life Philip Crosthwaite was born 1825, in Athy, County Kildare, Ireland, to Edward and Rachel Crosthw ...

(Lopez son-in-law), Richard Rust, and William E. Rust. However, it does not appear that anything was ever done in performance of the contract by anyone. But this was the cause latter of extensive litigation concerning ownership of Rancho Jamul. 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 two square leagues by Pío Pico for Rancho Jamul 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, but was rejected in 1855 on the grounds of insufficient documentation of the grant. Pico claimed his papers were lost in an Indian attack on the Rancho. While stationed in San Diego, Captain

Henry Stanton Burton Henry Stanton Burton (1818–1869) was a graduate of West Point, a career American Army officer who served in the Second Seminole War, Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. Early life Henry Stanton Burton was born in September 181 ...

(–1869) of the First Regiment of New York Volunteers and his new wife, María Amparo Ruiz (1833 –1895), occupied Rancho Jamul in 1854. According to an affidavit made by María Burton and filed in the United States district court in 1880, Burton purchased the interests of Lopez and Crosthwaite in 1853; and the interests of Richard and William E. Rust in 1854. In 1867, nearly twelve years after the claim had been rejected, an appearance was entered in the United States district court on behalf of General Burton. In 1870, María Burton arranged for Pío Pico to declare that he had sold all his interest to Burton. In 1875, Nellie Burton, a daughter of Henry Stanton Burton and María Burton, married Miguél de Pedrorena (1844–1882). In 1876, the grant for Rancho Jamul 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 heirs of Henry S. Burton (María A. Burton, and her son, Henry H. Burton and daughter, Nellie Burton Pedrorena). The rancho was used as collateral for mortgages, and numerous claims were filed against the estate and the litigation continued for years. The estate of Henry S. Burton was not settled until 1891. The title changed hands repeatedly. María Burton and her son, Henry Burton, founded the Jamul Portland Cement Manufacturing Company in 1889 but went bankrupt in 1892.David C. Burkenroad, ''Jamul Cement: Speculation in the San Diego Hinterland'', Journal of San Diego History 25, Fall 1979 In 1915,

John D. Spreckels John Diedrich Spreckels (August 16, 1853 – June 7, 1926) was an American businessman who founded a transportation and real estate empire in San Diego, California, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was the son of German-American indu ...

sold to Rancho Jamul to Louis J. Wilde. The ranch was later owned by San Diego's Daley family. Between 1998 and 2001, the ranch was purchased by the

. What remains of the rancho is currently Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve

References

External links

Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve
{{ California history Jamul East County (San Diego County) Jamul

History

See also

References

External links