Rancho Los Coches 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

Monterey County, California Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county (United States), county located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 439,035. The count ...

given in 1841 by Governor Juan Alvarado to María Josefa Soberanes. The name means "the pigs". The grant was south of Soledad and extended along the Arroyo Seco.

History

The Soberanes family patriarch, José Maria Soberanes (1753-1803) accompanied the

Portola expedition Portola may refer to: * Portola (album), ''Portola'' (album), a 1998 album by Rose Melberg * Portola, California * Portola, San Francisco, California * Portola Music Festival People with the surname * Gaspar de Portolá (ca. 1717-aft.1784), Spanish ...

to San Francisco Bay in 1769. Soberanes married Maria Josefa Castro (1759-1822) and received Rancho Buena Vista. His sons Feliciano Soberanes (1788-1868) and Mariano Soberanes (1794-1859) were granted

Rancho El Alisal Rancho El Alisal was a Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, California, given in 1833 by Governor José Figueroa to the brothers Feliciano and Mariano Soberanes and to William Edward Petty Hartnell. Alisal means Alder tree (sycamor ...

in 1833. Feliciano Soberanes married Maria Antonia Rodriguez (1795-1883) in 1810. He was the grantee of Rancho San Lorenzo in 1841 and

Rancho Ex-Mission Soledad Rancho Ex-Mission Soledad was a Mexican land grant in the Salinas Valley, in present-day Monterey County, California. It was given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to Feliciano Soberanes. The grant derives its name from the secularized Mission Nue ...

in 1845. Feliciano's son Francisco Maria Soberanes (1818-1887), was granted Rancho Sanjon de Santa Rita in 1841. Feliciano's daughter, Maria Josefa Soberanes, was granted the two square league Rancho Los Coches in 1841. In 1839 Maria Josefa Soberanes married William Brunner Richardson, a tailor who had come from

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, seven years before. Rancho Los Coches became known as the Richardson Rancho. 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 Rancho Los Coches 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 María Josefa Soberanes in 1883. 1847, during 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, ...

, Captain

John C. Frémont Major general (United States), Major-General John Charles Frémont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was a United States Army officer, explorer, and politician. He was a United States senator from California and was the first History of the Repub ...

camped on the Richardson ranch property. This was a major loss for the Richardsons and was the probable reason for the ultimate demise of the Rancho. From 1848 to 1854, the rancho was a stop on the San Juan Bautista-Soledad stage line, and from 1854 to 1868 the

Butterfield Overland Stage Butterfield Overland Mail (officially Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service in ...

running between

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Like most of the other California Ranchos, Los Coches was already in trouble when the drought of 1860 hit. The property was acquired by David Jacks in a sheriff's sale in 1865.

California Historical Landmark at the Rancho

Richardson Adobe was built by William Brunner Richardson in 1843 with wooden additions made in 1848. The house is a

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 ...

number 494. California Historical Landmark reads: :''NO. 494 RICHARDSON ADOBE - Los Coches Rancho (8,994.2 acres) was granted to María Josefa Soberanes de Richardson by the Mexican government in 1841. Her husband, William Brunner Richardson, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, built the adobe house here in 1843, and planted the nearby locust trees in 1846. This was the site of Captain John C. Frémont's encampment in 1846 and 1847, the adobe was later used as a stage station and post office. It was donated to the State of California in 1958 by Margaret Jacks.''californiahistoricallandmarks.com Landmarks chl-494
/ref>

References

{{California history Los Coches (Soberanes) National Register of Historic Places in Monterey County, California

History

California Historical Landmark at the Rancho

See also

References