Rancho Milpitas 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 1838 by governor Juan Alvarado to Ygnacio Pastor. The grant encompassed present day

Jolon Jolon (; Spanish: ''Jolón''; Salinan: ''Xolon'') is a small unincorporated village in southern Monterey County, California. Jolon is located on the San Antonio River Valley, west of Salinas Valley and is entirely surrounded by Fort Hunter ...

History

With secularization, the lands of the

Mission San Antonio de Padua Mission San Antonio de Padua is a Spanish missions in California, Spanish mission established by the Franciscan order in present-day Monterey County, California, Monterey County, California, near the present-day town of Jolon, California, Jolon. ...

were divided into at least ten Mexican land grants (including Rancho Milpitas (Little Fields), Rancho El Piojo (The Louse),

Rancho San Miguelito de Trinidad Rancho San Miguelito de Trinidad was a Mexican land grant in present day southern Monterey County, California given in 1841 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to José Rafael Gonzalez. The grant extended along the Nacimiento River and Stony Creek, wes ...

, and

Rancho Los Ojitos Rancho Los Ojitos was a Ranchos of California, Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado, Juan Alvarado to Mariano de Jesus Soberanes. The grant is now mostly Lake San Antonio w ...

(Little Springs)). Ygnacio Pastor, a neophyte of the San Antonio Mission, received the grant of Rancho Milpitas from Governor Alvarado in 1838. 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 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, ...

, 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 Milpitas 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 Ygnacio Pastor in 1875.

Faxon Atherton Faxon Dean Atherton (1815–1877) was an American businessman, trader and landowner; initially successful in Valparaíso, Chile. He became a prominent citizen of San Mateo County, California. The town of Atherton, California is named after hi ...

purchased Rancho Milpitas from Ygnacio Pastor immediately upon its title clearance in 1875. By 1880, the James Brown Cattle Company owned and operated Rancho Milpitas and Rancho Los Ojitos.

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

's Piedmont Land and Cattle Company acquired the rancho in 1925. In 1940, in preparation for involvement in World War II, the U.S. War Department purchased the land from Hearst to create a troop training facility known as the Hunter Liggett Military Reservation.Draft Fort Hunter Ligget Special Resource Study & Environmental Assessment: Chapter 2 Cultural Resources
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Historic sites of the Rancho

* The Hacienda was completed in 1930 for use by William Randolph Hearst, and it is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

References

{{coord , 36.010, -121.243, region:US-CA_type:landmark, display=title Milpitas (Pastor)

Milpitas Milpitas (Spanish for or little cornfields) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, part of Silicon Valley and the broader San Francisco Bay Area. Located on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, it is bordered by San Jose to the south, ...

History

Historic sites of the Rancho

See also

References