Rancho Paso de Robles was a Mexican land grant in present-day

San Luis Obispo County, California San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a County (United States), county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo ...

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 José Pedro Narváez. The name means "Pass of the Oaks". The grant encompassed present-day Paso Robles and Templeton.

History

The six square league Rancho Paso de Robles grant was made to José Pedro Narváez, a Mexican naval officer, who served as captain of the port of

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

from 1839 to 1844. Narváez sold Rancho Paso de Robles to Petronilo Ríos in 1845. Petronilo Ríos (1806–1870) was a Mexican soldier who came to California in the mid-1820s. He married Catarina Avila (1812–1889) in 1832. In the 1830s Ríos was shuttling between

and Mission San Miguel Arcángel where he was corporal commanding the mission guard. In 1835, with local Indian labor, he built the Rios-Caledonia Adobe. In 1839, he was promoted to commander of artillery at the presidio in Monterey, and retired from the military in 1840. In 1842 Ríos obtained the Rancho San Bernabe land grant and moved his family there. In 1845 Ríos moved his family from Rancho San Bernabe to Rancho Paso de Robles. In 1846 William Reed, Miguel Garcia, and Petronilo Ríos bought the San Miguel rancho from

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 ...

. Ríos and his family moved into the Rios-Caledonia Adobe in 1851. 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 Paso de Robles 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 Petronilo Ríos in 1886. In 1857, Ríos sold Rancho Paso de Robles and moved to Santa Clara. The entire rancho was purchased by James H. Blackburn, Daniel Drew Blackburn, natives of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

who came to California in 1849, and Lazard Godchaux. In 1860, the partners divided the rancho, with D.D. Blackburn taking one league of land including the hot springs. In 1865, D.D. Blackburn sold a half-interest to Drury W. James. D. W. James had come from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

to California in 1849, and drove cattle from Santa Clara to the gold mines. Later he bought cattle as far south as

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, ...

. James stopped at the Paso Robles springs on a cattle-buying trip in 1851. J.H. Blackburn never married, but D. D. Blackburn and D. W. James married sisters, Celia and Louisa Dunn in 1866. After the death of J.H. Blackburn, there were many lawsuits brought by some of the D. D. Blackburn children for portions of the estate, which had been willed to Mrs. D. D. Blackburn and certain of the children.Annie L. Morrison and John H. Haydon, 1917, ''History of San Luis Obispo County and Environs California with Biographical Sketches'', Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California

References

{{California history Paso de Robles Paso Robles, California

History

See also

References