Rancho Punta de los Reyes 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

Marin County, California Marin County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat a ...

, given in 1836 by Governor

Nicolás Gutiérrez Lieutenant Colonel Nicolás Gutiérrez was twice acting governor of the northern part of ''Las Californias'' (what had previously been Alta California) in 1836, from January to May and July to November. Gutiérrez served two short terms as ...

to James Richard Berry. The grant was east of Rancho Las Baulines and south of Rancho Tomales y Baulines.

History

James Richard Berry (–1847), an Irishman and a colonel in the Mexican army, came to California from Mexico. In 1836, Governor Gutierriez, granted Berry the eight square league Rancho Punta de los Reyes. In 1838, Berry sold the two square league portion along the western shore of

Tomales Bay Tomales Bay is a long, narrow inlet of the Pacific Ocean in Marin County in northern California in the United States. Geography Tomales Bay is approximately long and averages nearly wide, with relatively shallow depths averaging 18 ft, eff ...

(known as the "Inverness Pocket") of the Rancho Punta de los Reyes grant, to Joseph Snook (1798–1848), grantee of

Rancho San Bernardo San Bernardo (also, Rancho San Bernardo) is a village in Chihuahua, Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the ...

. When, in 1843, Rafael Garcia, the owner of adjacent Rancho Tomales y Baulines, moved his cattle onto Berry’s remaining land, Berry moved west, squatting on Antonio Osio’s Rancho Punta de los Reyes Sobrante. In 1844, Berry sold Rancho Punta de los Reyes to Stephen Smith of Rancho Bodega, to whom he owed money. Berry moved to John Martin’s Rancho Corte Madera de Novato and died there in 1847. In 1848, Smith sold Rancho Punta de los Reyes to Bethuel Phelps. Dairy and Beef Ranches on the Point Reyes Peninsula 1834-1945
D.S. Livingston, National Park ServiceRobert H. Becker, "Historical Survey of Point Reyes," Land Use Survey. Proposed Point Reyes National Seashore (San Francisco: Region Four Office, National Park Service, February, 1961) 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 Punta de los Reyes 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 Bethuel Phelps in 1866. Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886
In 1854, Bethuel Phelps sold Rancho Punta de los Reyes to Andrew Randall. Randall (1819–1856), a native of

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

, came to California on the U.S.S. ''Portsmouth'' in 1846. Randall was a geologist with medical training. He founded, and was elected chairman of the

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, that is among the largest List of natural history museums, museums of natural history in the world, housing over ...

. In addition to Rancho Punta de los Reyes and Rancho Punta de los Reyes Sobrante in Marin County, Randall was the claimant for

Rancho Cañada de la Segunda Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad *Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California ** List of California Ranchos * Ranchos, Buenos ...

and Rancho San Lorenzo in

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

; and Rancho Aguas Frias in Butte County - a little over . However, he had stretched his credit to the limit, and Randall could not or would not pay immediately. Joseph Hetherington, a creditor, undertook to force payment by hounding him on every occasion with insults and threats. Hetherington fatally shot Randall in a

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 ...

hotel on July 24, 1856, and the Committee of Vigilance hanged Hetherington on July 29, 1856.

References

{{California history Punta de los Reyes (Phelps)

Punta Punta is an Afro-Indigenous dance and cultural music deeply rooted in the cultural traditions of the Garifuna of Honduras. It heavily incorporates West African/Central African drumming, the dance primarily of Angola and Congo origins. The musi ...

History

See also

References