Rancho Punta de Quentin was a
Mexican land grant 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 1840 by Governor
Juan B. Alvarado to
John B.R. Cooper. The grant comprised not only the San Quentin peninsula, but also present-day
Ross,
Kentfield and part of
San Anselmo.
History
Captain John Bautista Rogers Cooper (1791–1872) married
General Vallejo’s sister Encarnacion in 1827 and became a naturalized Mexican in 1830. In 1840, Governor Alvarado granted Cooper the two square league Rancho Punta de Quentin. His Marin holdings also included
Rancho Nicasio, which he and
Pablo de la Guerra were granted in 1844. Cooper established a lumber business, which he contracted others to run. In 1847, he leased a section of the point to the U.S. government for a sawmill. He sold his interests in both Marin County ranches to Benjamin Rush Buckelew in 1850.
Benjamin Rush Buckelew (1822–1859) and his wife, Martha, came to California in 1846 with the Hoppe and Harlan wagon train. In
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 ...
, he founded a watchmaking and jewelry shop, and manufactured gold scales for use by miners. He owned and operated the San Francisco newspaper ''
The Californian'' (1847–48). In 1850, Buckelew bought three Marin County ranches in 11 days. Besides Cooper's Rancho Punta de Quentin, Buckelew also purchased Cooper's
Rancho Nicasio and John Reed's
Rancho Corte Madera del Presidio. In 1852, the California Legislature bought twenty acres at the tip of the rancho, where the Board of Prison Commissioners planned to build a
state prison.
With the
cession 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 Quentin 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 Benjamin R. Buckelew in 1866.
Due to illness, bad luck, and poor judgment, Buckelew became embroiled in a series of costly lawsuits, resulting in the loss of all three ranchos. Buckelew fought with John Cowell and James Ross over the ranchos until his death in 1859.
In 1857, James Ross (1812–1862), in partnership with John and
Henry Cowell
Henry Dixon Cowell (; March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965) was an American composer, writer, pianist, publisher, teacher Marchioni, Tonimarie (2012)"Henry Cowell: A Life Stranger Than Fiction" ''The Juilliard Journal''. Retrieved 19 June 2022.C ...
, bought Rancho Punta de Quentin from Buckelew. Ross, a Scot who had arrived in San Francisco from
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
in 1848 and made his fortune in the wholesale liquor business, moved his family into the Buckelew home and set up a trading post called "Ross Landing". In 1870, James Ross' widow, Annie Ross, was forced to sell large parcels of land.
A Ross History Timeline
See also
*Ranchos of California
In Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California, ranchos were concessions and land grants made by the Viceroyalty of New Spain, Spanish and History of Mexico, Mexican governments from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish concessions of l ...
* List of Ranchos of California
References
{{California history
Punta de Quentin