Rancho San Antonio Abad was a land grant in what is now the western part of

Tijuana Tijuana is the most populous city of the Mexican state of Baja California, located on the northwestern Pacific Coast of Mexico. Tijuana is the municipal seat of the Tijuana Municipality, the hub of the Tijuana metropolitan area and the most popu ...

, in the

Tijuana Municipality Tijuana Municipality is a municipality in the Mexican state of Baja California. Its municipal seat is located in the city of Tijuana. According to the 2020 census, the municipality had a population of 1,922,523. Montserrat Caballero of the MOR ...

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

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 north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The name of the rancho derives from Saint Anthony the Abbot.

History

Origin

The origin of this rancho is obscure, but it was one of the earliest ranchos established around

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. It is mentioned in a report in 1828, with the various ranchos of the San Diego region, Pennasquitos, de la Nación (then the rancho of the

Presidio of San Diego El Presidio Real de San Diego (Royal Presidio of San Diego) is a historic fort in San Diego, California. It was established on May 14, 1769, by Gaspar de Portolá, leader of the first European land exploration of Alta California—at that time a ...

), San Ysidro, El Rosario and Temescal. Among them is also mentioned that of San Antonio Abad as a rancho with 300 cattle, 80 horses, 25 mules and some grain fields on it. It may have been a second rancho belonging to or used by the Presidio. The property of the Rancho San Antonio Abad would have been bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, to the south by the 11 league Rancho El Rosario and from 1829, it would have been bounded on the east by the Rancho Tía Juana. It would later in 1833, be bounded on the north by the

Rancho Melijo Rancho Melijo, or Milijo, was a Mexican land grant rancho, named after a local Kumeyaay village. It was later called Rancho La Punta for the location of the Arguello family ranch house, on a point of hills overlooking the south end of San Diego Ba ...

or Rancho de La Punta of Santiago E. Arguello, that lay from the line of hills south of the Tijuana River valley on the coast north to

San Diego Bay San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port in San Diego County, California, near the Mexico–United States border. The bay, which is long and wide, is the third largest of the three large, protected natural bays on California's of ...

. San Antonio Abad's location would put it below the modern Mexican border along where El Camino Real ran north along the coast to

. Later in 1836-37, during the time of the

Kumeyaay The Kumeyaay, also known as 'Iipai-Tiipai or by the historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Uni ...

warfare against the ranchos, this rancho was administered along with the Rancho Otay, by the same Santiago E. Arguello of Rancho Melijo, son of Santiago Arguello owner of the Rancho Tía Juana (that had been abandoned at that time due to the raids), indicating it may not yet have been in private hands at that time. Its title was never before the California Land Commission, further indicating its bounds were south of the border.

Post-Mexican American War

Following the

Mexican American War Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

, during the 1853-1854, invasion of

by the

filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent a decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking ...

William Walker his retreating force marching north along the El Camino Real to California, resting in ruined missions and abandoned ranchos along the way, finally encamped at the Rancho San Antonio Abad that lay just south of the border on the coast along the highway. There he negotiated his surrender to American officials in San Diego. A map of the Rancho Melijo made by a county surveyor for its land commission case, indicates that the line of hills extending along the border south of the Tijuana River and down the coast into Mexico, were known as the ''San Antonio Hills'', perhaps indicating the northern limit of the Abad rancho. It would seem that sometime between Walker's occupation of the abandoned rancho in 1854 and 1856 Santiago Arguello had acquired the rancho. On January 2, 1856, Santiago Arguello signed a sworn statement about the legal validity of the Mexican title of the San Pascual Rancheria. At the end of the document he signed it with a statement that indicated that he was the owner and resided at the rancho San Antonio Abad: :"Given in my rancho of San Antonio Abad a Ti Juan. S. Arguello" Rancho San Antonio Abad seems not to have been kept together under that name as it does not appear in a report of settlements and ranchos in Baja California Norte in 1906, although there are a number of ranchos named San Antonio in the area mentioned. Dirección General de Estadística, División territorial de la República Mexicana, Volume 4, Estados del Pacifico, Secretaría de Fomento, Mexico, 1907, p.324
/ref>

References

{{- San Antonio Abad San Antonio Abad Rancho San Antonio Abad Rancho San Antonio Abad Tijuana Municipality 1828 in Alta California 1828 establishments in Mexico