Rancho San Bernardo 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 1841 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Mariano de Jesus Soberanes and Juan Soberanes. The grant extended along the west bank of the Salinas River. The grant encompassed present-day San Ardo.

History

The Soberanes family patriarch, José Maria Soberanes (1753-1803) accompanied the

Portola expedition Portola may refer to: * Portola (album), ''Portola'' (album), a 1998 album by Rose Melberg * Portola, California * Portola, San Francisco, California * Portola Music Festival People with the surname * Gaspar de Portolá (ca. 1717-aft.1784), Spanish ...

to San Francisco Bay in 1769. Soberanes married Maria Josefa Castro (1759-1822) and received Rancho Buena Vista. His sons Feliciano Soberanes (1788-1868) and Mariano Soberanes (1794-1859) were granted Rancho El Alisal in 1833. Mariano de Jesus Soberanes was a soldier and also held the office of

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

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 ...

. Mariano Soberanes married María Isidora Vallejo (1791-1830) sister of General

Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (July 4, 1807 – January 18, 1890) was a Californio general, statesman, and public figure. He was born a subject of Spain, performed his military duties as an officer of the Republic of Mexico, and shaped the tran ...

. Their daughter, Maria Ygnacia Soberanes, married Dr. Edward Turner Bale grantee of Rancho Carne Humana. Mariano de Jesus Soberanes was granted the three square league Rancho San Bernardo in 1842. 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 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 Mariano Soberanes in 1874. In 1855, Francisco Rico, grantee of nearby Rancho San Lorenzo, bought all of Rancho San Bernardo. Meyer Brandenstein (-1906) and a partner, Lazard Godchaux, bought two thirds ( ) of Rancho San Bernardo in 1871. Alberto Trescony of the adjacent Rancho San Lucas owned the other third (). Brandenstein and Godchaux organized the San Bernardo and Salinas Valley Canal and Irrigation Company, a large scale irrigation project in Southern Monterey County, in 1884.Margaret Barbree Rosenberg,1980,
San Bernardo Rancho and The Southern Salinas Valley 1871-1981
', Society of California Pioneers Series, Regional Oral History Office University of California

References

{{California history San Bernardo (Soberanes) San Bernardo San Bernardo (Soberanes)