Rancho San Emidio 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

Kern County, California Kern County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield. Kern County compris ...

given in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José Antonio Dominguez. The grant was located along San Emigdio Creek in the northeastern foothills of the

San Emigdio Mountains The San Emigdio Mountains are a part of the Transverse Ranges in Southern California, extending from Interstate 5 at Lebec and Gorman on the east to Highway 33–166 on the west. They link the Tehachapis and Temblor Range and form the southe ...

, between Santiago Creek on the west and Pleitito Creek on the east. There is speculation on the name. Either it is an alternative spelling of San Emigdio ( Saint Emygdius the protector Saint against earthquakes), or an intentional corruption, meant as a witticism since "emidio" means tired or weary. The rancho was established at a way stop at the foot of San Emigdio Canyon on ''

El Camino Viejo El Camino Viejo a Los Ángeles (), also known as El Camino Viejo and the Old Los Angeles Trail, was the oldest north-south trail in the interior of Spanish colonial Las Californias (1769–1822) and Mexican Alta California (1822–1848), present d ...

'' ('the old road,' 18th-19th century) that ran along the eastern edge of the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...

from

Pueblo de Los Angeles Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settlemen ...

to the

Mission Santa Clara de Asís Mission Santa Clara de Asís () is a Spanish mission in the city of Santa Clara, California. The mission, which was the eighth in California, was founded on January 12, 1777, by the Franciscans. Named for Saint Clare of Assisi, who founded th ...

and later on to Rancho San Antonio, on

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

History

José Antonio Dominguez (1796–1844), was a soldier at the Presidio of Santa Barbara. In 1819 Dominguez married Maria Francisca Antonia Villa. Their daughter, Maria Antonia Dominguez, was later the grantee of Rancho Sisquoc (to west near present-day Lompoc). José Antonio Dominguez received the four square league Rancho San Emidio in 1842. Dominguez died during the winter of 1843-44, and his widow and seven children moved back to Santa Barbara.

John C. Frémont Major general (United States), Major-General John Charles Frémont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was a United States Army officer, explorer, and politician. He was a United States senator from California and was the first History of the Repub ...

acquired a half interest in the rancho from the Dominguez heirs. 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 San Emidio 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 Francisco Dominguez and John C. Frémont in 1866. The Dominguez half share was sold to

David W. Alexander David W. Alexander (June 22, 1812 – April 29, 1886) was an early California politician and pioneer in Los Angeles County, California. He was on the Board of Supervisors in 1853 and 1854, and in 1855 he was elected the third sheriff for the count ...

and Francisco P. Temple, who sold to E.C. Singletary. In 1860, the Frémont half share went to his daughter, Frances Cornelia Fremont Porter, who in 1868 sold to

Edward Fitzgerald Beale Edward Fitzgerald Beale (February 4, 1822 – April 22, 1893) was an American naval officer, frontiersman, rancher and diplomat. He fought in the Mexican–American War, emerging as a hero of the Battle of San Pasqual in 1846. He achieved n ...

, owner the

Tejon Ranch Tejon Ranch Company (), based in Lebec, California, is one of the largest private landowners in California. The company was incorporated in 1936 to organize the ownership of a large tract of land that was consolidated from four Mexican land gr ...

. Beale sold the share to E.C. Singletary in 1877. In 1878, James Ben Ali Haggin bought the whole rancho from E.C. Singletary (who may have been acting as an agent for Haggin). Haggin transferred the rancho to the Kern County Land Company on its incorporation in 1890.Margaret Aseman Cooper Zonlight, 1979, ''Land, water, and settlement in Kern County, California, 1850-1890'', Ayer Co Pub,

Tenneco Tenneco, Inc. (formerly Tenneco Automotive and originally Tennessee Gas Transmission Company) is an American automotive components original equipment manufacturer and an aftermarket ride control and emissions products manufacturer. It is a ''F ...

acquired Kern County Land in the 1970. In 1996, The Wildlands Conservancy acquired the land, which is now its Wind Wolves Preserve.

References

External links

Wind Wolves Preserve
{{Kern County, California San Emidio San Emidio El Camino Viejo San Emigdio Mountains History of the San Joaquin Valley Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass San Emidio

History

See also

References

External links