Rancho San Gregorio 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

San Mateo County, California San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City, California, Redwood City is th ...

given in 1839 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Antonio Buelna. At the time, the grant was in Santa Cruz County; an 1868 boundary adjustment gave the land to San Mateo County. The rancho extended from

Tunitas Creek Tunitas Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. stream in San Mateo County, California. ''Tunitas'' is Spanish for "little prickly pears". Course The creek rises at an a ...

in the north to the mouth of Pomponio Creek and encompassed

San Gregorio, California San Gregorio (Spanish for " St. Gregory") is an unincorporated community in San Mateo County, California, with a population of 214 people. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area, south of Half Moon Bay. Just east of Highway 1, it is inla ...

, San Gregorio State Beach and La Honda

History

Plat of Part of the Rancho San Gregorio East

Plat of Part of the Rancho San Gregorio West

Antonio Jose Buelna (1790–1846), son of José Antonio Buelna (1754–1821) married Maria Concepción Valencia (b.1798) in 1816. In 1836,

José Castro José Antonio Castro (1808 – February 1860) was a Californio politician, statesman, and general who served as interim Governor of Alta California and later Governor of Baja California. During the Bear Flag Revolt and the American Conque ...

, Juan Alvarado, Antonio Buelna, and José Antonio de la Guerra (son

José de la Guerra y Noriega José Antonio de la Guerra y Noriega (March 6, 1779 – February 18, 1858) was a Californio military officer, ranchero, and founder of the prominent Guerra family of California. He served as the Commandant of the Presidio of Santa Barbara and the ...

) signed the demand that 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 ...

resign. In addition to the four square league Rancho San Gregorio grant, Alvarado granted Antonio Buelna Rancho San Francisquito in

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259 as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County form the ...

in 1839. Buelna built a road, known today as La Honda Road and Old La Honda Road, over the hills connecting his two ranchos. Buelna in 1842, made a will by which he left to his wife, Maria Concepción Valencia, Juan Bautista Buelna, and three others, each an undivided one-fifth share of the rancho. After Antonio Buelna died in 1846, María Concepción Valencia married Francisco Rodriguez, a widower and grantee of Rancho Arroyo del Rodeo. In 1849, María Concepción Valencia de Rodríguez sold a one square league of the eastern portion of Rancho San Gregorio to Salvador Castro. 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. Separate claims for Rancho San Gregorio, required by the Land Act of 1851, were presented by the widow of Buelna and Salvador Castro for their respective portions of Rancho San Gregorio. A claim was filed for three square leagues by Encarnación Buelna de Rodríguez and heirs of María Concepción Valencia de Rodríguez 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, but was rejected on the grounds there was no proof that the Maria Concepcion Valencia Rodriguez, was the heir of the original grantee. On appeal, the District Court confirmed the grant and the San Gregorio (Rodriguez) 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 at in 1861. A claim was filed by Salvador Castro for one square league with the Land Commission in 1852 and confirmed in 1856. However, the 1857 official survey of Castro's land gave him more than the Land Commission thought he should to have, the surplus being taken from the lands of the United States. Castro appealed his case to the US Supreme Court, but lost. The San Gregorio (Castro) grant was patented at in 1861. Juan Bautista Buelna died in 1846 with two surviving children (Maria Louisa Buelna and Juan Baptiste Buelna). Maria Louisa Buelna and Juan Baptiste Buelna sold to Hugh Hamilton in 1866, and then sold their one fifth interest in the rancho to William Trenouth. A land title case was brought before the San Francisco Superior Court in 1872, and continued for another ten years.''William Trenouth v. S.B. Gilbert'', December 3, 1890, Reports of Cases, California. Supreme Court, Volume 86, pp.584-589, Bancroft-Whitney Company, 1891

References

{{California history San Gregorio