Read Ebook: The Romance of the Ranchos by Conner E Palmer

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Rancho San Antonio

No horses so fast, no cattle so fine, no land so fertile, no rancho more famous than the Rancho San Antonio. No family more prominent, no hospitality more welcome or as freely partaken, no hacienda more lovely, happy or prosperous than that of the Lugos.

Antonio Maria Lugo received the grant of the rancho from the King of Spain in 1810 and for fifty years thereafter this old Spanish Don and his sons were the sole owners of its 29,514 acres, adjoining the original pueblo grant of the City of Los Angeles on the southeast.

The Lugos saw the rise of the Mission chain to the height of its glory, then the passing of Spanish control and the rise of Mexico, the breaking up of the Mission chain, the fall of Mexico and the coming of the Stars and Stripes. Wars and governments came and passed and the Lugo family stood them all and kept their rancho intact. They built a wonderful adobe in the pueblo of Los Angeles facing the Plaza directly opposite the church and there the social life of the city centered.

But American ways and American prosperity they could not stand and as the County grew, bit by bit they lost their vast rancho by sale, foreclosure and litigation.

In 1865 the Sheriff sold the home place of Vicente Lugo, one of the sons, for a consideration of less than .00 an acre. With the conveyance went a large wooden house constructed by the younger Lugo, one of the first wooden houses in the County. In 1883 Jonathan S. Slauson, founder of Azusa and for whom Slauson Avenue is named, purchased the land constituting what had been the home place for 0 an acre. In 1910 the heirs of Slauson sold the land for 0 an acre.

In 1927 part of this land was sold for a consideration of ,000 an acre for the site of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company's plant. Only the cluster of trees now shows where the great wooden house once stood while hundreds of workmen pass daily over the paths and gardens of the noble Don Vicente.

On other parts of the rancho have been built Huntington Park, Vernon, Walnut Park, South Gate and Lynwood, all prosperous communities. The original adobe house of Antonio Maria Lugo is yet standing on Baker Avenue opposite the Southern California Edison Company's Power Station and near the Union Plant of the Consolidated Steel Corporation.

The Lugos builded well and both the hacienda and the city home on the plaza are still in good condition. Both should be landmarked and properly preserved--testimony to the finest in life and honor in the days of the Dons.

Rancho Los Felis

North of the Pueblo of Los Angeles and adjoining the Los Angeles River on the west is the Rancho Los Felis, 6,647 acres.

The rancho was granted in 1843 to Maria Ygnacia Verdugo but it is evident that she had been occupying the land for some time previous to that date as on February 17th, 1841, the City of Los Angeles, by the President of its Common Council, granted to her the "right to use the water from the river of Our Lady of Angels for cultivating the lands of Los Felis." At that time there was so much water in the Los Angeles River in excess of what the pueblo inhabitants could use that the city felt free to dispose of part of it in this manner.

In 1853 Dona Verdugo, signing by mark, granted to her daughters parts of the rancho. These deeds recited that they were made for "the welfare and progress of my daughters." But the daughters failed to progress and soon sold their respective parts for per acre.

Antonio F. Coronel, famous pioneer of Los Angeles, purchased the rancho and subsequently he deeded it to James Lick, equally famous pioneer of San Francisco, by this "more or less" definite description: "Commencing at a point on Los Angeles River; thence Southerly 3,150 varas, more or less; thence Westerly 6,200 varas, more or less, to a napalera ; thence Northerly 5,000 varas, more or less, to a calera and thence Easterly following along the right bank of the Los Angeles River to the place of beginning 7,100 varas, more or less, containing more or less one and a half square leagues of land."

In 1882, 4,071 acres were purchased by Colonel Griffith Jenkins Griffith and in 1884 Colonel Griffith sold back to the City of Los Angeles for ,000 the valuable water rights donated 43 years previously.

In the western and southern parts of the rancho development followed rapidly. The Lick Tract, now part of Hollywood, was platted, then Ivanhoe and the Edendale district. But most of the mountain and slope land of the Los Felis Rancho was undeveloped except by hand of nature until 1898 when Colonel Griffith deeded 3,015 acres of unsurpassed land to the City of Los Angeles, one of the finest gifts ever presented to a city--Griffith Park.

Rancho San Pedro

Within the boundaries of Rancho San Pedro was Nigger Slough, Rattlesnake Island and the Salt Flats, and its own name was none too beautiful. But the Rancho San Pedro overcame all such handicaps and developed into a favorite child in the family of the Spanish Ranchos.

This rancho, containing 43,119 acres, was one of the tremendously big Spanish grants made by a Spanish King, who believed the limit of population which Southern California could ever care for was represented in the ten Missions, four Pueblos and the comparatively few Ranchos.

The grant was made to Juan Jose Dominguez of an illustrious family quite different from the average Spanish family living in California in its early days. The Dominguez heirs have each in succession adapted themselves to every change and kept a large part of their rancho intact to the present day. But much of the land was so strategically located on the sea, around the harbor and on main lines of boulevards and railroads between Los Angeles and San Pedro, that it was inevitable that intensive development should take place on these parts.

On December 22, 1854, the Dominguez heirs sold 2,400 acres at the harbor to Phineas Banning, B. D. Wilson, John G. Downey and associates for ,000, or nearly .00 an acre, and on this and adjoining land Banning founded the town of Wilmington, originally called New San Pedro. During the Civil War Phineas Banning and B. D. Wilson in a burst of patriotic enthusiasm donated a large parcel of land in their new town to the United States government for Drum Barracks, and as such it served a useful and vital purpose, not only as a supply station and barracks, but, as well, to hold down anti-Union sentiment. It was easy to donate the land but it took eight years and a special act of Congress for Banning and Wilson to get the land back after the close of the War.

Nine miles north of Wilmington but within the same rancho was platted Comptonville, now Compton, originally planned as a temperance colony. Ten miles westerly and also in the same rancho, Redondo Reach, platted in 1889, became a famous pleasure resort. Between these far distant points have been laid out the towns of Gardena, Moneta, and Torrance. In addition to these there are now many hundreds of small farms, and probably the world's largest aggregation of oil tank farms, two or three airports, an excellent and productive oil field, and there is plenty of land left in the rancho.

Such is the story of a gift from a King--a Rancho of success.

Rancho Santa Anita

The Rancho Santa Anita, covered with oaks and on gentle, sloping ground, was situated between Pasadena and Monrovia, and includes within its 13,319 acres the cities of Sierra Madre and Arcadia. Its title was founded on a grant to Hugo Reid made in 1841, confirmed by Mexico in 1845 and by the United States in 1857.

For 20 cents an acre Hugo Reid conveyed the rancho to Henry Dalton, an Englishman who had for 25 years lived in South America. Subsequently it passed to William Wolfskill, whose home in the Pueblo of Los Angeles stood on the present site of the Southern Pacific station. Wolfskill left the rancho to his son, Lewis, and the younger Wolfskill sold it in 1872 for ,000 to H. Newmark & Co. Both Harris Newmark of that firm and Hugo Reid, the first owner of the rancho, have perpetuated their names in history by their writings of early Los Angeles. Mr. Newmark's book, "Sixty Years in Southern California," has had a wide circulation.

Three years later for nearly three times the amount paid by H. Newmark and Co. the rancho was purchased by E. J. Baldwin. Lucky at the mines, lucky in the markets, lucky with horses and luckiest of all with land,--no wonder they called him "Lucky" Baldwin.

Baldwin at this time was a San Franciscan and had made millions in the Ophir mines of Nevada. He built the "fireproof" Baldwin Hotel, the largest in San Francisco, later destroyed by fire. But the charm of Rancho Santa Anita soon took Baldwin from his northern home and he moved into the large ranch house, devoting the balance of his life to the development of this rancho and the acquiring of others. Upon his death in 1909, his daughters, Anita M. Baldwin and Clara Baldwin Stocker, succeeded him in the ownership of Rancho Santa Anita.

Baldwin's greatest love was for horses and he developed a breed of racing stock which became world-famous. Next to his love for horses he loved trees and he bordered every road within his rancho with trees and jealously fostered and guarded them. The towering lines of Eucalyptus trees along Huntington Drive and Santa Anita Avenue through the Rancho Santa Anita stand as evidence of the hand of "Lucky" Baldwin--those are his monuments.

Rancho La Brea

For the inhabitants of the pueblo, later the City of Los Angeles, the Rancho La Brea has always been one of the most useful of the ranchos. The rancho derived its name from the La Brea Pits where the brea, or crude oil, oozed to the surface to catch prehistoric animals and preserve them for many thousands of years and to catch a few stray cattle in the Spanish days, and also to furnish excellent roofing for the adobes in the Pueblo of Los Angeles.

The rancho was first granted January 6, 1828, by Jose Antonio Carrillo, Alcalde of the Pueblo of Los Angeles, to Antonio Jose Rocha, and comprised one square league of land. Early conveyances, however, provided that the owners of the rancho, while they were to have complete title, nevertheless were to allow the inhabitants of the pueblo unmolested right to take such brea as they might need for the roofs of their adobes.

Antonio Jose Rocha built an excellent adobe in the Pueblo of Los Angeles as his pueblo home and this adobe, later known as the Rocha House, was purchased in 1855 by the Board of Supervisors and the City of Los Angeles and used jointly as the Jail, the Sheriff's Office, the Court House and the City Hall.

In 1860 the Rocha heirs sold the Rancho to John Hancock by a deed which described the property as being a rancho "some 4 or 8 miles West of the Pueblo of Los Angeles." Cornelius Cole, then United States Senator from California, received 500 acres of land in this rancho as an attorney fee for services rendered the Hancock family and on these acres platted Colegrove, now a part of Hollywood. However, much of the rancho was held intact by Mr. Hancock and Major Henry Hancock, and later G. Allan Hancock, and for many years the land with its springs, flowing streams and gentle ravines provided excellent hunting ground for the people of the town of Los Angeles. As late as 1892 there appears a conveyance, executed by Mrs. Hancock, conveying 20 acres of land and reserving for fifteen years the right to hunt for game. The subsequent platting of the land following the completion of the Los Angeles-Pacific Interurban lines soon ruined the land for hunting purposes.

For years the Hancock heirs took immense quantities of oil from the productive oil field and, as the oil decreased, the development and growth of the city changed the character of the land and the black sump holes gave way to green lawns and the tall, ugly derricks to fine homes, as the Wilshire District, one of the world's finest residential sections, was built on the Rancho La Brea.

Rancho Cienega o'Paso de La Tijera

How differently the Spanish and the Americans viewed their ranches is quite apparent from the names they gave them. The Americans dubbed their ranches the "Diamond Bar," the "3 X," the "109," or some other rather picturesque but meaningless title.

The Spaniards blessed their ranchos by dedicating them to Santa Anita, San Rafael, Santa Gertrudes, or San Geronimo. They saw the many little streams of water flowing from the springs on what is now Beverly Hills and named that Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas--the gathering of the waters. They loved the big oaks of the district along Ventura Boulevard between North Hollywood and Girard and named it Rancho El Encino--the oaks. What the Americans call the Baldwin Hills--they saw naturally formed a pass resembling scissors and thus was named Rancho Cienega o'Paso de La Tijera.

In 1843 Governor Manuel Micheltorena granted Rancho Cienega o'Paso de La Tijera to Vicente Sanchez, friend of the Mexican government, valiant soldier and good citizen. But he did not live long to enjoy his rancho and at about the time California became a state his heirs partitioned his land holdings. Tomas A. Sanchez acquired the rancho--his sisters taking property on Nigger Alley in the Pueblo of Los Angeles as their share.

Tomas Sanchez also had a well deserved reputation for extraordinary bravery and was Sheriff of Los Angeles County from 1860 to 1867, a period in which crime waves were permanent and the accepted order of the day.

Gradually the Rancho increased in value. In 1875 Sanchez sold a half interest for ,000, later he sold a fourth and finally another Sheriff sold the remainder. E. J. Baldwin became the owner. Baldwin found this rancho something of a white elephant. Sheep ranching became unprofitable and the land was not adapted to orange groves and he knew nothing of the oil beneath it. But he held the property and when he died in 1909 his estate listed Rancho Cienega o'Paso de La Tijera as one of its most valuable possessions. The Baldwin heirs sold large parts of the rancho, and the Los Angeles Investment Company subdivided tract after tract within its bounds.

Seemingly no matter how fast this old rancho has been subdivided the remaining unsubdivided part grows in value by leaps and bounds directly contrary to its diminishing size. Like the estate of "Lucky" Baldwin the estate of his daughter, Clara Baldwin Stocker, recently deceased, lists as its most valued possession the remainder of the Rancho Cienega o'Paso de La Tijera.

Rancho Ex-Mission de San Fernando

The remark is often heard, "I knew the San Fernando Valley when it was a wheat field." Thousands of Angelenos recall the founding of Van Nuys and Owensmouth and the platting of Tract 1000, the largest subdivision in Los Angeles County. And even the newcomers have seen almost unbelievable development. But what of the valley before Tract 1000; what before the wheat?

When the Fathers of the Mission of San Fernando completed their Mission and looked out through its arches their vision could not include land not theirs. The grant to the Mission described 121,000 acres extending from mountains to mountains on all sides of the valley, and named the rancho Mission de San Fernando, and as such it prospered.

Spain encouraged and protected the Missions of California and granted to them great tracts of land--Mexico plundered and destroyed the Missions and seized their lands. Among these Mission lands seized by the Mexican government was the prize of them all, the Mission de San Fernando. For years chaos reigned at the Mission. The government drove off many of the Indians, others left and the herds of cattle became legitimate prey alike for "Gentlemen of Mexico" and Mexican bandits not claiming the distinction.

In 1846 armed invasion of California was commenced by the Americans. Governor Pio Pico in a blaze of oratory declared that at any cost the "Department of California" must be retained as property of Mexico forever and asked for authority to sell Rancho Mission de San Fernando, then known as Rancho Ex-Mission, for funds with which to equip an army. In this emergency the San Fernando Valley was sold as a land bargain never again equaled, ,000 for the entire rancho--approximately eleven cents an acre. Eulogio de Celis purchased the rancho at that figure and not only did he get a Mexican land bargain but he at once stocked his big rancho and before the war was over sold horses and cattle to both sides.

In 1854 General Andres Pico, brother of the Ex-Governor, purchased a half interest in the rancho for ,000 and in 1862 this interest passed to Pio Pico himself. The land holdings of the last Mexican Governor were equal to an empire. At one time he owned Rancho Paso de Bartolo, his interest in Rancho San Fernando, his home place called Ranchito, near Whittier in this County, and Ranchos Las Flores and Santa Margarita, both tremendous ranches in San Diego County. In addition to his ranchos he owned a home on the plaza in the Pueblo of Los Angeles and considerable additional pueblo land in Los Angeles and San Diego. He built the celebrated Pico House, yet standing, facing the plaza in Los Angeles. His life was crowned with success at every turn. Under Mexico he was California's leading citizen. Under the United States the ranchos he owned and the honors he had held gave him a prestige accorded few men.

While Pio Pico, who once counted his acres in hundreds of thousands, spent his last days in abject poverty--his ranchos, his city property, his hotel and his home all sold for a mortgage--nothing was left--nothing but his medals of honor and his memories of the past.

Rancho Tajauta

Rancho Tajauta, sometimes called Rancho Los Cuervos, was like a dwarf among giants. It could have fitted into one corner of its neighbor, the Rancho San Pedro, or been lost in the San Fernando, and yet it was no small plot of ground. It extended from what is now Manchester Avenue on the north to the north boundary of the Rancho San Pedro on the south and between Central Avenue on the west and the Los Angeles River and Rancho San Antonio on the east.

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