Rancho Arroyo Seco (Yorba) facts for kids
Rancho Arroyo Seco was a huge piece of land, about 48,857 acres (that's like 197 square kilometers!). It was located in what is now Amador County, California, in the northern San Joaquin Valley. The name "Arroyo Seco" means "dry creek" in Spanish.
This land was given out as a Mexican land grant in 1840 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Teodocio Yorba. The grant was east of Sacramento and included the historic mining area and present-day town of Ione.
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History of Rancho Arroyo Seco
Who Owned the Land?
Teodosio Juan Yorba (1805–1863) was the son of José Antonio Yorba. He received the eleven square league (a way of measuring land) Rancho Arroyo Seco in 1840. Teodosio Yorba also received another land grant called Rancho Lomas de Santiago in Southern California in 1846.
In 1852, Yorba sold Rancho Arroyo Seco to Andrés Pico. Pico was a former governor of Alta California, which was what California was called when it was part of Mexico.
Later, in 1857, Andrés Pico sold the rancho to several people. These included Joseph Moravia Moss, Horace Carpentier, Edward Fitzgerald Beale, and Herman Wohler in 1862.
California Becomes Part of the U.S.
After a war between Mexico and the United States, California became part of the United States in 1848. A special agreement called the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo said that land grants given by the Mexican government would still be honored. This meant that people who owned these lands could keep them.
To make sure their land was officially recognized by the new U.S. government, owners had to file a claim. A claim for Rancho Arroyo Seco was filed in 1852 with the Public Land Commission. The land was officially recognized, or "patented," to Andrés Pico in 1863.
Settlers and Eviction
Neither Yorba nor Pico did much to develop the land. Because of this, many settlers moved onto the property. They built towns like Quincy, Muletown, Jackson Valley, and Live Oak.
After the land was officially recognized in 1863, the owners wanted the settlers to leave. In 1865 and 1866, two groups of U.S. Cavalry soldiers were sent from Camp Union in Sacramento. Their job was to remove the settlers from the rancho.
