Rancho Bodega facts for kids
Rancho Bodega was a huge piece of land, about 35,487 acres, given out by the Mexican government in 1844. It was located in what is now Sonoma County, California. The land was given to a man named Stephen Smith by Governor Manuel Micheltorena. The name "Bodega" comes from Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, a Peruvian explorer. He discovered Bodega Bay in 1775. This large land grant stretched along the Pacific Coast from the Russian River in the north to Estero Americano in the south. It also included the town we know today as Bodega Bay. Only a small part of the town of Bodega itself was within this grant.
Contents
History of Rancho Bodega
Early Land Claims and Changes
The Mexican government was worried about the Russians living at Fort Ross. So, they were happy when the Russians left in 1841. However, they were not pleased when the Russian-American Company sold Fort Ross to John Sutter. The Mexican government believed that the land and buildings never truly belonged to the Russians. This meant the Russians couldn't legally sell them to anyone else.
Within two years, John Sutter had moved everything he could from Fort Ross to his own land, Rancho New Helvetia. In 1844, Sutter leased the Fort Ross land to William Benitz and Ernest Rufus. This deal again raised questions about Sutter's right to the property. Because of this, Governor Manuel Micheltorena gave a land grant called Rancho Bodega to Captain Stephen Smith in 1844. This grant covered the southern part of the land the Russians used to claim. Later, in 1845, Governor Pío Pico gave Rancho Muniz to Manuel Torres. This was the northern part of the former Russian claim.
Captain Stephen Smith's Role
Captain Stephen Smith (1782-1855) was a sea captain from Massachusetts. In 1841, he sailed along the Pacific Coast, north of San Francisco. At that time, local settlers had to bring lumber for their homes all the way from Hawaii. Smith saw a great business chance in the tall trees growing along the California coast. This was especially true with the Russians leaving Fort Ross.
Captain Smith came back to California in 1843. He brought sawmill machinery from Baltimore. He then built California's first steam-powered sawmill. It was in the redwood forests north of the town of Bodega, near Salmon Creek. During his trip to California in 1843, Smith married Manuela Torres (1828-1871) from Peru. Her brother, Manuel Torres, joined them. He was the one who received Rancho Muniz, just north of Rancho Bodega, in 1845.
Bodega Bay became Smith's main port for shipping goods. He helped turn the area into an important trading center. Captain Smith owned a small ship called the Fayaway. He used it to sail between the Port of Bodega and San Francisco. In 1844, Smith asked the Mexican Governor of California, Manuel Micheltorena, for a large land grant. He was granted about 8 square leagues of land. Smith also bought the buildings on this land from John Sutter. Sutter had claimed these buildings when he bought Fort Ross from the Russians. In 1847, Stephen Smith also bought Rancho Blucher, which was located just south of his land, from Jean Jacques Vioget.
Land Ownership After the Mexican-American War
After the Mexican-American War, California became part of the United States. This change happened with the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This treaty promised that the existing Mexican land grants would still be valid.
By law, a claim for Rancho Bodega was filed in 1853 with the Public Land Commission. This claim was made by Victor Prudon, who said he received the land from Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo in 1841. Lieutenant Colonel Victor Prudon was a Frenchman and secretary to General Vallejo. However, the Land Commission rejected his claim in 1854.
When Captain Smith passed away in San Francisco in 1855, he owned the 8-square-league Rancho Bodega. He owned it with his wife, Manuela Torres. He also owned the 6-league Rancho Blucher. Smith left one-third of Rancho Bodega to his wife for her lifetime. The other two-thirds went to his three children with Manuela Torres: Stephen Manuel Smith (1843–1924), Manuelita Garcia Smith (1846–1942), and James B. Smith (1852 - ?).
Smith's widow, Manuela Torres, married Tyler Curtis on December 18, 1856. This happened at Old Saint Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco. A new claim for the land was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852. The land grant was officially given, or "patented," to Manuela Torres Curtis in 1859.
The Bodega War
When Tyler Curtis received the official document for Rancho Bodega in 1859, he tried to make settlers leave the land. Many of these settlers were farming parts of the rancho. Some had rented their land from Captain Smith and continued to pay rent. Others were "squatters" who were living on the land without permission. They hoped to buy the land when it became available.
When Curtis couldn't get the settlers to leave peacefully, he went to San Francisco. He hired about forty men to help him force them out. However, the settlers fought back in an event known as the "Bodega War" or the "Tyler Curtis War." Two hundred settlers, armed with farm tools and shotguns, faced Curtis and his hired men. Curtis was defeated in his attempt to remove them.
Later Sales and Lawsuits
Tyler Curtis managed to get the California State Legislature to pass a law in 1861. This law allowed him, as the children's guardian, to sell their share of the rancho. Curtis sold the land in smaller pieces, mostly ranging from 150 to 500 acres. He continued selling these parcels through the early 1860s. Curtis did not manage to keep his wealth, and the rancho eventually passed into other hands.
In 1877, James B. Smith, Captain Smith's youngest son, sued to get the rancho back. However, the California Supreme Court decided that the sales made by Curtis were legal.
