Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros facts for kids
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Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros was a very large piece of land, about 17,760 acres (71.9 square kilometers). It was a Mexican land grant given out when California was still part of Mexico. Most of this land was in what is now eastern Contra Costa County, California, and a small part was in northeastern Alameda County, California.
Today, the Los Vaqueros Reservoir, which is between Livermore and Brentwood in the Diablo Range, is located on this former ranch and is named after it. Vasco Road also goes through the area where the rancho once was.
The name "Cañada de los Vaqueros" means "Canyon of the Cowboys" in Spanish. In 1844, Governor Manuel Micheltorena gave this land to three people: Antonio Higuera, Francisco Alviso, and Manuel Miranda.
Contents
History of the Rancho
Getting the Land Grant
In 1844, Antonio Higuera, Francisco Alviso, and Manuel Miranda were officially given the four-league rancho. A "league" was a way to measure land back then. These three men were related: Jose Antonio Higuera was the uncle of Francisco Alviso and Manuel Miranda.
A few years later, in 1847, Francisco Alviso and Manuel Miranda sold their shares of the rancho. They sold them to two other important people: José Noriega and Robert Livermore. Robert Livermore also owned another large ranch nearby called Rancho Las Positas.
California Becomes Part of the U.S.
After the Mexican–American War, California became part of the United States. This happened with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. This treaty said that the United States would respect the land grants that Mexico had given out.
Because of this, people who owned these Mexican land grants had to prove their ownership to the U.S. government. They filed a claim for Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros with the Public Land Commission in 1852. This commission was set up to check all the old land claims.
Who Owned What? The Long Legal Battle
In 1854, Robert Livermore and José Noriega made a deal. Livermore bought Noriega's half of Rancho Las Positas. In return, Livermore sold his half of Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros to Noriega.
However, this started many problems and lawsuits. The ownership of Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros was not fully settled until 1897, many years later.
Here's why it was so complicated:
- Noriega hired a lawyer and gave the lawyer half of his share of the rancho as payment. He then sold the other half to someone named Maximo Fernandez.
- But, without Noriega knowing, Robert Livermore had already given his share of Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros to his wife and children back in 1852. So, when Livermore "sold" his share to Noriega in 1854, he didn't actually own it anymore!
- When Livermore died in 1858, his wife and children said they owned the rancho because of the earlier gift from Livermore.
- At the same time, the four children of Antonio Higuera also claimed they owned one-third of the rancho.
By 1860, many different people had papers saying they owned parts of Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros. If you added up all the claims, it was almost twice the size of the actual rancho!
Finally, in 1897, after all the legal battles, a woman named Mary Crocker became the owner of the entire rancho. She was the heir of Charles McLaughlin, who had bought many of the claims over the years.
