Rancho Cañada del Hambre y Las Bolsas facts for kids
Rancho Cañada del Hambre y Las Bolsas was a very large piece of land, about 13,354 acres (which is about 54 square kilometers), given out by the Mexican government in what is now northwestern Contra Costa County, California. This land grant was given in 1842 by Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado to a woman named Teodora Soto.
The name "Cañada del Hambre" means "Valley of Hunger" in Spanish, and "Las Bolsas del Hambre" means "pockets of land of hunger." This rancho stretched from where the towns of Crockett, California and Martinez, California are today, all the way south to Lafayette, California.
History of the Rancho Land
The land given to Teodora Soto was called "sobrante," which means it was the leftover land after two other large ranches nearby had their boundaries set. These were Rancho El Pinole to the west and Rancho Las Juntas to the east. People thought this leftover piece would be about three square leagues, which is a very big area. Teodora Soto was married to Desiderio Briones.
After the Mexican–American War, California became part of the United States in 1848. The peace agreement, called the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, said that the United States would respect the land grants given by Mexico. So, in 1852, Teodora Soto filed a claim for her Rancho Cañada del Hambre y Las Bolsas with the Public Land Commission. This was a special group set up to make sure land ownership was clear. Her ownership of the land was officially confirmed in 1866.
In 1860, Teodora Soto sold half of her rancho to William Adam Piper. She sold the other half to J.B. Crockett and Lucy Page. Joseph Bryant Crockett was an important judge on the California Supreme Court, and the town of Crockett, California is named after him! Lucy B. Page was married to Crockett's law partner. Piper was also a business partner of Crockett. Later, Crockett and Page sold some of their land to Ira J. True. Even though Soto's land was officially confirmed in 1866, the exact borders of the rancho were not fully decided until the borders of the neighboring ranches were fixed. This led to some disagreements and legal cases over the land. In 1867, Thomas Edwards bought about 1,800 acres (about 7.3 square kilometers) from Crockett.
Historic Places on the Rancho
- The Old Homestead: This was the first American home built in the area that is now Crockett. It was built in 1867 by Thomas Edwards on land he bought from J. B. Crockett.
