Rancho Corte de Madera facts for kids
Rancho el Corte de Madera was a very large piece of land, about 13,316-acre (53.89 km2), in what is now Santa Clara County, California. It was given as a Mexican land grant in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to a man named Máximo Martínez. The name "Corte de Madera" means "the place where lumber is cut," which tells us what the land was used for.
This land grant was shaped a bit like a triangle. It was located west of today's I-280 highway. Its edges were defined by creeks like Alambique Creek and San Francisquito Creek to the north, and Los Trancos Creek and Matadero Creek to the south. To the west, it reached what is now Skyline Boulevard. This big rancho actually surrounded a smaller one called Rancho Cañada del Corte de Madera, which stretched along the Portola Valley. Today, parts of this old land grant are found in places like Woodside, Ladera, and even Stanford University.
Contents
History of the Rancho
How the Land Grants Began
Before 1844, Máximo Martínez and another person named José Domingo Peralta had already received a different land grant in 1833. This earlier grant was for the smaller Rancho Cañada del Corte de Madera. In 1835, Peralta sold his part of this land to Martínez. Peralta then moved back to his other property, Rancho San Antonio.
Later, in 1844, Governor Micheltorena gave Máximo Martínez the larger Rancho el Corte de Madera. This new grant surrounded the first one Martínez already owned.
Who Was Máximo Martínez?
Máximo Martínez (who lived from 1792 to 1863) was an important person in the area. He was a soldier in San Francisco from 1819 to 1827. He also served as a "regidor," which means a councilman, in the Pueblo of San José in 1833.
Máximo Martínez married a woman named Damiana Padilla. In 1834, they moved onto his first land grant, Rancho Cañada del Corte de Madera. He lived there until he passed away in 1863.
The Rancho Becomes Part of the United States
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 land grants given by Mexico would still be honored by the U.S. government.
Because of a law called the Land Act of 1851, people who owned these land grants had to prove their ownership. So, in 1852, a claim for Rancho Corte de Madera was filed with the Public Land Commission. This commission checked all the claims. Finally, in 1858, Máximo Martínez officially received the "patent" for his land. A patent is like a special document that proves you are the legal owner of the land.
