Rancho El Rio de Santa Clara o la Colonia facts for kids
Rancho El Rio de Santa Clara o la Colonia was a huge piece of land, about 44,883-acre (181.64 km2) (that's like 69 square miles!). It was a special type of land gift called a Mexican land grant. This grant was given out in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to a group of people led by Valentine Cota.
This large area stretched from the Santa Clara River in the north all the way south to where the Point Mugu Naval Air Station is today, and next to another land grant called Rancho Guadalasca. To the west, it touched the Pacific Ocean, and to the east, it went up to the 101 Freeway and bordered Rancho Santa Clara del Norte. This rancho covered a big part of what is now known as the Oxnard Plain.
Who Owned Rancho El Rio de Santa Clara?
This large land grant was given to seven former soldiers from the Presidio of Santa Barbara, which was like a fort or military base back then. These soldiers were: Valentine Cota, Salvador Valenzuela, Vicente Pico, Rafael Valdez, Vincent Feliz, Leandro Gonzales, and Rafael Gonzales.
Valentine Cota was an important soldier, a corporal, at Mission Santa Inés. Another soldier, Jose Vicente Pico (who lived from 1797 to 1863), got married in 1822 to Maria Estefana Bruno Garcia. Rafael Gonzales was also a notable person; he built a house called the Rafael Gonzalez House and later became the alcalde (which means mayor or judge) of Santa Barbara.
How the Land Grant Became Part of the United States
After the Mexican-American War, California became part of the United States. This happened because of a special agreement called the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. This treaty promised that the land grants given by Mexico would still be respected.
To make sure everything was fair, the United States created a new law called the Land Act of 1851. This law required people who owned land grants to file a claim to prove their ownership. So, in 1852, a claim for Rancho El Rio de Santa Clara o la Colonia was filed with the Public Land Commission. Finally, in 1872, the land was officially recognized and given a special document called a patent to Valentine Cota and the other owners.
Changes in Ownership Over Time
In the 1860s, a man named Thomas R. Bard started buying parts of the rancho. He was working for a company called the Philadelphia and California Petroleum Company, which was owned by Thomas Alexander Scott. Bard managed to buy five-sevenths of the rancho's ownership.
However, the Gonzales family, who owned the remaining two-sevenths of the rancho, decided not to sell their share to Bard. Instead, they sold their part of the land to the Camarillo family. This shows how land ownership could change hands over time, even for these very large historic ranchos.
