Rancho Huerta de Cuati facts for kids

Rancho Huerta de Cuati was a large piece of land, about 127 acres, given out by the Mexican government in 1838. It was located in what is now Los Angeles County, California, in the San Rafael Hills. Governor Juan Alvarado gave this land to a woman named Victoria Reid. The name "Huerta de Cuati" means "Cuati Garden" in Spanish. This rancho covered areas that are now cities like Alhambra, San Marino, South Pasadena, and Pasadena. It also included a place called Lake Wilson, which is now Lacey Park in San Marino.

History of Rancho Huerta de Cuati

How the Rancho Began

Before it became Rancho Huerta de Cuati, this land belonged to Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. Missions were large religious settlements. In 1834, the Mexican government decided to take control of mission lands. This process was called "secularization."

Victoria Reid, a Tongva woman, was one of the few Native Americans to receive a land grant from the Mexican government. She got the rancho because she had helped the mission for many years. An important woman named Eulalia Pérez de Guillén Mariné also helped Victoria get the land. Victoria's husband, Hugo Reid, was not named on the land title at first. This was because he was not yet a Mexican citizen. He became a citizen in 1839.

Changes Under United States Rule

After the Mexican–American War, California became part of the United States in 1848. This change was agreed upon in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This treaty said that the United States would respect the land grants given by Mexico.

In 1851, the U.S. government passed a law called the Land Act. This law required people to prove they owned their land. So, in 1852, a claim for Rancho Huerta de Cuati was filed. Victoria Reid officially received the land title in 1859.

New Owners and Names

Hugo Reid passed away in 1852. In 1854, Victoria Reid sold Rancho Huerta de Cuati to Benjamin Davis Wilson. He was a very important person in the area. Wilson renamed the rancho "Lake Vineyard Ranch."

This new ranch included a shallow pond that was about 40 acres. Streams from nearby canyons, like Old Mill Canyon and Wilson Canyon, fed this pond. Later, Benjamin Wilson gave a large part of the rancho to his son-in-law, James de Barth Shorb. Shorb named his part of the rancho "San Marino." He named it after his grandfather's plantation in Maryland, which was named after the small country of San Marino in Italy.