Rancho Rincon de las Salinas y Potrero Viejo facts for kids
Rancho Rincón de las Salinas y Potrero Viejo was a very large piece of land, about 4,446-acre (17.99 km2). This land was given out by the Mexican government in 1839. It was located mostly in what is now southeastern San Francisco, California, and also stretched into San Mateo County, California.
A temporary governor named Manuel Jimeno gave this land to a man named José Cornelio Bernal. The rancho was actually made up of two smaller land grants:
- Rincon de las Salinas: This name means "corner of a salty marsh." This part of the rancho was around Islais Creek. Today, it includes southern San Francisco neighborhoods like Bernal Heights, Excelsior, Crocker-Amazon, and Outer Mission.
- Potrero Viejo: This name means "old pasture." This part was once connected to Mission Dolores. Today, it covers areas like Bayview and Hunters Point.
Contents
History of the Rancho
The Bernal Family and the Land Grant
José Cornelio Bernal (1796–1842) came from a family with a long history in California. His grandfather, Juan Francisco Bernal, was a Spanish soldier who came to California with the Anza Expedition. José Cornelio Bernal also became a soldier. In 1819, he married Maria Carmen Sibrian.
José Cornelio Bernal was an important person in the town council (called an ayuntamiento) of San José starting in 1828. In 1834, when the Spanish missions started to lose their power and land (a process called secularization), Governor José Figueroa gave Bernal a small piece of land, about 6 acres (24,000 m2), near Mission Dolores.
The larger land grants for Rancho Rincon de las Salinas were given in 1839, and Rancho El Potrero Viejo in 1840. When José Cornelio Bernal died in 1842, his wife, Carmen Sibrian de Bernal, and their son, José de Jesus Bernal (1829–1870), inherited the rancho.
California Becomes Part of the United States
After the Mexican–American War, California became part of the United States. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was a peace agreement that said the U.S. would respect the land grants given by the Mexican government.
Because of a new law called the Land Act of 1851, the Bernal family had to prove they owned their land. They filed a claim for Rancho Rincon de las Salinas y Potrero Viejo with the Public Land Commission in 1852. The government officially recognized their ownership, or patented the land, to Carmen Sibrian de Bernal and José Jesús Bernal in 1857.
Selling Off the Land
Over time, the Bernal family slowly sold off parts of their large rancho. The first part of the land was sold in 1859 when General William Tecumseh Sherman took ownership because of an unpaid loan (this is called a foreclosure). In the 1860s, the rancho was divided into many smaller pieces. These smaller lots were mostly bought by immigrants who used the land for farming and dairy ranches.
In 1867, a man named George Treat gave important information to the U.S. Board of Land Commissioners. This led to another family, the De Haro family, losing their own ranch called Rancho Potrero Viejo. This action by George Treat helped open up that land for building homes and factories.
