Rancho San Geronimo (Cacho) facts for kids

Rancho San Geronimo was a really big piece of land in what is now Marin County, California. It was about 8,701 acres, which is like 13.6 square miles! This land was given out as a "Mexican land grant" in 1844 by the governor, Manuel Micheltorena, to a man named Rafael Cacho. The rancho stretched along San Geronimo Creek and included areas we now call San Geronimo, Woodacre, and Forest Knolls.

The Story of Rancho San Geronimo

Early Days and First Owners

In 1844, Rafael Cacho, who was a military officer, received the Rancho San Geronimo land grant. He had actually been living in the San Geronimo Valley since 1839. Later, Cacho sold the rancho to Lieutenant Joseph Warren Revere.

Revere was an important figure who came to Monterey on a ship called the USS Portsmouth. He took charge of the American forces in Sonoma. He was the one who famously took down the "Bear Flag" and raised the American Flag over Sonoma for the first time. In 1846, Revere bought Rancho San Geronimo from Cacho.

California Becomes Part of the U.S.

After the Mexican–American War, California became part of the United States. This change was agreed upon in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This treaty promised that the land grants given by Mexico, like Rancho San Geronimo, would still be honored.

To make sure these land claims were official, the U.S. government passed the Land Act of 1851. Because of this law, a claim for Rancho San Geronimo was filed in 1852 with the Public Land Commission. The land was officially granted to Joseph Warren Revere in 1860.

New Owners and Managers

In 1850, Revere left California and moved to Mexico. He sold a part of Rancho San Geronimo to Rodman M. Price. Price later returned to New Jersey, where he became a member of Congress and then the Governor of New Jersey. He hired Lorenzo E. White to manage the rancho for him until 1855.

Another part of Rancho San Geronimo was bought in 1854 by M. Hall McAllister. He was a famous attorney and speaker from San Francisco. McAllister and his two cousins, Samuel Cutler Ward and Ward McAllister, had come to California during the California Gold Rush in 1849. Samuel Ward returned to California in 1851 and stayed for five years.

Later, in 1868, Adolphe Mailliard (who was married to Annie Eliza Ward, Samuel Ward's sister) came to California and bought Rancho San Geronimo.