Rancho San Juan Bautista facts for kids

Rancho San Juan Bautista was a huge piece of land in California. It was about 8,880 acres (36 square kilometers) big. This land was given out by the Mexican government in 1844. Governor Manuel Micheltorena gave it to a man named José Agustín Narvaez. The rancho stretched along the Guadalupe River, from Los Gatos all the way to San Jose. Today, parts of Willow Glen, Hillsdale, Robertsville, and the Lone Hill area are within its old boundaries.

History of Rancho San Juan Bautista

José Agustín Narvaez was born around 1778. He came to Branciforte in 1797. Later, in 1821, he became a leader (called an alcalde) in San Jose. He received the Rancho San Juan Bautista land grant in 1844. It was a very large area, about two square leagues.

Changes After the Mexican-American War

After the Mexican-American War, California became part of the United States. This happened in 1848. The peace treaty, called the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, said that land grants given by Mexico would still be honored.

The United States government created a law in 1851 called the Land Act. This law required people to prove they owned their land. So, in 1852, José Agustín Narvaez filed a claim for his Rancho San Juan Bautista. The government officially recognized his ownership in 1865. This official recognition is called a land patent.

From Land Grant to Famous Vineyard

Narvaez sold some of his rancho land to a man named Éthienne Bernard Edmond Thée. Thée came to California from Bordeaux, France. He started planting grapes on his new land.

In 1852, another Frenchman named Charles LeFranc joined Thée. They planted special grape cuttings that came all the way from France. These grapes became the start of the famous Almaden Vineyards. LeFranc and Thée then built a winery. They named it New Almaden Winery because it was close to the town of New Almaden. That town was named after a mercury mine in Spain.

The Story of Almaden Vineyards

In 1857, Charles LeFranc married Thée's daughter, Marie Adele. Eventually, LeFranc took over the property. Sadly, LeFranc died in an accident in 1887. His children, Henry, Louise, and Marie, then took control of the company. Henry also died in an accident in 1909.

Soon after LeFranc's death, his daughter Louise married Paul Masson. Paul Masson had worked with LeFranc for many years at the Almaden Winery. He later started his own winery in Saratoga, California in 1901.

Challenges and Changes

Paul Masson helped guide the Almaden Winery through a very tough time called Prohibition. This was a period in the United States when it was illegal to make, sell, or transport alcoholic drinks. After Prohibition ended, Masson traded the Almaden property in 1930 for another large piece of land called Rancho Orestimba y Las Garzas.