Rancho Sespe facts for kids

Rancho Sespe was a huge piece of land, about 8,881 acres (36 square kilometers), given out by the Mexican government in 1833. It was located in what is now Ventura County, California. This large area included the Santa Clara River Valley and even the town of Fillmore.

History of Rancho Sespe

Carlos Antonio Carrillo (1783–1852) was a very important person from a well-known family in Santa Barbara. He was even a governor of Alta California (which was California before it became part of the United States) from 1837 to 1838.

Carrillo was given the Sespe land grant. He believed it was about 26,000 acres (105 square kilometers). In 1842, he took control of the land and built a house there, as required. However, his family mostly stayed in Santa Barbara. After Carrillo passed away in 1852, and his wife Josefa in 1853, three brothers named Thomas Wallace More, Andrew, and Henry bought the entire rancho in 1854.

California Becomes Part of the U.S.

After the Mexican–American War, California became part of the United States in 1848. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, which said that the U.S. government would honor the land grants given by Mexico.

To make sure these land claims were real, the U.S. government set up a group called the Public Land Commission. Carrillo had filed a claim for Rancho Sespe in 1852. In 1856, the commission agreed that the rancho was about 26,000 acres.

However, the U.S. government disagreed. They believed the original paperwork for the grant had been changed from about 8,881 acres to 26,000 acres. This made the land claim very complicated.

The More Brothers and Land Disputes

By 1860, the More brothers were the biggest landowners in what was then Santa Barbara County (which included all of present-day Ventura County). Besides Rancho Sespe, they owned other large ranches and even Santa Rosa Island.

But a severe drought in 1863 and 1864 caused big problems. The More brothers had to split up their lands. Thomas Wallace More took control of Rancho Sespe and all the legal issues about its boundaries.

In 1865, the U.S. Supreme Court did not agree with More's claim for the larger land size. Two surveys were done to measure Rancho Sespe. The first survey in 1868 showed about 25,361 acres, but it was rejected. The second survey, completed in 1872, showed about 8,881 acres. This smaller size was accepted, and Thomas W. More officially received the land.

Settlers Arrive

In the mid-1860s, after the American Civil War, many people started moving to the Santa Clara River Valley. They were looking for public land that they could claim for free under the Homestead Acts. It was often hard for these new settlers to know if the land they were moving onto was public land or part of a private rancho.

Thomas W. More continued to fight for the larger land area he believed was his. This made the "Sespe Settlers League," a group of homesteaders, very angry. They had joined together to protect their homes.

In 1875, More tried to buy the remaining disputed land from the government, but his request was denied. During another drought in 1876-1877, More started digging an irrigation ditch on his land. The settlers worried he was trying to take away their water rights from the Sespe Creek and Santa Clara River.

On March 24, 1877, Thomas W. More died during a dispute related to the land and water rights. After his death, the U.S. Land Office changed its mind and allowed More's family to buy the disputed lands. However, this decision was later overturned in 1878.

In the end, most of the people who settled in the Rancho Sespe area were homesteaders who claimed their land for free. Some settlers did buy land from Thomas W. More's family when they started selling off parts of the property in the 1880s.