Rancho Bolsa del Potrero y Moro Cojo

Rancho Bolsa del Potrero y Moro Cojo (or Pocket of the Pasture and the Lame Moor and La Sagrada Familia or The Holy Family) was a 6,916-acre (27.99 km2) Mexican land grant in the northern Salinas Valley, in present-day Monterey County, California. Tradition holds that Lame Moor refers to a lame, black (moor) horse found in the property.[1]

It was given in 1822 by Governor Pablo Vicente de Solá to Joaquín de la Torre.[2][3] The grant was bounded on the north by Tembladero Slough and in the south by present-day Castroville.[4][5]

History

Joaquín de la Torre was a soldier from Spain who was alcalde in Monterey, and afterwards secretary to Governor Sola. Torre married Maria Los Angeles Cota (1790-1877) in 1803. Torre was granted the rancho, about two square leagues (roughly 8,880 acres), in 1822. Irishman John Milligan (or Mulligan), had a house on the rancho (labeled "Casa de Milligan" on the diseño).[citation needed] de la Torre sold 7,000 acres (2,800 ha) of the rancho to John B.R. Cooper in 1829 for $2000.[6][3][7] In 1840, Joaquín de la Torre was granted Rancho Arroyo Seco by Governor Juan B. Alvarado.

In 1840, Cooper traded Rancho Bolsa del Potrero y Moro Cojo for Alvarado's Rancho El Sur. Alvarado was a nephew of Cooper's wife, Encarnacion Vallejo. Alvarado later sold Rancho Bolsa del Potrero y Moro Cojo back to Cooper.[7]

After the Mexican government ceded California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that land grants would be honored, but required that the owners provide legal proof of their title. As required by the Land Act of 1851, Cooper filed a claim for Rancho Bolsa del Potrero y Moro Cojo with the Public Land Commission on March 30, 1852,[8][9] and after several years of litigation he was granted a Land patent on December 19, 1859.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ David Hornbeck Project: Spanish and Mexican Land Grants of California
  2. ^ Ogden Hoffman, 1862, Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Numa Hubert, San Francisco
  3. ^ a b "Welcome to Cooper Land Company". Archived from the original on 2017-06-30. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  4. ^ "Diseño del Rancho de las Bolsas del Potrero llamado La Sagrada Familia [Calif.] : y ocupado por el S[eñ]or. Dn. Juan B.R. Cooper / [por Abel Stearns]". Calisphere.
  5. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Rancho Bolsa del Potrero y Moro Cojo
  6. ^ DAVID HORNBECK PROJECT: SPANISH & MEXICAN LAND GRANTS OF CALIFORNIA
  7. ^ a b Hoover, Mildred B.; Rensch, Hero; Rensch, Ethel; Abeloe, William N. (1966). Historic Spots in California. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4482-9. Archived from the original on 2019-12-04. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
  8. ^ United States. District Court (California : Southern District) Land Case 7 SD
  9. ^ Finding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852-1892
  10. ^ "Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-03-20.

36°45′36″N 121°45′36″W / 36.760°N 121.760°W / 36.760; -121.760