Jose Manuel Nieto was a soldier from the Presidio of San Diego

Presidio of San Diego

El Presidio Reál de San Diego is an historical fort established on May 14, 1769, by Commandant Pedro Fages for Spain. It was the first permanent European settlement on the Pacific Coast of the United States. As the first of the presidios and Spanish missions in California, it was the base of...

 who was assigned to the Mission San Gabriel at the time his land was granted by the Spanish Empire

Spanish Empire

The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....

 in 1784.

Spanish soldier

Nieto was a mulatto, born in Sinaloa

Sinaloa

Sinaloa officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 18 municipalities and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales....

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 in 1734. He came to Alta California

Alta California

Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...

 with the Gaspar de Portolà

Gaspar de Portolà

Gaspar de Portolà i Rovira was a soldier, governor of Baja and Alta California , explorer and founder of San Diego and Monterey. He was born in Os de Balaguer, province of Lleida, in Catalonia, Spain, of Catalan nobility. Don Gaspar served as a soldier in the Spanish army in Italy and Portugal...

 expedition of 1769. He served in the Royal Army in the province of Alta California. Jose Manuel Perez-Nieto was first mentioned as a soldier of the Presidio of Monterey, in 1773.

Rancho Los Nietos

Presidio soldiers were permitted to raise cattle for food and make a small profit. As his cattle numbers increased, the need for more grazing land was required. In 1784, he granted a provisional grant of the land that would become Rancho Los Nietos

Rancho Los Nietos

Rancho Los Nietos was one of the first, and the largest, Spanish land concession in Alta California. Located in present day Los Angeles County and Orange County, California. Rancho Los Nietos was awarded to Manuel Nieto in 1784...

 by Pedro Fages

Pedro Fages

Pere Fages Beleta , nicknamed L'Ós , was a soldier, explorer, and the second Spanish military Governor of Las Californias Province of New Spain from 1770 to 1774, and the Governor of Las Californias from 1782 to 1791.-Life:...

 the governor of Alta California

Alta California

Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...

.

The original grant was 300000 acres (1,214.1 km²), but Padres from the San Gabriel Mission contested the Nietos grant on the grounds that it encroached upon the southern portion of their property. A decision in favor of the mission was reached and Rancho Los Nietos was reduced to nearly half of its original size, but still leaving Corporal Nieto with 167000 acres (675.8 km²). Nieto retired from duty and settled down on his rancho with his family. A small community called Los Nietos gradually built up around the Nietos adobe home, which was near the Indian village of Sejat on the San Jose Creek. Today, the area of West Whittier-Los Nietos, California

West Whittier-Los Nietos, California

West Whittier-Los Nietos is a census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, near the San Gabriel River and the San Gabriel River Freeway . The population was 25,540 at the 2010 census, up from 25,129 at the 2000 census...

 is located near the original rancho home site.

Upon Manuel's death, his rancho was inherited by his widow and four children.

Descendants

He married Maria Teresa Morillo.

The children of Jose Manuel Nieto and María Teresa Morillo (1756-1816)
Name	Birth/Death	Married	Notes
Juan Jose Nieto	1781 -	Maria Tomasa Tapia	received Rancho Los Alamitos Rancho Los Alamitos Rancho Los Alamitos takes its name from a Mexican land grant in southwestern Los Angeles County and northwestern Orange County, California. Los Alamitos means the Little Cottonwoods or Poplars in Spanish, after the native Fremont Cottonwood trees there.Rancho Los Alamitos originally included... , Rancho Los Coyotes Rancho Los Coyotes Rancho Los Coyotes was a 1834 Mexican land grant resulting from the partition of the Rancho Los Nietos grant, in present day southeastern Los Angeles County and northwestern Orange County, California... , Rancho Palos Alto
Jose Antonio Nieto	1785 -	Maria Catarina Ruiz	received Rancho Las Bolsas Rancho Las Bolsas Rancho Las Bolsas was a 1834 Mexican land grant resulting from the partition of Rancho Los Nietos, located from the coast on inland within present day northwestern Orange County, California. The Spanish name "las bolsas" means "the pockets", and refers to pockets of land amongst the marsh ...
Maria Manuela Nieto	1791 -	Guillermo Cota	received Rancho Los Cerritos Rancho Los Cerritos Rancho Los Cerritos was a 1834 land grant in present day eastern Los Angeles County and Orange County, California The grant was the result of a partition of the Rancho Los Nietos grant. "Cerritos" means "little hills" in Spanish...
Antonio Maria Nieto	1796 -	Maria Josefa Alvina Cota	received Rancho Santa Gertrudes Rancho Santa Gertrudes Rancho Santa Gertrudes was a 1834 Mexican land grant, in present day Los Angeles County, California resulting from a partition of Rancho Los Nietos...