Rancho Cañada de Verde y Arroyo de la Purisima was a 8906 acres (36 km²) Mexican land grant

Ranchos of California

The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...

 in present day San Mateo County, California given in 1838 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado  to José María Alviso. The grant extended along the Pacific coast from Purisima Creek south to Tunitas Creek

Tunitas Creek

Tunitas Creek is a stream in San Mateo County, California. Tunitas is Spanish for "Little Prickly Pears". Historically the creek was also known as Arroyo de Las Tunitas....

 and encompasses present day Lobitos

Lobitos, California

Lobitos, California is a populated place in San Mateo County, just east of State Route 1 and south of Half Moon Bay and the ghost town of Purissima. Its location is latitude 372259N, longitude 1222357W; decimal degrees: latitude 37.38306, longitude -122.39917...

 and the ghost town Purissima

Purissima, California

Purissima is a ghost town in southwestern San Mateo County, California, United States, near the junction of State Route 1 and Verde Road. Purisima means "purest" in Spanish, and is most commonly used in Spanish to refer to La Purísima Concepción of the Virgin Mary .-History:Located on...

.

History

José María Alviso, a military officer of San Jose

San Jose, California

San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...

, petitioned for the two square league grant for his brother José Antonio Alviso. José Antonio Alviso (1796–1880), eldest son of Josè Ygnacio Alviso

Ignacio Alviso

Juan Ignacio Alviso was an early Spanish settler of what is today the U.S. state of California and grantee of Rancho Rincon de Los Esteros...

 and Margarita Bernal, José Antonio Alviso married Maria Antonia de Jesus Pacheco (1796–1852) in 1816.

With the cession

Mexican Cession

The Mexican Cession of 1848 is a historical name in the United States for the region of the present day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the U.S...

 of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...

 provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Cañada de Verde y Arroyo de la Purisima was filed by José Antonio Alviso with the Public Land Commission

Public Land Commission

The Public Land Commission, a former agency of the United States government, was created following the admission of California as a state in 1850 . The Commission's purpose was to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican land grants in California.California Senator William M...

 in 1852. An appeal by the US was rejected by the US Supreme Court, and the grant was patented

Land patent

A land patent is a land grant made patent by the sovereign lord over the land in question. To make a such a grant “patent”, such a sovereign lord must document the land grant, securely sign and seal the document and openly publish the same to the public for all to see...

to José Antonio Alviso in 1865.