Rancho Las Baulines was a 8911 acres (36.1 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 Marin County, California

Marin County, California

Marin County is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2010, the population was 252,409. The county seat is San Rafael and the largest employer is the county government. Marin County is well...

 given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico

Pío Pico

Pío de Jesús Pico was the last Governor of Alta California under Mexican rule.-Origins:...

 to Gregorio Briones. The grant extended around Bolinas Lagoon

Bolinas Lagoon

Bolinas Lagoon is a tidal estuary, approximately in area, located at in the West Marin region of Marin County, California, United States. It is a part of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. The lagoon is a back bay of Bolinas Bay on the Pacific coast approximately 15 mi ...

 and encompassed present day Stinson Beach

Stinson Beach, California

Stinson Beach is a census-designated place in Marin County, California, on the west coast of the United States. Stinson Beach is located east-southeast of Bolinas, at an elevation of 26 feet . The population of the Stinson Beach CDP was 632 at the 2010 census.Stinson Beach is about a 35-minute...

 and Bolinas

Bolinas, California

Bolinas formerly Juggville is a coastal unincorporated community in Marin County, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. Bolinas is located west-southwest of San Rafael, at an elevation of 36 feet...

.

History

Gregorio Briones (1797-1863) born in Monterey

Monterey, California

The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...

, was the son of Marcos Briones who accompanied Junípero Serra

Junípero Serra

Blessed Junípero Serra, O.F.M., , known as Fra Juníper Serra in Catalan, his mother tongue was a Majorcan Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California of the Las Californias Province in New Spain—present day California, United States. Fr...

 in 1869. In 1819 Gregorio entered the army and remained in it for eleven years. In 1822 he married Maria Ramona Garcia (1803-), the sister of Rafael Garcia of Rancho Tomales y Baulines

Rancho Tomales y Baulines

Rancho Tomales y Baulines was a Mexican land grant in present day Marin County, California given in 1836 by Governor Nicolás Gutiérrez to Rafael Garcia. The grant extended south from Point Reyes Station along the Olema Valley and encompassed present day Olema and Garcia. -History:Rafael Garcia ...

. Briones' sister, Juana Briones de Miranda

Juana Briones de Miranda

Juana Briones de Miranda was born near the Santa Cruz Mission, in California. Her parents arrived with the earliest explorations of this then remote fringe of the Spanish empire, and her family members had accompanied both the Gaspar de Portolà and the Juan Bautista de Anza Expeditions...

, owned Rancho La Purísima Concepción

Rancho La Purísima Concepción

Rancho La Purísima Concepción was a Mexican land grant in present day Santa Clara County, California given in 1840 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José Gorgonio and his son José Ramon, Ohlone Indians...

. Gregorio Briones served as alcalde

Alcalde

Alcalde , or Alcalde ordinario, is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian cabildo and judge of first instance of a town...

 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...

 in 1830, Pinole

Pinole, California

Pinole is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 18,390 at the 2010 census. It is one of many small “bedroom communities” along the I-80 corridor in Western Contra Costa County. It is located about northeast of San Francisco, and approximately a half-hour...

 1832-1837 and San Mateo

San Mateo, California

San Mateo is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of approximately 100,000 , it is one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco Peninsula, located between Burlingame to the north, Foster City to the east, Belmont to the south,...

 1837-1839. In 1837, his son, Jose Pablo Briones (1823-1897), moved with the family’s cattle to Rafael Garcia's ranch in the area around Bolinas Lagoon. Garcia moved north up the Olema Valley

Olema Valley

Olema Valley is a gorge formed by the San Andreas Fault in rural west Marin County, Northern California. The valley runs from the town of Olema through Dogtown and Point Reyes to the Bolinas Lagoon, which lies between Bolinas and Stinson Beach near Drake's Bay....

 to his Rancho Tomales y Baulines

Rancho Tomales y Baulines

Rancho Tomales y Baulines was a Mexican land grant in present day Marin County, California given in 1836 by Governor Nicolás Gutiérrez to Rafael Garcia. The grant extended south from Point Reyes Station along the Olema Valley and encompassed present day Olema and Garcia. -History:Rafael Garcia ...

 grant. The rest of the Briones family joined Pablo in 1838 and Gregorio moved there permanently in 1839. Governor Pio Pico granted Briones the two square league Rancho Las Baulines in 1846.

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 Las Baulines was filed 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 1853, 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 Gregorio Briones in 1866.