Rancho Las Virgenes
Encyclopedia
Rancho Las Vírgenes was a 17760 acres (71.9 km²) land grant
in present day Los Angeles County, California
given in 1802 by Spanish Governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga
to Miguel Ortega but was abandoned after his death in 1809. Nemecio Domínguez and Domingo Carrillo received a Mexican grant in 1834. Nuestra Señora la Reina de las Vírgenes translates as "Our Lady the Queen of the Virgins". The lands of the Rancho Las Vírgenes included present day Agoura Hills
, Oak Park
, and Westlake Village
and part of the Santa Monica Mountains
.
. By 1817 the rancho was widely acknowledged to be abandoned, and since the original grant was only provisional, the land was considered legally vacant according to Spanish precedent, and the Franciscans at Mission San Fernando
petitioned Governor Solá
to cede them the land to use as pasturage for their cattle.
In 1833, Nemesio Domínguez of Los Ángeles and Domingo Antonio Ygnacio Carrillo
of Santa Barbara
, submitted a petition to Governor Figueroa
for a tract of land twelve leagues west of Los Angeles, known as Las Vírgenes. They argued that the land was not needed by the mission, and that it had been legally vacant since Miguel Ortega's death. In 1834, they were granted Rancho Las Vírgenes.
In 1837, Governor Alvarado granted the Triunfo addition to the Las Virgenes grant to Nemecio's father, José Maria Dominguez, and a new survey, or diseño, was drawn.
In 1845, Maria Antonia Machado de Reyes (1792–1863) purchased the Rancho Las Virgenes from her uncle Jose Maria Dominguez. Maria Antonia Machado de Reyes was a widow with 14 children. Maria Machado’s husband, José Jacinto Reyes (1788–1837), was the son of Juan Francisco Reyes
.
With the cession
of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, the heirs of Domingo Carrillo filed a claim for Rancho Las Virgenes with the Public Land Commission
in 1853 for an undivided half share of the 1834 grant, but the claim was rejected in 1854.
Maria Antonia Machado de Reyes filed a claim with the Land Commission in 1852. The commission confirmed her claim in 1854, and the U.S. District Court for Southern California approved this decision in 1857. An appeal was dismissed in 1858, and the claim patented
at 8885 acres (36 km²)in 1883.
Although still sizeable, the total area was considerably less than the original land grant. The apparent reason for the change was due to a misinterpretation of the 1837 diseño which José Dominguez had drawn. As a result of this error, the United States considered the excluded land to be part of the public domain and allowed private claimants to settle. This surplus land was surveyed and opened to homesteading in 1896. Many settlers may have already moved into the area by that time, in anticipation of the courts' decision, but their claims could not be documented formally until they filed for patent after 1896.
José Maria Dominguez transferred title to his son, Jose Apolonio Dominguez (1816–), who left it his daughter Dominga Dominguez. Dominga Dominguez sued
homesteader Brigido Botiller and others, to recover possession of Rancho Las Virgenes. The US Supreme Court agreed that the grant was "perfect" (i.e. had been properly granted by the government of Mexico to Nemecio Dominguez and Domingo Carrillo in 1834), however as no claim for the grant had made to the Land Commission, no patent could be issued.
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 Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
given in 1802 by Spanish Governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga
José Joaquín de Arrillaga
José Joaquín de Arrillaga was interim governor of Las Californias from 1792 to 1794, governor of Las Californias from 1800 to 1804 and governor of Alta California from 1804 to 1814.-Death:...
to Miguel Ortega but was abandoned after his death in 1809. Nemecio Domínguez and Domingo Carrillo received a Mexican grant in 1834. Nuestra Señora la Reina de las Vírgenes translates as "Our Lady the Queen of the Virgins". The lands of the Rancho Las Vírgenes included present day Agoura Hills
Agoura Hills, California
Agoura Hills is a city in Los Angeles County, California, and has the ZIP code 91301. The population was 20,330 at the 2010 census, down from 20,537 at the 2000 census. It is located in the eastern Conejo Valley between the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains. This city on the Ventura...
, Oak Park
Oak Park, California
Oak Park is a census-designated place located in the Simi Hills, in Ventura County, California. As of the 2010 census, Oak Park had a population of 14,266, up from 14,225 at the 2000 census...
, and Westlake Village
Westlake Village, California
Westlake Village is a planned community that straddles the Los Angeles and Ventura county line. The eastern portion is the incorporated city Westlake Village, located on the western edge of Los Angeles County, California. The city, located in the region known as the Conejo Valley, encompasses half...
and part of the Santa Monica Mountains
Santa Monica Mountains
The Santa Monica Mountains are a Transverse Range in Southern California, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean in the United States.-Geography:...
.
History
Bartholomé Miguel de Ortega (1751–1809) received a provisional Spanish grant in 1800 from Governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga for Rancho Santa Gertrudis de las Vírgenes / Rancho Nuestra Señora la Reina of las Vírgenes, or simply referred to as Rancho Las Vírgenes. After the death of Miguel Ortega in 1809, the Ortega family returned to Pueblo de Los ÁngelesPueblo de Los Angeles
El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles was the Spanish civilian pueblo founded in 1781, which by the 20th century became the American metropolis of Los Angeles....
. By 1817 the rancho was widely acknowledged to be abandoned, and since the original grant was only provisional, the land was considered legally vacant according to Spanish precedent, and the Franciscans at Mission San Fernando
Mission San Fernando Rey de España
Mission San Fernando Rey de España was founded on "The Feast of the Birth of Mary" , 1797. The settlement is located on the former Encino Rancho in the Mission Hills community of northern Los Angeles, near the site of the first gold discovery in Alta California.-History:Mission San Fernando Rey de...
petitioned Governor Solá
Pablo Vicente de Solá
Pablo Vicente de Solá , the last Spanish governor of Alta California from 1815-1822....
to cede them the land to use as pasturage for their cattle.
In 1833, Nemesio Domínguez of Los Ángeles and Domingo Antonio Ygnacio Carrillo
José Raimundo Carrillo
Captain José Raimundo Carrillo was an early Spanish settler of San Diego, California and founder of the Carrillo family in Spanish California.-Biography:Carrillo was born in 1749 in New Spain at Loreto, Baja California...
of Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, submitted a petition to Governor Figueroa
José Figueroa
General José Figueroa , was a General and the Mexican territorial Governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835.Figueroa oversaw the initial secularization of the missions of upper California, which included the expulsion of the Spanish Franciscan mission officials.This also involved the issuing of...
for a tract of land twelve leagues west of Los Angeles, known as Las Vírgenes. They argued that the land was not needed by the mission, and that it had been legally vacant since Miguel Ortega's death. In 1834, they were granted Rancho Las Vírgenes.
In 1837, Governor Alvarado granted the Triunfo addition to the Las Virgenes grant to Nemecio's father, José Maria Dominguez, and a new survey, or diseño, was drawn.
In 1845, Maria Antonia Machado de Reyes (1792–1863) purchased the Rancho Las Virgenes from her uncle Jose Maria Dominguez. Maria Antonia Machado de Reyes was a widow with 14 children. Maria Machado’s husband, José Jacinto Reyes (1788–1837), was the son of Juan Francisco Reyes
Juan Francisco Reyes (soldier)
Juan Francisco Reyes , soldado de cuero on the 1769 Portola expedition, alcalde of the Pueblo de Los Angeles for three terms, and recipient of the Spanish land grant for Los Encino and later Lompoc.-Juan Francisco Reyes:In 1769 Francisco Reyes, left his home in Mexico to join the Spanish army...
.
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, the heirs of Domingo Carrillo filed a claim for Rancho Las Virgenes 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 for an undivided half share of the 1834 grant, but the claim was rejected in 1854.
Maria Antonia Machado de Reyes filed a claim with the Land Commission in 1852. The commission confirmed her claim in 1854, and the U.S. District Court for Southern California approved this decision in 1857. An appeal was dismissed in 1858, and the claim 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...
at 8885 acres (36 km²)in 1883.
Although still sizeable, the total area was considerably less than the original land grant. The apparent reason for the change was due to a misinterpretation of the 1837 diseño which José Dominguez had drawn. As a result of this error, the United States considered the excluded land to be part of the public domain and allowed private claimants to settle. This surplus land was surveyed and opened to homesteading in 1896. Many settlers may have already moved into the area by that time, in anticipation of the courts' decision, but their claims could not be documented formally until they filed for patent after 1896.
José Maria Dominguez transferred title to his son, Jose Apolonio Dominguez (1816–), who left it his daughter Dominga Dominguez. Dominga Dominguez sued
Botiller v. Dominguez
Botiller v. Dominguez, 130 U.S. 238 , was a decision by the United States Supreme Court dealing with the validity of Spanish or Mexican land grants in the Mexican Cession, the region of the present day southwestern United States that was ceded to the U.S...
homesteader Brigido Botiller and others, to recover possession of Rancho Las Virgenes. The US Supreme Court agreed that the grant was "perfect" (i.e. had been properly granted by the government of Mexico to Nemecio Dominguez and Domingo Carrillo in 1834), however as no claim for the grant had made to the Land Commission, no patent could be issued.
Historic sites of the Rancho
- Reyes Adobe. Jose Paulino Reyes, the son of Jose Jacinto Reyes and Maria Antonia Machado, built the adobe home in about 1850, which was owned by the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department before transfer to the City of Agoura Hills.
- Vejar Adobe. The two-story Monterey-type adobe near Strawberry Hill was built in about 1850 by Juan Crisostomo Vejar (1815–1877), who married Maria Engracia Reyes (daughter of Maria Antonia Machado de Reyes). It was a stop along the Butterfield Overland StageButterfield Overland MailThe Butterfield Overland Mail Trail was a stagecoach route in the United States, operating from 1857 to 1861. It was a conduit for the U.S. mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri, meeting Fort Smith, Arkansas, and continuing through Indian Territory, New Mexico,...
route in the 1860s and became known as Vejar Station. The building stood at Roadside Drive and Cornell Road, Agoura until the early 1900s, when it was razed.