Rancho Los Cerritos
Encyclopedia
Rancho Los Cerritos was a 27054 acres (109.5 km²) 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. The rancho lands include the present day cities of Cerritos
and Long Beach
.
heirs, governor José Figueroa
in 1834, officially declared the 167000 acres (675.8 km²) Rancho Los Nietos
grant under Mexican
rule and ordered its partition into five smaller ranchos: Las Bolsas
, Los Alamitos
, Los Cerritos, Los Coyotes
, and Santa Gertrudes
. Manuela Nieto (daughter of Manuel Nieto) and her husband Guillermo Cota received Los Cerritos.
Jonathan Temple
married Rafaela Cota in 1830, and in 1843, he purchased Rancho Los Cerritos from the Cota family.
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, a claim for Rancho Los Cerritos was filed with the Public Land Commission
in 1852 and Temple received the US patent for the rancho in 1867.
Following the drought of 1863-64, Temple sold the rancho to Flint, Bixby & Co. in 1866.
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 eastern Los Angeles County
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...
and Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
The grant was the result of a partition of the 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...
grant. "Cerritos" means "little hills" in Spanish. The rancho lands include the present day cities of Cerritos
Cerritos, California
Cerritos is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, and is one of several cities that constitute the Gateway Cities of southeast Los Angeles County. It was incorporated on April 24, 1956...
and Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
.
History
At the request of Manuel NietoManuel Nieto
Jose Manuel Nieto was a soldier from the Presidio of San Diego who was assigned to the Mission San Gabriel at the time his land was granted by the Spanish Empire in 1784.-Spanish soldier:...
heirs, governor José 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...
in 1834, officially declared the 167000 acres (675.8 km²) 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...
grant under Mexican
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...
rule and ordered its partition into five smaller ranchos: 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 ...
, 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...
, Los Cerritos, 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...
, and 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...
. Manuela Nieto (daughter of Manuel Nieto) and her husband Guillermo Cota received Los Cerritos.
Jonathan Temple
Jonathan Temple
Jonathan Temple came to Los Angeles in 1828 and became a large landowner, cattle rancher and one of the area's wealthiest citizens.-Biography:...
married Rafaela Cota in 1830, and in 1843, he purchased Rancho Los Cerritos from the Cota family.
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 Los Cerritos 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 1852 and Temple received the US patent for the rancho in 1867.
Following the drought of 1863-64, Temple sold the rancho to Flint, Bixby & Co. in 1866.
Historic sites of the Rancho
- Rancho Los Cerritos Ranch HouseLos Cerritos Ranch HouseLos Cerritos Ranch House, also known as Rancho Los Cerritos or Casa de los Cerritos, in Long Beach, California, was "the largest and most impressive adobe residence erected in southern California during the Mexican period". Los Cerritos means "the little hills" in English...
. Adobe hacienda built by Jonathan Temple in 1844.
See also
- Ranchos of CaliforniaRanchos of CaliforniaThe 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...
- List of Ranchos of California