Rancho Los Coches was a 2219 acres (9 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 Santa Clara County, California

Santa Clara County, California

Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...

 given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena

Manuel Micheltorena

Manuel Micheltorena was a Brigadier General of the Mexican Army, Adjutant-General of the same, Governor, Commandant-General and Inspector of the Department of the California...

 to Roberto Balemino, an indian. The name means Ranch of the Pigs. The grant was located on the west bank of Los Gatos Creek

Los Gatos Creek (Santa Clara County, California)

The Los Gatos Creek runs 24 miles in California through Santa Clara Valley Water District's Guadalupe Watershed from the Santa Cruz Mountains northward through the Santa Clara Valley until its confluence with the Guadalupe River in downtown San Jose...

, south 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...

, near the present day Burbank

Burbank, Santa Clara County, California

Burbank is a census-designated place in Santa Clara County, California. Part of the neighborhood has been annexed to San Jose, while the rest consists of unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County. The population was 4,926 at the 2010 census...

.

History

Roberto Balemino held a responsible position at Mission Santa Clara

Mission Santa Clara de Asís

Mission Santa Clara de Asís was founded on January 12, 1777 and named for Santa Clara de Asis , the foundress of the order of the Poor Clares. Although ruined and rebuilt six times, the settlement was never abandoned.-History:...

. In 1844 he was granted the half square league Rancho Los Coches and was issued a "Certificate of Emancipation", giving him full citizenship. Antonio Suñol obtained the Rancho Los Coches in 1847 from Roberto as payment on a debt.

Antonio Marie Suñol (1796-1865), born in Spain, was a seaman on a French merchant ship and arrived in the Pueblo of San José in 1818. He married María Dolores Bernal and held several public offices including Postmaster (1826-1829), and Alcalde (mayor) in 1841. He was a grantee of Rancho Valle de San Jose

Rancho Valle de San Jose (Bernal)

Rancho Valle de San José was a Mexican land grant in present day Alameda County, California given in 1839 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Antonio Maria Pico, Agustín Bernal , Juan Pablo Bernal , and María Dolores Bernal de Suñol...

 with his three brothers-in-law. Sunol, California

Sunol, California

Sunol is an unincorporated census-designated place in Alameda County, California, United States. The population was 913 at the 2010 census....

 is named for him. In 1849, Suñol divided Los Coches into thirds; one-third went to his eldest daughter, Paula and her husband Pierre Sainsevain

Pierre Sainsevain

Pierre "Don Pedro" Sainsevain was a French settler in California during the Mexican era. Sainsevain was the recipient of a Mexican land grant, and built a lumber mill and a flour mill...

, grantee of Rancho Cañada del Rincon en el Rio San Lorenzo

Rancho Cañada del Rincon en el Rio San Lorenzo

Rancho Cañada del Rincon en el Rio San Lorenzo was a Mexican land grant in present day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena, and confirmed in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico, to Pedro Sainsevain. The name means "valley on a corner on the San Lorenzo River"...

, and one-third was sold to Henry Morris Naglee

Henry Morris Naglee

Henry Morris Naglee was a civil engineer, banker, vintner, and a Union General in the American Civil War. Naglee was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1835....

.

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 Coches 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 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 Antonio Suñol, Paula Sainsevain, and Henry Morris Naglee in 1857.