Rancho Los Corralitos was a 15440 acres (62.5 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 Cruz County, California

Santa Cruz County, California

Santa Cruz County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, on the California Central Coast. The county forms the northern coast of the Monterey Bay. . As of the 2010 U.S. Census, its population was 262,382. The county seat is Santa Cruz...

 given in 1823 by Governor Luis Antonio Argüello

Luis Antonio Argüello

Luis Antonio Argüello was the first native governor of Alta California from 1822 to 1825, during the period California was under Mexican rule, twelfth overall. He was the only governor to serve under the Mexican empire, and the first native Californian to hold that office...

, with a confirmatory grant 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 José Amesti. "Los Corralitos" means "the little corrals" in Spanish. The grant extended along Corralitos Creek north of Watsonville

Watsonville, California

Watsonville is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The population was 51,199 according to the 2010 census.Located on the central coast of California, the economy centers predominantly around the farming industry. It is known for growing strawberries, apples, lettuce and a host...

, and encompassed present day Corralitos

Corralitos, California

Corralitos is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The population was 2,326 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Corralitos is located at ....

 and Amesti

Amesti, California

Amesti is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The population was 3,478 at the 2010 census.Amesti is named for José Amesti, a Basque who came to California in 1822, and who was the grantee of Rancho Los Corralitos....

.

History

Jose Amesti (1788-1855), a Spanish Basque

Basque people

The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...

, came to 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...

 on the "Panther" in 1822, and married María Prudenciana Vallejo (1805-1883), sister of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo

Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo

Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo was a Californian military commander, politician, and rancher. He was born a subject of Spain, performed his military duties as an officer of Mexico, and shaped the transition of California from a Mexican district to an American state...

, in 1823. Jose Amesti built the two-story adobe, Casa Amesti, in Monterey. Amesti was 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 Monterey in 1844. Amesti leased portions of the four square league Rancho Los Corralitos for timber cutting, and established his own Lumber mill on the upper portion of the rancho. Jose Amesti and his wife Pudenciana Vallejo de Amesti had four daughters: Maria del Carmen Josefa Antonia Amesti (1824 -1901) who married in 1848 James McKinley, who was the patentee of Rancho San Lucas

Rancho San Lucas

Rancho San Lucas was a Mexican land grant in the Salinas Valley, in present day Monterey County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Rafael Estrada...

 and Rancho Moro y Cayucos

Rancho Moro y Cayucos

Rancho Moro y Cayucos was a Mexican land grant in present day San Luis Obispo County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Martin Olivera and Vicente Feliz...

; Maria Santa Epitacia (1826-1887); Maria Bernardina Celedonia Carmel (1828-1916); and niece Tomasa Madariaga y Vallejo, who was adopted.

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 Corralitos 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 José Amesti in 1861.

After the patent was issued, there was a boundary dispute with José Joaquín Castro's Rancho San Andrés

Rancho San Andrés

Rancho San Andrés was a Mexican land grant in present day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1833 by Governor José Figueroa to José Joaquín Castro. The grant on Monterey Bay extended from La Selva Beach on the north to Watsonville Slough on the south...

which adjoined Rancho Los Corralitos on the west.