Rancho Pescadero was a 35446 acres (143.4 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 Stanislaus County

Stanislaus County, California

Stanislaus County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. As the price of housing has increased in the San Francisco Bay Area, many people who work in the southern reaches of the Bay Area have opted for the longer commute and moved to Stanislaus County for the...

 and San Joaquin County, California

San Joaquin County, California

San Joaquin County is a county located in Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, just east of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 685,306. The county seat is Stockton.-History:...

 given in 1843 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 Valentin Higuera and Rafael Feliz. Pescadero means "fishing place" in Spanish. The grant extended along the west bank of the San Joaquin River

San Joaquin River

The San Joaquin River is the largest river of Central California in the United States. At over long, the river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through a rich agricultural region known as the San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suisun Bay, San Francisco Bay, and the Pacific Ocean...

 from about Banta

Banta, California

Banta is a small unincorporated town in San Joaquin County, California. Historically, it was a major interchange point between the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads...

 on the north to Del Puerto Creek

Del Puerto Creek

Del Puerto Creek, originally Arroyo de La Puerta is a tributary of the San Joaquin River draining eastern slopes of part of the Diablo Range within the Central Valley of California, USA. The Creek enters the San Joaquin River, about 2 1/2 miles southeast of Grayson, California in Stanislaus County...

 and Rancho Del Puerto

Rancho Del Puerto

Rancho Del Puerto was a Mexican land grant in present day Stanislaus County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Mariano and Pedro Hernández. The grant extended east of the present day Highway 33 to the San Joaquin River...

 on the south, and encompassed present day Grayson

Grayson, California

Grayson is a census-designated place in Stanislaus County, California, United States. The population was 952 at the 2010 census, down from 1,077 at the 2000 census...

.

History

Valentin Higuera and Rafael Feliz were granted the eight square league Rancho Pescadero in 1843. Valentin Higuera (1809-) was the son of José Loreto Higuera, grantee of Rancho Los Tularcitos

Rancho Los Tularcitos

Rancho Los Tularcitos was a Spanish land concession in present day Santa Clara County, California given in 1821 to José Loreto Higuera by the last Spanish governor of Alta California, Pablo Vicente de Solá. The land grant was confirmed by Mexican Governor Juan Alvarado in 1839. The name means...

  In 1829, Valentin Higuera married Maria Margarita Sais (also spelled Saens or Saez) (1811-1850). Valentin's brother, Fulgencio Higuera, was the grantee of Rancho Agua Caliente

Rancho Agua Caliente (Higuera)

Rancho Agua Caliente was a Mexican land grant in present day Alameda County, California given in 1836 by Governor Nicolás Gutiérrez to Antonio Suñol and Fulgencio Higuera, and confirmed in 1839 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Fulgencio Higuera. The name means "warm water" and refers to the warm...

. In 1845, Fulgencio Higuera married Maria Celia Feliz. Antonio Rafael Feliz (1789-1850) was born in Los Angeles and died in 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...

.

Higuera sold the rancho to Hiram Grimes, Francis W. Grimes and William H. McKee in 1849. Hiram Grimes was nephew of Captain Eliab Grimes, grantee of Rancho Del Paso

Rancho Del Paso

Rancho Del Paso was a Mexican land grant in present day Sacramento County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Eliab Grimes. The grant extended along the north bank of the American River and was bounded roughly by today’s Northgate Boulevard, Manzanita Avenue, and Elkhorn...

. Hiram Grimes also owned Rancho San Juan

Rancho San Juan

Rancho San Juan was a Mexican land grant in present day Sacramento County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Joel P. Dedmond...

.

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 Pescadero 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 Hiram Grimes, Francis W. Grimes and William H. McKee in 1858.

Historic sites of the Rancho

• Site of San Joaquin City. A river-streamer stopping town was established in 1849, which was replaced by Vernalis in 1888 with the coming of the Southern Pacific Railroad.