Rancho Tomales y Baulines was a 9468 acres (38.3 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 Marin County, California

Marin County, California

Marin County is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2010, the population was 252,409. The county seat is San Rafael and the largest employer is the county government. Marin County is well...

 given in 1836 by Governor Nicolás Gutiérrez

Nicolás Gutiérrez

Lieutenant Colonel Nicolás Gutiérrez was a twice acting governor of Alta California in 1836 from January to May and July to November.Gutierrez served two abbreviated terms in less than a year as acting governor of Alta California in 1836...

 to Rafael Garcia. The grant extended south from Point Reyes Station

Point Reyes Station, California

Point Reyes Station is small unincorporated town located in western Marin County, California. Point Reyes Station is located south-southeast of Tomales, at an elevation of . Point Reyes Station is located along State Route 1 and is a gateway to the Point Reyes National Seashore, an extremely...

 along the Olema Valley

Olema Valley

Olema Valley is a gorge formed by the San Andreas Fault in rural west Marin County, Northern California. The valley runs from the town of Olema through Dogtown and Point Reyes to the Bolinas Lagoon, which lies between Bolinas and Stinson Beach near Drake's Bay....

 and encompassed present day Olema

Olema, California

Olema is an unincorporated community in Marin County, California. It is located on Olema Creek south-southeast of Point Reyes Station, at an elevation of 69 feet ....

 and Garcia

Garcia, California

Garcia is a former settlement in Marin County, California. It was located on the Northwestern Pacific Railroad east of Point Reyes Station.The name honored Rafael Garcia, recipient of the Rancho Tomales y Baulines Mexican Land Grant....

.

History

Rafael Garcia (1799-1866) married Maria Loreto Altamirano in 1827. Garcia was a corporal stationed at Mission San Rafael

Mission San Rafael Arcángel

Mission San Rafael Arcángel was founded in 1817 as a medical asistencia of the Mission San Francisco de Asís as a hospital to treat sick Native Americans of the Bay Area, making it Alta California's first sanitarium. The weather was much better in the North Bay than in San Francisco, and helped...

 and was the first settler to occupy the area around Bolinas Lagoon

Bolinas Lagoon

Bolinas Lagoon is a tidal estuary, approximately in area, located at in the West Marin region of Marin County, California, United States. It is a part of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. The lagoon is a back bay of Bolinas Bay on the Pacific coast approximately 15 mi ...

 in 1834. To allow his brother-in-law, Gregorio Briones, to have Rancho Las Baulines

Rancho Las Baulines

Rancho Las Baulines was a Mexican land grant in present day Marin County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to Gregorio Briones. The grant extended around Bolinas Lagoon and encompassed present day Stinson Beach and Bolinas.-History:...

, Garcia moved north up the Olema Valley to Olema, and was granted the two square league Rancho Tomales y Baulines in 1836. Garcia gained “juridical possession” of this land from the authorities in Sonoma

Sonoma, California

Sonoma is a historically significant city in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, USA, surrounding its historic town plaza, a remnant of the town's Mexican colonial past. It was the capital of the short-lived California Republic...

. In 1843, Garcia moved his livestock onto neighboring James Berry’s Rancho Punta de los Reyes

Rancho Punta de los Reyes (Phelps)

Rancho Punta de los Reyes was a Mexican land grant in present day Marin County, California, given in 1836 by Governor Nicolás Gutiérrez to James Richard Berry. The grant was east of Rancho Las Baulines and south of Rancho Tomales y Baulines.-History:...

. His widow, Loretta, was murdered in Olema in 1873.

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 Tomales y Baulines 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 Rafael Garcia in 1883.