Rancho San Francisco

Rancho San Francisco was a land grant of 48,612 acres (196.7 km²) by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Antonio del Valle, a Spanish army officer, in recognition for his service to the state of Alta California. The rancho was the location of the first documented discovery of gold in California in 1842. [cite book |author=Rawls, James, J. and Richard J. Orsi (eds.) | title = A golden state: mining and economic development in Gold Rush California|series=California History Sesquicentennial, 2 | year = 1999 | location = Berkeley and Los Angeles| publisher = University of California Press | isbn= 0-520-21771-3 | pages=3 ] The current cities of Santa Clarita and Piru lie within the boundaries of Rancho San Francisco, later known as Newhall Ranch. The rancho is a designated California Historical Landmark.

Early history

After Mission San Fernando Rey de España was established in 1797, the administrators there realized they would need more land for agriculture and livestock, and they looked north to the Santa Clarita Valley to establish their "estancia", or mission rancho. Subsequently, the Tataviam Indians who had been living there were relocated to the Mission, where they were baptized and put to work. The Estancia de San Francisco Xavier was built in 1804 at the confluence of Castaic Creek and the Santa Clara River.

Following the Mexican War of Independence, the missions were secularized and the land taken by the Mexican government. In 1834, Lt. Del Valle was assigned to inventory the property of Mission San Fernando. The rancho was supposed to be returned to the Tataviam, but Governor Alvarado deeded it to his friend Del Valle instead on January 22, 1839. The Del Valle family moved into the former "estancia" buildings (near what is now Castaic).

Del Valle died in 1841. On his deathbed, he attempted to reconcile with his estranged son Ygnacio by writing him a letter and offering the entire rancho to him as his inheritance. However, Del Valle died before the letter was delivered to his son.cite news | url=http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/sg090199a.htm | title=Del Valle descendant pursues her roots | publisher=The Signal | first=Marci | last=Wormser | date=September 1, 1999 | accessdate=2007-04-09] Regardless, Ygnacio took control over the land.

Gold discovery

On March 9, 1842, Francisco Lopez, the uncle of Antonio's second wife Jacoba Feliz, took a rest under an oak tree in Placerita Canyon and had a dream that he was floating on a pool of gold. When he awoke, he pulled a few wild onions from the ground only to find flakes of gold clinging to the roots.cite news | title=California's REAL First Gold | url=http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/signal/coins/worden-coinage1005.htm | work=COINage magazine | first=Leon | last=Worden | date=October 2005 | accessdate=2007-04-16] However, he was not just lucky. Lopez had studied mineralogy at the University of Mexico and it was likely he had been systematically looking for gold.cite news | title=The real story of California's first gold discovery | url=http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/signal/worden/lw012496.htm | first=Leon | last=Worden | publisher=The Signal | date=January 24, 1996 | accessdate=2007-04-16] Moreover, evidence suggests that gold had previously been found in the area as many as thirty years prior, but Lopez's discovery was the first documented discovery of gold in the state.cite news | title=New Study Will Nag SCV Historians | url=http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/signal/worden/lw081496.htm | first=Leon | last=Worden | publisher=The Signal | date=August 14, 1996 | accessdate=2007-04-16] This sparked a gold rush on a much smaller scale than the more famous California Gold Rush several years later. About 2,000 people, mostly from the Mexican state of Sonora, came to Rancho San Francisco to mine the gold.

This discovery was mostly ignored by the American public. For one thing, California was not yet a U.S. state, so this was in essence a Mexican discovery. However, certain people who later played a large role in the other gold rush took note. John Sutter, who had sided with Gov. Manuel Micheltorena during his power struggle with former Gov. Alvarado, was imprisoned after the Battle of Providencia near Mission San Fernando after the insurrection had succeeded. After his release, he headed north through Placerita Canyon, and seeing the mining operation, determined to search for gold near his home, Sutter's Fort.

During the Mexican–American War, Del Valle destroyed the mine to prevent the Americans from gaining access to it.cite news | url=http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/times111101.htm | title=Del Valle Family Played a Starring Role in Early California | publisher=Los Angeles Times | first=Cecilia | last=Rasmussen | date=November 11, 2001 | accessdate=2007-04-09] The tree where Lopez took his nap is now known as the "Oak of the Golden Dream" and is registered as California Historic Landmark #168.

Later history

Following the war, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo allowed Mexican landowners to keep their lands. However, Feliz sued for control of Rancho San Francisco. The judgment for Feliz's lawsuit was handed down in 1857. Ygnacio received the westernmost portion of 13,599 acres (55.03 km²), Feliz (now Salazár) took 21,307 acres (86.23 km²), and her six children received 4,684 acres (18.96 km²) each.cite web | url=http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/lw2052.htm | title=Ygnacio del Valle, Landowner | publisher= Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society | accessdate=2007-04-09]

Unfortunately, at this time Southern California experienced a great deal of flooding, and ranchers were forced to mortgage their properties in order to pay for damages. Feliz mortgaged her portion of the land to William Wolfskill, who returned a portion of it back to Del Valle in exchange for him settling her debts. Floods were followed by droughts, which again exacerbated the ranchers. Finally, in 1862 Del Valle was forced to sell off most of his land to oil speculators, keeping only his Rancho Camulos. The oilmen were unable to find any oil, and Rancho San Francisco eventually landed in the hands of Henry Newhall, whose name is now closely associated with the Santa Clarita Valley area.

Newhall granted right-of-way to Southern Pacific Railroad to build a rail line to Los Angeles and sold them a portion of the land, upon which sprang a new town that the company named after him, Newhall. [cite book | title=A California
| first=Ruth Waldo | last=Newhall | year=1992 | publisher=Newhall Land and Farming Company] Another town grew around the train station and Newhall named it after his hometown, Saugus.

After Newhall's death in 1882, his heirs formed the Newhall Land and Farming Company, which managed the lands. In 1936, Atholl McBean, Newhall's grandson-in-law, discovered oil on the property and changed the name to Newhall Ranch. [cite news | url=http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/signal/worden/lw060795.htm | title=Prime Valencia Real Estate, $2 an Acre | publisher=The Signal | first=Leon | last=Worden | date=June 7, 1995 | accessdate=2007-04-20]

Historic designations

*California Historical Landmark #556cite web | title=Los Angeles | url=http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=21427 | work=California Historical Landmarks | publisher=Office of Historic Preservation | accessdate=2007-04-16]
*"The Oak of the Golden Dream", where Francisco Lopez napped – California Historical Landmark #168

References