Rancho Rinconada de Los Gatos

Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Clara County, California, United States

El Rancho Rinconada de los Gatos was a 6,631-acre (26.83 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Clara County, California made in 1840 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Jose Maria Hernandez and Sebastian Fabian Peralta.[1] Located in the southern San Francisco Bay Area, the grant included present-day Los Gatos and Monte Sereno, along with about a third of Campbell.[2][3]

History

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Sebastian Peralta and José Hernandez, brothers-in-law married to two Sibrian sisters, were granted the one and one half square league Rancho Rinconada de Los Gatos in 1840.

With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican–American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Rinconada de Los Gatos was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852,[4][5] and the grant was patented to Sebastian Peralta and José Hernandez in 1860.[6]

Approximately 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) were sold to James Alexander Forbes in 1853, when he built Forbes Mill.

Three cities have been incorporated containing large sections of land from the grant: Los Gatos in 1887, Campbell in 1952, and Monte Sereno in 1957. The grant boundary forms the modern boundary between the cities of Saratoga, Los Gatos, and Monte Sereno along Quito Road.

References

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  1. Hoffman, Ogden (1862). Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. San Francisco: Numa Hubert. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Rancho Rinconada de Los Gatos
  3. Rensch, Eugene Hero; Rensch, Ethel Grace; Hoover, Mildred Brooke (1966). Historic Spots in California. Stanford University Press. p. 454. ISBN 9780804700795. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  4. United States. District Court (California : Northern District) Land Case 164 ND
  5. Finding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852-1892
  6. Report of the Surveyor General 1844–1886 Archived 2013-03-20 at the Wayback Machine


37°14′24″N 121°58′48″W / 37.240°N 121.980°W / 37.240; -121.980