Legal Education
Aug. 30, 2022
The demise of California’s ranchos
Many Americans failed at mining and began to look at business, farming and ranching as alternatives, but Bay Area and Sacramento land was subject to prior pueblo, presidio, or rancho grants. Americans’ inability to acquire any of this prime land prompted decades-long legal, economic, and cultural conflict.
John S. Caragozian
Email: caragozian@gmail.com
John is a Los Angeles-based lawyer and sits on the Board of the California Supreme Court Historical Society. He welcomes ideas for future monthly columns on California's legal history at caragozian@gmail.com.
Under Spain and Mexico, much of California's agricultural land was granted to military veterans or influential families. Eventually, these granted lands - known as ranchos - accounted for more than 13 million acres (almost 21,000 square miles) in California, including almost all of the coast between San Francisco and San Diego.
Under American rule, however, most of those ranchos shrank or were lost by the Mexican grantees. The ranchos' de...
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