Rancho de las Pulgas
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Rancho de las Pulgas was a 35,240-acre (142.6 km2) 1795 Spanish land grant in present day San Mateo County, California to José Darío Argüello. The name means "Ranch of the Fleas". The grant was bounded by San Mateo Creek on the north and San Francisquito Creek on the south, and extended about one league from San Francsico Bay to the hills.[1] The grant encompasssed present day San Mateo, Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City, Atherton and Menlo Park.[2]
[edit] History
In 1795, the Spanish Governor of California, Diego de Borica, made the provisional grant of the Las Pulgas to José Darío Argüello. Brothers Luis Antonio Argüello(1784 - 1830), Santiago Argüello and Gervasio Argüello were sons of José Darío Argüello. In 1835, Mexican Governor José Castro granted the four square league Rancho de las Pulgas to the widow, Maria Soledad Ortega de Argüello, and heirs of Luis Antonio Argüello.[3][4]
In 1852, a claim for twelve square leagues was filed with the Public Land Commission by heirs of Luis Antonio Argüello. The Land Commission rejected the claim for twelve square leagues, but confirmed the claim for four square leagues, which was confirmed by the District Court,[5] and affirmed by the US Supreme Court.[6] The grant was described as "being of the extent of four leagues in length and one league in breadth, more or less". In 1857, following the 1856 official survey, the grant was patented to Maria Soledad Ortega de Argüello (one undivided half), Jose Ramon Argüello (one undivided fourth), Luis Antonio Argüello (one undivided tenth) and S. M. Mezes (three undivided twentieths). Simon Monserrat Mezes (d. 1884) was the Argüello family's lawyer who handled the land patent process.
The patent was for 35,240 acres (142.6 km2)[7] - nearly double the size of the original grant, and contrary to the language of the US Supreme Court ruling. Although both Rancho de las Pulgas and Rancho Cañada de Raymundo had been patented by the US Government, the boundaries of the two grants now overlapped. A problem that required an Act of Congress in 1878 to resolve.[8]
A claim filed by Gervasio Argüello with the Land Commission in 1852 was rejected.[9] A claim filed by Mowry W. Smith with the Land Commission in 1853 was rejected.[10]
[edit] References
- ^ Map of Rancho de las Pulgas
- ^ USGS GNIS: Rancho de las Pulgas
- ^ The Arguellos and Rancho de las Pulgas
- ^ Rancho de las Pulgas
- ^ United States. District Court (California : Northern District) Land Case 54 ND
- ^ De Arguello v. U S, US Supreme Court,59 U.S. 539 (1855)
- ^ Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886
- ^ Boundary of Las Pulgas Rancho, Reports of Committees, House of Represenatives, Vol. IV, Report No. 810, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1878
- ^ United States. District Court (California : Northern District) Land Case 157 ND
- ^ United States. District Court (California : Northern District) Land Case 293 ND
Coordinates: 37°28′12″N 122°11′24″W / 37.470°N 122.190°W
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