Rancho San Vicente Y Santa Monica - History

History

In 1839, Governor Alvarado gave possession to Francisco Sepulveda of the lands known as San Vicente, with a piece of pasture (potrero) named Santa Monica. But the boundaries of the lands were not well defined and there was soon a dispute as to the territory included. In 1839 Francisco Marquez and Ysidro Reyes had received the grant to Rancho Boca de Santa Monica which also included the "potrero" of Santa Monica. In 1840 Francisco Sepulveda petitioned governor Alvarado to place him in "...pacific possession of the property, as Francisco Marquez and Ysidro Reyes have given a bad example of disobedience and that under the strength of discordant documents they remain in possession of the place called Santa Monica".

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 San Vicente y Santa Monica was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852. The dispute over the boundaries continued and was not settled until the question came into the United States courts. After long litigation, the Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica grant was patented to the Sepulveda heirs at 30,260 acres (122 km2) in 1881.

In 1872, the Sepulveda's sold their Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica property to Robert S. Baker. Baker sold a three quarter interest in the land to the Comstock millionaire John Percival Jones in 1874.