View source for Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros

{{Short description|Mexican land grant Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros included Contra Costa}}
[[File:José_Noriega_(Mayor_of_San_Jose).jpg|thumb|right|[[José Noriega]] purchased Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros in 1847.]]
'''Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros ''' was a {{convert|17760|acre|km2|adj=on}} [[Ranchos of California|Mexican land grant]] mostly in present-day eastern [[Contra Costa County, California]], and partially into northeastern [[Alameda County, California]].  [[Los Vaqueros Reservoir]], located between [[Livermore, California|Livermore]] and [[Brentwood, California|Brentwood]] in the [[Diablo Range]], is on and named for the former rancho.  [[Vasco Road]] passes through the site.
It was given in 1844  by Governor [[Manuel Micheltorena]] to Antonio Higuera, Francisco Alviso and Manuel Miranda.<ref>Ogden Hoffman, 1862, ''Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California'', Numa Hubert, San Francisco</ref>  The name means "Canyon of the Cowboys" in Spanish.
==History==
Antonio Higuera, Francisco Alviso and Manuel Miranda were granted the four league rancho in 1844.<ref>[http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb4k4005jb/?&brand=oac  Diseño del Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros]</ref>   Jose Antonio Higuera (1795– ), who was married to Josefa Antonio Alviso, was the uncle of brothers-in-law Francisco Alviso (1818– ) and Manuel Miranda (1816– ).  Francisco Alviso was married to Maria Isabela Miranda, and Manuel Ciriaco Miranda was married to Maria Del Carmen Alviso.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hoover |first=Mildred B. |last2=Rensch |first2=Hero |last3=Rensch |first3=Ethel |last4=Abeloe |first4=William N. |title=Historic Spots in California |year=1966 |publisher=Stanford University Press | url=https://archive.org/details/historicspotsinc00rens|url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-8047-4482-9}}</ref>  In 1847 Alviso and Miranda sold their interests to [[José Noriega]] and [[Robert Livermore]] who also owned [[Rancho Las Positas]] to the south.
With the [[Mexican Cession|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 Cañada de los Vaqueros was filed with the [[Public Land Commission]] in 1852.<ref>[http://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/256659 United States. District Court (California : Northern District) Land Case 386 ND]</ref><ref>[http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/hb109nb422/ Finding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852-1892]</ref>
In 1854, Livermore and Noriega came to an agreement, where Livermore purchased Noriega's half of Rancho Las Positas and sold his half of Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros to Noriega.  This was the beginning of several lawsuits, and the ownership of the property was not resolved until 1897. Noriega hired an attorney, and gave him a half interest in Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros in lieu of fee, and sold the other half to Maximo Fernandez. Both halves of Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros were again sold in separate transactions in 1857. Unknown to Noriega, Livermore had already conveyed his interest in Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros to his wife and children in 1852; so that the deed from Livermore to Noriega in fact conveyed nothing, in as much as Livermore had then no title to convey.   When Livermore died in 1858, his widow and children claimed Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros based on the deed predating the Noriega transfer.  At the same time, the four children of Antonio Higuera claimed a one third interest in Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros.
By 1860, various parties held deeds totaling nearly twice the Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros grant.  The grant was [[Land patent|patented]] to Robert Livermore and Jose Noriega Nov. 22, 1889, for 17,760.00 acres.<ref>[http://www.slc.ca.gov/Misc_Pages/Historical/Surveyors_General/reports/Willey_1884_1886.pdf  Report of the Surveyor General 1844–1886] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130320000647/http://www.slc.ca.gov/Misc_Pages/Historical/Surveyors_General/reports/Willey_1884_1886.pdf |date=2013-03-20 }}</ref> Finally in 1897 Mary Crocker, heir to Charles McLaughlin, was the owner of the entire rancho.<ref>[http://www.ccwater.com/files/RancotoReservoir/chap2a.pdf  Rancho to Reservoir, Contra Costa Water District] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804034849/http://www.ccwater.com/files/RancotoReservoir/chap2a.pdf |date=2009-08-04 }}</ref>
==See also==
*{{C|Ranchos of Contra Costa County, California}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{coord |37.810|-121.710|region:US-CA|display=title}}
{{California history}}
{{Contra Costa County, California}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rancho Canada de los Vaqueros}}
[[Category:Ranchos of California|Canada de los Vaqueros]]
[[Category:Ranchos of Contra Costa County, California|Canada de los Vaqueros]]
[[Category:Ranchos of Alameda County, California|Canada de los Vaqueros]]
[[Category:Diablo Range]]
[[Category:1844 establishments in Alta California|Canada de los Vaqueros]]