Description
This collection comprises hand-written correspondence among members of the Amador, Yorba, López, and Cota families in the
region of Orange County, San Diego County, and Baja California from 1853 to 1879. Items include personal letters and business
receipts. The collection documents the family matters of several prominent Californio families in the decades following the
Mexican-American War (1846-1848) and the admission of California to the Union (1850). The correspondence largely concerns
the health of family members, births, deaths, family events, family visits, and business transactions. Several letters also
contain references to national boundaries, language problems, military movements, and epidemics. Members of the López family
in San Diego are the recipients of more than half of the letters, while members of the Amador family, some of whom were based
in San Juan Capistrano, are the largest group of letter writers, accounting for one-quarter of the collection.
Background
The Amador, Cota, Yorba, and López families were four prominent Californio families who received land grants and settled in
California in the nineteenth century. Bernardo Yorba was granted Rancho Yorba, Jose Antonio Yorba and Juan Pablo Peralta were
granted Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, Francisco Cota inherited Rancho de Ballona in present-day Los Angeles, José María Amador
was granted Rancho San Ramón, and Cornelio López and Bernardo Higuera were granted Rancho Rincón de los Bueyes.
Restrictions
Property rights reside with the University of California. These materials are in the public domain. For permissions to reproduce
or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.