Joe and Ramona Miller California Land Grant Collection, 1810-1957

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Summary

Creators:
Abstract:
Extent:
1 box.
Language:
Preferred citation:

Joe and Ramona Miller California Land Grant Collection. Sherman Library and Gardens

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of legal documents, correspondence, affidavits, petitions, maps and related materials concerning the review of several Mexican and Spanish land grant claims in California in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The three ranchos represented in the collection are: Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana (Orange County, Calif.), Rancho Lomas de Santiago (Orange County, Calif.), and Rancho Arroyo Seco (Sacramento County, Calif.). Many of the documents in the collection are photostatic copies of materials from the General Land Office of the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the originals are likely in the holdings of the National Archives and Records Administration. The portion of the collection related to Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana concerns the rancho’s boundary bordering Rancho las Bolsas to the north due to the change in the course of the Santa Ana River and includes copies of testimonies concerning the property’s history. The materials related to Andres Pico’s Rancho Arroyo Seco concern a portion of the property awarded as a bounty land grant by the United States government to Hezekiah H. Gear, who later sold it to De Witt C. Cowan. The collection also contains a small group of ephemera related to land ownership in California (deeds and other printed materials) and also scattered receipts, checks, and a stock certificate.

Biographical / historical:

Following the end of the U.S.-Mexico War, the signing of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, and the entry of California into the union in 1850, the United States Land Commission proceeded to evaluate and review all extant land ownership titles in the state. Because many California ranchos had been granted to individuals before 1850, the Land Commission found itself reviewing over eight hundred Mexican-era land grant claims concerning private ownership of the ranchos in California to determine their boundaries and title under the United States government.

Acquisition information:
The collection was donated to the Sherman Library by Joe and Ramona Miller on March 31, 2001.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Preferred citation:

Joe and Ramona Miller California Land Grant Collection. Sherman Library and Gardens

Location of this collection:
614 Dahlia Ave.
Corona del Mar, CA 92625, US
Contact:
(949) 673-1880
library@slgardens.org
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