Joe and Ramona Miller California Land Grant Collection
1810-1957
Title: Joe and Ramona Miller California Land Grant Collection
Dates: 1810-1957
Collection Number: 2006_06
Creator/Collector:
Extent: 1 box.
Repository:
Sherman Library and Gardens
Abstract: The collection consists of 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.).
Language of Material: English
Collection is open for research.
Joe and Ramona Miller California Land Grant Collection. Sherman Library and Gardens
The collection was donated to the Sherman Library by Joe and Ramona Miller on March 31, 2001.
Biography/Administrative History
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.
Scope and Content of Collection
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.
Land grants - California - Orange County.
Land grants - California - Sacramento County.
Land titles - California - Orange County.
Land titles - California - Sacramento County.
Ranchos - California - History.
Cowan, De Witt C.
Gear, Hezekiah H.
Peralta, Juan Pablo.
Pico, Andres, 1810-1876.
Riley, Portia A.
Riley, Spurgeon V.
Yorba, José Antonio, 1746-1825.
Yorba, Theodosio.
United States. General Land Office.
United States. Commission for Ascertaining and Settling Private Land Claims in California.
Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana (Calif.)
Rancho las Bolsas (Calif.)
Rancho Lomas de Santiago (Calif.)
Rancho Arroyo Seco (Sacramento County, Calif.)