Rancho Agua Puerca y las Trancas

Rancho Agua Puerca y las Trancas was a 4,421-acre (17.89 km²) Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Cruz County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Ramón Rodríguez and Francisco Alviso.^[1] "Agua Puerca" means "dirty water ravine" probably refers to the stagnant water in the stream which comes out at Davenport Landing, the original southerly boundary. "Las Trancas" means "the bars" and refers to placing poles for a gate or barrier in a narrow canyon just south of Waddell Creek which formed the north boundary of the grant. The grant extended along the Pacific coast south from Canada de Las Trancas, past present-day Swanton, to the Arroyo Puerca near present-day Davenport. Scotts Creek flows along almost the entire length of the grant.^{[2] [3]}

History

The one square league grant was made to brothers-in-law Ramón Rodríguez and Francisco Alviso. Ramón Rodríguez (1798–1876), brother of Sebastian Rodríguez of Rancho Bolsa del Pajaro, married Francisco Alviso's sister, Maria Rosa Alviso (1816–1890).

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 Agua Puerca y las Trancas was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852,^[4] and the grant was patented to Ramón Rodríguez and Francisco Alviso in 1867.^[5]

In 1846 Felipe Armas (1809–) married Maria Antonia Rodriguez, sister of Ramón Rodríguez. Marriage into this family enabled Felipe Armas to purchase Francisco Alviso's half of Rancho Agua Puerca y las Trancas in 1847.

In 1867, Rancho Agua Puerca y las Trancas was sold to James Archibald. Archibald arranged for a Swiss dairyman, Ambrogio Gianone, to run the dairy. Eventually, Gianone bought the north third of the rancho, which is now known as Gianone Hill. After Archibald died in 1875, his wife sold the remainder of the rancho to Joseph Bloom.^[6] The Swanton Pacific Ranch comprises much of the original Rancho Agua Puerca y Las Trancas.

References

1. Ogden Hoffman, 1862, Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Numa Hubert, San Francisco
2. Diseño del Rancho Agua Puerca y las Trancas
3. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Rancho Agua Puerca y las Trancas
4. United States. District Court (California : Northern District) Land Case 250 ND
5. Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886
6. Hoover, Mildred B.; Rensch, Hero; Rensch, Ethel; Abeloe, William N. (1966). Historic Spots in California. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4482-9.

Coordinates: 37°04′12″N 122°14′24″W / 37.070°N 122.240°W