Also known as Rancho Redconada del Sanjón, this rancho of 1.5 leagues was granted to José Eusebio Boronda on February 1, 1840. It was patented to him, as 2,230 acres, on July 30, 1860.
José Eusebio Boronda was the third son of Manuel Boronda, who had come to California as a corporal in the Spanish army on the second Portola expedition. His mother was María Gertridus Higuera, also a native of Mexico.
Desiring to have a rancho of his own Eusebio, in 1839, settled his family on a tract of land which he called San José, located on the north side of the winding, twisting Sanjo del Alisal, (the great slough, or deep ditch, of the alisal), between Cooper’s La Bolsa del Potrero y Moro Cojo on the west, Castro’s El Sausal on the east, and bordering Espinosa’s La Bolsa de las Escarpines on the north. A cattle brand and earmark would have been required for any one seeking a large grant of land. Eusebio, no doubt, had one for he registered it with Monterey County on the 10th of January 1852. However, the design for his and several others were lost when the corner of the Brand Book was torn off many years ago.
On a hill close to a lake which extended toward the northeast, he built an adobe house (the Boronda Adobe) and roofed it with tiles. From here there was a beautiful view to the south across the Salinas Plain to Mount Toro and the hills bordering the south bank of the Salinas river. Eusebio also built corrals for horses and cattle, and enclosed some land on which he cultivated corn, wheat and beans. Maria, one of the five daughters, who later married Alfred Badour, was born in this ranch house. Eusebio applied for the grant of the rancho which he called San José, and on February 1, 1840, Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado made the presentation in person for one and one half leagues, “mas o menos”, about 6,700 acres. The Department Assembly of California gave its approval in the latter part of 1840. Juridical possession was given on the 16th of November 1842, when Boronda’s neighbors Don Juan Cooper, Don Trinidad Espinosa and Don Santiago Moreno were present. Don Teodoro Gonzales, Justice of Peace, officiated and Manuel Castro and Francisco Rico served as official witnesses. When the claim of Boronda to this land was finally confirmed and the U.S. Patent issued July 13, 1860, the name became Rancho Rincón del Sanjón and it had been reduced in size to 2,229.70 acres, or about one-half of a Spanish league.
Sources:
- Breschini, Gary S., Trudy Haversat, and Mona Gudgel, 10,000 Years on the Salinas Plain: An Illustrated History of Salinas City, California (Heritage Media Corp., Carlsbad, 2000).
- Clark, Donald T., Monterey County Place Names (Kestrel Press, Carmel Valley, 1991).