California  Rancho Period 
 (1821-1846)

Pío de Jesús Pico (1801-1894) was the last Mexican governor of Alta California. He was one of the richest Californios at the time and owned Rancho Paso de Bartolo Viejo.

Ranchos

A rancho (rahn'-cho) was a tract of land used for raising cattle, sheep, and horses.  This Spanish word has come into the English language as ranch. 

Land Grants

A diseño accompanied each land grant request  and was usually a quickly drawn map.

Natural landmarks such as streams, hills, gullies, or clumps of trees were used to describe the boundaries of the rancho.  Sometimes rocks were piled up and used as a marker, or sticks were stuck in the ground.