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Rafael Castro's Rancho Aptos was Oldest Land Grant
to Remain Under Mexican Ownership
By Jim Johnson
Castro Family Was Among Few to Retain Land Grants When Yankees Took Over California
Santa Cruz County, like California, underwent a massive transformation in the mid-19th century as the Mexican
government turned over control of the territory to the United States. Within a few decades, California communities, like
Santa Cruz, were transformed from traditional Mexican-style villas to Yankee-dominated towns.
Many of the old, original Spanish-Mexican families, dubbed Californios, lost their land in California during this time,
because the records regarding these huge land grants were often found to be incomplete or inaccurate by American
authorities.
But, Rafael Castro of Rancho Aptos was among the lucky land owners, managing to retain his claim to the land grants he
had secured years earlier from Mexican authorities by keeping copies of his records. Rafael's status as a community
leader, he had served as alcalde or mayor, and his education, rare in those times among the large Californio landowners,
helped him keep his property.
"[The] Ranchos that went before him were unable to prove their titles," Aptos Museum Director John Hibble said. "His
ranch was the oldest to successfully prove its title."
Rafael was a proud man who refused to speak English. He would emerge as a traditional Californio island amidst a
swirling American river spurred on by the doctrine of Manifest Destiny. His sister Martina was considerably less
fortunate.
Even though she retained her claim to her vast Rancho Soquel lands just to the north of her brother, her holdings were
all gone in a matter of years. Most of Martina's land was first divided among her children. Most of her daughters had
Yankee husbands.
Shortly afterward, buffeted by lawsuits and the onset of mental instability, she sold her remaining land and spent her
last years living with one of her daughters.
The Last of the Californio Aristocracy
The Castros were natural targets in the transmuting California of the mid-1800s. They represented everything that
California had been up to that point in its history, a Mexican state dominated by large landowners from the Californio
aristocracy.
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�The Castros had been a leading family in the Santa Cruz area for years before they received their huge chunks of land
from Governor Jose Figueroa in 1833. Mexico had just gained its independence from Spain in 1812, and the Act of
Secularization (1833) had just replaced the Catholic Church's authority with that of the Mexican government.
Rafael, who had served in the Mexican Army, received about 5,500 acres running from the Sanjon de Borregas or Lamb's
Gulch near where Cabrillo College is today, to the outskirts of La Selva Beach.
The grant ran from the sea to about two and a half miles inland. He received another 1,100-plus acres in 1840.
Martina and her second husband, Michael Lodge, an Irishman who became a naturalized Mexican citizen, were granted
about 1,700 acres running from the Sanjon de Borregas to the Soquel River in 1833. In 1844, she was granted a huge
32,000-plus acre addition, which stretched up to Loma Prieta, known as the Soquel Augmentation.
Bad Blood with the Yankees
There was also some bad blood between the Castro family and the Yankee population. Clusters of Yankees were already
living in the Santa Cruz area in the early 1800s. In 1836, a contingent of the Yankees, led by Isaac Graham and known as
rifleros, had actually joined a small army of Californios led by Jose Castro, a cousin of Rafael and Martina, in an effort to
establish California as a free and sovereign state.
Graham and his Yankee rifleros were promised land in exchange for their help. But Graham and his rifleros, along with
other Yankees around the state, believed their Californio compatriots never lived up to the bargain and made threats. In
answer, Jose Castro ordered the Yankees arrested and taken to San Blas for trial.
The Yankees were returned without facing charges, but the seeds of discontent had been planted. In the early 1840s,
Yankees began arriving in California in increasing numbers, a development noted by the Mexican Congress with concern.
By 1846, Americans had occupied California and an American flag was raised over Monterey. As the Mexican-American
War rocked California (1846-48), Yankees moved into local government and were elected to the posts of mayor. In 1847,
Santa Cruz alcalde William F. Blackburn, a Yankee, was named acting Governor of California.
In 1848, Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the war and turning California over to the U.S. that
same year, gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill and the Gold Rush was on. Yankees poured into the new U.S. territory. In
1850, California was admitted to the Union. Under state and federal control, a Land Commission was set up to review
land ownership.
First the state, then the federal government, required all landowners to provide proof of ownership.
"Unless they had copies of their own records, the records at Sacramento or San Francisco had a way of not being
complete," Hibble said.
Without copies of their records, and not understanding much English, Mexican landowners were forced to hire lawyers
to represent them in an attempt to reclaim their land. In exchange, the lawyers charged them half to a third of their land
for their services.
Castro Made Money Off the Invading Forces
According to Hibble, most large landowners lost their land through the process. Though Rafael had the foresight to keep
copies of all records regarding Rancho Aptos and didn't need to hire a lawyer to keep his land, he watched as his fellow
Mexicans lost their land and were mistreated by the newcomers. Until his death in 1878, Rafael bitterly resented the
Yankee invasion and resisted being assimilated into the new culture.
"He got to see his heritage treated very poorly," Hibble said. "The Yankees mistreated the Californios, called them
greasers or lynched them. He was bitter when he died."
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�But, Rafael also made money off the Yankees. He leased them his land and allowed them to build on it for various
business endeavors, with the provision that at the end of the standard 10-year lease he would retain all buildings on his
property. Because of these contracts, Rafael acquired a lumber mill, a gristmill, a sawmill, and the Aptos Wharf.
Rafael also made a tidy profit from selling large parts of his land in 1872 to sugar king Claus Spreckels, who bought most
of what is now Rio Del Mar from the aging Mexican don.
Although Rafael's sister Martina also rented her land to Yankees, such as Frederick Hihn and Benjamin Porter, she was
one of the Californios caught in the Yankee current. She lost her second husband and three of her children in the Gold
Rush.
Martina's Misfortunes
Michael Lodge and Martina had gone to the Stanislaus River to ply for gold. Martina returned after three of her children
fell sick and died. Lodge never returned and was presumed murdered in a dispute over gold. Martina, who could not
read or write in English, found herself poorly equipped to deal with the Yankees.
Several of her daughters married Yankees, including Thomas Fallon, a veteran of the Texas War for Independence and
the Mexican-American War. In 1849, Martina, at 42, married Louis Depeaux, a man 16 years younger than she was. It
was rumored that Depeaux was actually more interested in Martina's daughters than in her.
Then, in the early 1850s, with her Rancho Soquel land grant before the Land Commission, Martina was sued by several
of her daughters and their Yankee husbands, led by Fallon, for most of her land. Soon afterward, Depeaux left without
telling Martina where he was going.
Martina eventually gave each of her remaining eight children one-ninth of her Rancho Soquel. She kept an 1,100-acre
parcel and her home near where the Soquel Cemetery sits today. Martina's Rancho Soquel lands would be the subject of
court battles for the rest of the 19th century and into the early 20th century.
Meanwhile, Depeaux returned, and he and Martina sold her remaining Rancho Soquel land to Catholic Father John
Llebaria and Rev. John Ingoldsby for $2,000, and the Soquel Augmentation for $500 to Archbishop Joseph Alemany and
Ingoldsby, in 1855. Martina had planned to go to Mexico after the sale but decided to go to the Hawaiian Islands
instead.
During the trip, Martina said she stated hearing voices and having hallucinations. In 1856, she returned to California and
spent several months in the Stockton Insane Asylum. After her release from the asylum, Martina spent her last years
with her daughter Guadalupe in Capitola until her death in 1890.
Sources
© Mid County Post. This article originally appeared in The Mid County Post, September 28, 1999–October 11,
1999, p. 12. It is reproduced here by permission.
The content of this article is the responsibility of the individual author. It is the Library's intent to provide accurate local history
information. However, it is not possible for the Library to completely verify the accuracy of individual articles obtained from a
variety of sources. If you believe that factual statements in a local history article are incorrect and can provide documentation,
please contact the Webmaster.
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Title
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Rafael Castro's Rancho Aptos was Oldest Land Grant to Remain Under Mexican Ownership
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Johnson, Jim
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<i>The Mid County Post</i>, September 28, 1999-October 11, 1999, p. 12.
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Santa Cruz Public Libraries
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9/28/1999
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En
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Copyright <i>Mid County Post</i>. Reprinted with permission.
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Castro Family
Castro, Rafael
Ranchos
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Aptos
Santa Cruz (County)
Biography
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The Early Years: Rio Del Mar and Aptos
By Allen Collins
"Rio Del Mar" (River to the Sea) was coined as a rhythmic, catchy place-name in the late 1920s to sell residential real
estate. Historically as a name, it has no significance.
"Aptos", on the other hand, is blessed with important historical significance. ln October, 1769, when the first land
expedition rode through our area (the Portola party) there was a well established Indian village on the flat where today's
Aptos and Valencia Creeks join, that flood-plain down behind today's Aptos Village. The Indians stated the name of the
place, and it sounded like "Awotos" to the Spanish reporters—it was thought to mean "the meeting of the waters".
Some 22 years later, when the Franciscan priests set out to establish Mission Santa Cruz, and started baptizing local
Indians (the first in 1791), they recorded the names and addresses of their converts, in phonetic Spanish spelling. In the
Mission records, "Awotos" came out variously as Aptos, Avtos, and Abtos. Interestingly, some 47 such local "addresses"
were reported in the baptismal logs of Mission Santa Cruz, but only three have survived; Aptos, Soquel, and Zayante.
Despite the sea voyage of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo (a Portuguese in the service of Spain) along our coast in 1542, during
which he reported upon a "Bay of Pines" at the latitude of today's Monterey Bay, and the sea-voyage of Sir Francis Drake
(an Englishman) in 1578, during which he claimed "the land" (at Drakes Bay?) for Queen Elizabeth, Sebastian Viscaino (a
Spaniard) is given credit for being the first to sail into (and name) Monterey Bay, in 1602. From his deck (or a beach), he
raised his arms and ceremoniously claimed the "new land" for Spain. The Spanish era started with that proclamation,
although the native Costanoan (coastal) Indians didn't know it! The Gaspar de Portola expeditions in 1769 and 1770
were the first Spaniards to pass through our area by land. The construction crew for temporary structures preceding
Mission Santa Cruz included the first "permanent" Spanish residents in our area; they made camp by the San Lorenzo
river in September, 1791.
The chapel of "Mission La Exaltacion de la Santa Cruz" (the official name) was dedicated in May, 1794, but mission
"services" (religious, educational, agricultural, commercial) got underway long before, and expanded rapidly. By about
1920, the mission organization was controlling the use of most coastal lands within today's Santa Cruz County on an
absolute basis; it owned herds of 4,000-plus cattle, 8,000 sheep, 900 horses, vast grain/corn fields, orchards and
vegetable farms, a grist mill, a leather tannery, etc. It was a big booming business, but as usual, even today, problems
developed. Consider three of those problems:
1. The local Indian population did not take well to long hard days of regulated labor, abundant food and rich diet,
new moral and educational standards and new diseases. In a matter of years, their population (and the size of
the Mission's work force) declined dramatically.
2. Government officials in Madrid were anxious to speed-up Spanish colonization of our coast, to protect against
invasions by the Russians already in Alaska with an established outpost at Fort Ross, by the English already in
western Canada with ships off our coast, by the French with whalers and warships in the Pacific, or by the U.S.
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�pushing west overland. The mission system seemed too slow. Accordingly, a number of "pueblos" were
authorized in 1797, to be independent of church and military rule. Branciforte, across the San Lorenzo River
from Mission Santa Cruz, was one of those, and 8 convicts (4 with wives and families) from Guadalajara were
moved-in to start the community, choosing the rigors of colonization instead of jail sentences. Thereafter,
starting in 1797, Spanish soldiers completing 10-year mandatory enlistments in Alta California, were granted
pensions and promised homes (which they never got!) if they would settle with their families in Branciforte, and
remain on military call. The Jose Joaquin Castro family, later of local fame, was one of those. In time, Villa
Branciforte grew bold and strong, while Mission Santa Cruz grew weaker, so the competition for control and use
of natural resources and land shifted away from the church.
3. There were no enforceable governmental systems for recognizing ownership or protecting private property
rights in frontier areas. Land "squatting" was prevalent in those years; it was the only way. So-called mission
lands were simply taken over by families in need, and no penalties or property lines were involved.
Understandably, there would be conflicts down the road.
Mexico became a free and independent nation in 1821, severing its 200-plus year relationship with Spain. The political
turmoil that followed reflected itself significantly in our area. In 1834, for example, the Mexican government ordered
the secularization of the whole mission system. Locally, all the management and administrative functions of Mission
Santa Cruz were given over to the civil authorities of Villa Branciforte. The mission organization faded fast; the last
Franciscan priest was withdrawn in 1849; earthquakes in 1845 and 1857 destroyed the mission structures.
From 1833 to 1844, to settle jurisdictional disputes and land-use problems along the Central Coast, and to reward the
most prominent Branciforte settlers and their children, the new Mexican government granted vast tracts of land to
individuals; a total of 22 grants involving 150,000-plus acres in our area. This was really the first time in local history that
clear-cut land-ownership by individuals and property lines had been established authoritatively and recorded.
"Don" (gentleman) Rafael de Jesus Castro (b. 1803, d. 1878), third of 16 children of Jose Joaquin Castro, received 6,680
acres in 1833: Rancho Aptos, running from (today's) Cabrillo College to almost La Selva Beach, from the shoreline two to
three miles inland, including all of today's Rio Del Mar. This man was a very enterprising and colorful character. He and
his wife, Soledad Cota, made firm policy of granting large parcels of their Rancho land to each of their 12 children when
they matured or married, whichever came first, and that kept the family close at hand, at least for a while. Together, this
Castro clan made important history in the Aptos area; books have been written about their individual achievements and
failures.
Rafael and Soledad, and a number of their heirs are buried in the Mt. Carmel Cemetery associated with the Resurrection
Church across Soquel Drive from the Aptos Library. The Castro family plot is marked by a 12-ft. high monument, visible
from the street; the related Arano and Melville family plots are adjacent.
Rafael Castro was a cattle-rancher, primarily, but was a shewed business man in many other fields. His stock ran loose,
and he didn't care, for his father (Joaquin) was granted Rancho San Andreas (13,000 acres immediately downcoast), and
his sister (Martina) was granted Rancho Soquel (1,668 acres immediately upcoast) and Soquel Augmentation (32,702
acres immediately inland). Their branded herds intermingled to some extent, but stayed within the family.
Next, the Mexican-American War, 1846-1848, one result of which was that California became a U.S. Territory. Mexican
rule had lasted only 27 years. And then, remember, gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, near Sacramento, in February,
1848. The gold rush was on, and California was admitted to the Union as the 31st state in September, 1850. Important
things were happening, and fast.
All of a sudden the famous Mexican land grants were in jeopardy; they had to be reviewed in infinite detail and certified
("patented") by the U.S. Government. Rafael Castro's Aptos Rancho was finally "patented" in 1860. If you want to see
and feel some exciting local history, in beautiful long-hand penmanship, stop by at some convenient time at the
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�Recorder's Office on the second floor of our County Government Center in Santa Cruz: Diana Ray, who has run the place
for years, will extend every courtesy in showing you Volume I of Patents, Page 27, Recorded April 23, 1860. Therein for
the record is the whole detailed story of Rancho Aptos ... you will have had a rare educational experience, even if you
don't read it all.
Rafael and Soledad Castro were having marital problems in the early 1870's, and two divorce actions were initiated by
Soledad. The problems of dividing the vast and diverse assets of Rancho Aptos under California's Community Property
Laws were overwhelming. About that time (1872), perhaps having heard of the family problems, along came Claus
Spreckels, the fabulously wealthy "Sugar King" of San Francisco and the Sandwich Islands (today's Hawaii). He bargained
to buy all but the Castro's 15-acre homesite and an 83-acre farm strip of Rancho Aptos for $71,900 cash-in-hand; those
2,390 acres that had not been gift-deeded earlier to the Castro children or sold to others. That sale simplified and solved
the Castros' problems, and the second divorce action was dismissed two days later.
Before the year was out, Spreckels had purchased an additional 450+ acres from two of the Castro children at $30-$40
per acre. With all of this, today's Rio del Mar became a small part of the new Aptos Ranch of Claus Spreckels.
The Spreckels arrival into the Aptos area in 1872 seemed to mark the end of the Indian-Spanish-Mexican dominance,
and the beginning of "Americanization".
Sources
This article is an excerpt from Rio Del Mar: a Sedate Residential Community, the Depth of its Character, 225
Years of Local History, by Allen Collins, published by the author, May 1995.
Copyright 1995 Allen Collins. Reproduced with the permission of Hester Collins.
The content of this article is the responsibility of the individual author. It is the Library's intent to provide accurate local history
information. However, it is not possible for the Library to completely verify the accuracy of individual articles obtained from a
variety of sources. If you believe that factual statements in a local history article are incorrect and can provide documentation,
please contact the Webmaster.
3
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Santa Cruz History Articles
Description
An account of the resource
Original articles by library staff and by local authors and material from historical books.
Articles on Santa Cruz County history, many with illustrations, are available here.
The Santa Cruz Public Libraries is grateful to our local historians and their publishers for giving permission to include their articles. The content of the articles is the responsibility of the individual authors.
It is the library's intent to provide accurate information. However, it is not possible to completely verify the accuracy of individual articles obtained from a variety of sources. If you believe that factual statements in an article are incorrect and can provide documentation, please contact the library.
Publisher
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Santa Cruz Public Libraries
Document
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Original Format
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Paper
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Title
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The early years: Rio Del Mar and Aptos
Identifier
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AR-020
Creator
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Collins, Allen
Source
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This article is an excerpt from Rio Del Mar: a Sedate Residential Community, the Depth of its Character, 225 Years of Local History, by Allen Collins, published by the author, May 1995.
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Copyright 1995 Allen Collins. Reproduced with the permission of Hester Collins.
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Santa Cruz Public Libraries
Date
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05-1995
Format
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Text
Language
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En
Type
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ARTICLE
Coverage
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Rio Del Mar
Aptos
Subject
The topic of the resource
Aptos
Rio Del Mar
Castro, Rafael
Spreckels, Claus
Biography