1. The Reaba Btue Boo:Lol CaUfol"nio"

2. T h t R e ! 1 l I I t L u cL , a A o f C n l i f a n n
SpanishLand Cirants
HOW LANDS IN CALI!-ORNIAWERE AWARDED AND PATENT
TITLES THERDTO GRANTED PRIOR TO ITS
INCORPORATION WITH THE
I]NITED STATES
,1I1lSENOIT JORGE VDRA ESTANOI,
B,usi' ol TitL(s-The Bull ol Poye AIex& der VI-
In(Iitltls on(], l11(Iiut Colnnnnities TalNlrs (n(l Cities ol
SDtntiet (k unrl Thcir D?scer(lanl.s-Gt,,)tts oJ I'a))ds to
Sbaninrds Ctltitornia Unlel the Control of the Reutbli. ol
EOPLE noll (oll|elsaut rith thc old Sp:u1ish:lld Xllexican latrs
n]r]' be irterested irl betoming better acqunirrted $';th the marrl
featules of the gencr':rl s] sten under $hich ldnded property
passealfron public to Drivate ol rrership dur irg the Sp^nish and Mex
ican domirlatio| in Califol'nia.
THE ]] TLL OF POPI] ALEXANDDR VI
.A.{teI Spaill and Poltugal had achieled the discovery and con-
ouest of the larser DaIt of the AmelicaD continent, a gleat dispute
;r'ose as to the q-uesiionof horv that ter]'itory, that had been von by
their arnies was to be distributed, and they agrecd to submit this
vital question to the albitlation of Pope Alexander, then endowed with
great tempolal power, arrd of iDdisputable spiritual influeDce ovcr the
whole Chdstian world.
This pope issued his famous bull in 1493, awalding to the kings
of Poftugal all of th€ disco.ered tellitory east of a meridian passing
th'_oughthe Azores Isl:nds, whereby they acquir€d 1lhat is now known
as the Republic of Blazil, rnd the kiDgs of Castilla and Aragon $'ere
given all of the te$itoly west of that melidian.
In this way the Spanish kings became the Dolitical sove)'eilrs of
their colonics in Anler'icr, bv rcnson of conquesl, suptene tiUe of sov-
eleignty among lratiorls, and as holdels of the Crown ol Spain, they
:rlrtonatically becAnlethc plopr.ieto].s in fee sinrplc of these lands by
.iliue of don:ttion from thc pope. h1 lhat period to ,.lnruch gleatel de_
gl'ce, no doubt, the DoDewas |egalded as Cod's leplesentative on
calth, and as such Lhe liltual depositart ol the divil). Do'el enlpow-
ered to give and to take yor'ldl-v posscssiors Nith fer'to djspute such
authorit'.

3. Thc Red.l,t!Iil .e Rot* al C(lift)tlur 19
Tirerceforth, the l(iDgs of Spain had t{-o aims in mird. The fil.st
one was to encouragethe colonization b,v Spani:uds of the conqrered
laDds;the secondoDe rvas to reduce the natives to :r sedentall life,
and incideDtally con.crt theD to the Ronan Catholic f:1ith.
To attain these fundamental pulposes a systen was adopted
whelebi'1he Sparish kings vcle to make of theil nelrlr-acquiled l:rnds
,[T a plivai{j rnolloDoli'. ln eiTect tho s}'stem was orgarlized after ihe
folloi/ing plnn:
IN]]IANS AND INDIAN COIIIIUNITIES
Filstiy, the Spanish cro$n recognized lhe title oi the nrtivcs to
ihe land thcy hcld ir conulunit)' prior to the conqLrest,and jssued
specific o1'ders to its agents a d ofnce$ to plotect the aforesrid
possessions, yithout denrandi]lglhe ehil)iliolr ol tiilr or othef
s n,ilhf r- l|L t r's jrs i,l'r' - oi 1'5r .5i .'.
Besid€s this. the Spanish kings turned thei| rll.entioD io thc
creationof ner Indian towrs. called "reducciones," { telm cqui!alent
in a ccltain degrecto 'rrescr'r:Ltiorls,i'
becrLrse, belor'e
as inlinr:rted,
the
natives lyere ledlrced to a scdeDtnrl.life and to the Chlistian pl'actices
of Catholicisn, instead of livii)g a rvild life iD the mounhjn fastnesses.
To cstablish these "r'educciones," graDls ol laDds vith vaters, '
pastures, timbcr'lands anrl easy communication thereto wele gjve -
These glants comp sed hr.o pnlts, to-r'it: An ale:, conrmonly 01
two hurdled ard lifti'acres, ]l-hich {"as allotted to lhe townsite (ranled
"fundo legal"), in whose center a public square and a church wete
rnr located.the balance being devoted to Lhe stlects and d$.cllfug space
t) for the inhabiiants, and a ar'e:tdeloted t(r ''commorrs" ("cjidos").
which usuallv consisted of a litU€ more than four' lhous^nd
three hundred and llfty acres, fot. cornnon us^ges by the drvellers,
such as wateri)rg piaces for their'live stock, aDd forcsts for fuel.
It wzrs also comnoD to give the {anily chiels of the nativcs, for'
)n- their personal cultivation, lilUe tracts of lands that were called
'l epar.tilnientos" or irdi'idual lots. In some (ases, r certain acleage
rte
by was graltcd to the tovn, as com on l:rrd, the products whereof wele
devoted to meet lhe expenditures of comrnorr scrvices, such as lhe
teaching of the doctlirle, schools, etc., |hese ploperties bcing desig-
he nated as "comunidades"or''lrarcialidades."
MISSIONS
ng Ncighbc,r'ins these coninunities of Indlars, the Spuish Clori'n
granted 1'ely often to the missionalies of Sprnish nationality con-
sider-able tlacts of land for theil r'eligious establishmcrlts,expecting in
this '!ay to accoml]lish the chlisiianiz:ltioIr of the tamed natives.
Such is the oligin of the t*-cnty-one nlissions of Jcsuits. Fr:in-
ciscans, xnd DominicaDs, $ho in Califolnir r-ele leallr the pion€crs
etr of the Europear (jviliz:rtion, nttaining mole pleponder:rnce and
influence than arry of the "lat'" settlen1ents. 'I'hc fiI'st of these missions
by
le- rvasthe onc ir San D:eso. loLrDded thc t c.rr l?69.
i|
1'OWNS ,{NfJ aITIES OIi SPINIAnDS AhD l llDlli DDSCIIND,NTS
ch The est:rblishnlent of rities and to1'Is wfis also encouraged by the
Spanish kings. bt'rneans o{ libe!?l gruts ol l:1 ds to the setUers.

4. 20 Ihe Rea,lt! BLueBook af Cal,i,f
emia
eithe! at the lattet's initiative or by spontaneousaeuot of the govet!-
or8 of the paovi[ces. The royal orders recommendeal that these towns
or citi€e should be at places non-contiguous to tlle Indian ,,!educ-
cio[es," to avoid boundary disputes, &nd that sanitary arear, fit for
cultivation, with a benign climatq clear
'water to drink atrd for irrigation purposessky and an abu[dance of
be chosen.
The chartels for these towns and cities covered extensioDsof not
Iess thsn seventeenthousand acres,-sometimes a much larger acre
ag€. This acreage was devoted to the townsite. to the commons.and
to the lots tiat were individually deededin fee simple to the settlers,
reith the latter's obligation to furnish agricultural implernelh, breed-
ing cattle and other anirnals. It was with charteE of this kild that
the citiee Monterey, San Diego, Santa Barbara, San f'raocisco, Los
Angele, amdother places, lesserimportance,
of were founded.
GNANTS OF I.ANDS ro SPANIARDS
The Spanish kings, to compensatefor the war exploits that had
won fo! them such big territories, made Eifts of latrds to ure con-
querors elnbracing thousands and sometimes hundreds of thousands
o1 acres,
Also the Spanish kings authorized the life concessionof vast ex-
teDsionsof lands to tleir subjects, under the condition that tftey were
to extend their protection to the native rural population and to
instruct them in the Catholicfaith and its doctrine. It was a kind of
fiel named "encomienda" (trust), that with the passing of years
became peryetuallandedowneNhip. It seems, however,th;t noneol
these lrusts everdid cisl in Californil.
Furilermore, the Spani.sh kings madesnlall granls of iand !o
their soldiers. ThesJ g"anls were called "peonias" (infantr},rnan-
homestead) or "caballerias" (cavalry-homestead), according to
whether the grantee was an infantry or cavalry soldier. The
"peolias" comprised a place for the house, a small lot for an orchard
and aboutonehundred and fifty acresto be devoiedto the growinq of -tlre
cereals. The "caballerias" er'ereusually five times targei than
"peonias."
- Finally, pressedby the need of money to maintain the royal
household, and to meet the expenalitures of the many wars iu which
Spain war involved, her kings ordereal the alietation of lanals for a
comparatively sma,ll consideration to those of their subjects who
wishedto sel,tleon and cultivate them.
. A"..1! the previously inentioned gaants vere rnade iD vague
tems, indicating only approximate directions and distances. tlire
arose gteat discrepancies between the measure of the titl€s and thore
of the actual possessions,and to correct this evil, the systern of te-
measulement resurveys instituled.
and {as iherebv nlakinsuncertain
the boundarie< rhe landcdpropertyin SpanishAmelifu. In {his
of
way. a goorl po ion of thp landsnow lorming rhe Srateof Califomia,
and at the sametime a part of the colonynamedNew Spair, was made
the propedy of thq toms of natives,the religiousmissions, towns
the
of Spaniardsor their descendants, the ofispring of Spanishcon-
and
querors,soldiersand civilian setUels.

5. fhe RL Itu Dlue Botk ol CalilotniL
CAI,IFORNIA UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE REPUIJLIC OF MDXICO
In 1821,when the colony became an independent Mexican nation,
she adoptedthe Spanish laws regarding the g]antirg of lands, and
Califomia. as n palt of the rel. nation, colltinued to l)e ]uled bI said
Spanish iaws, as modificd by Mexico.
Up to 1848, whcn Califorrria cexsed to be a parL of llexico and
became palt of the Anerican nation, the laws concemiDg the aliena-
a
tion of public properties suffered b|lt s]ight changes and all grantings
continued be made the same as urder the colonial regime, the only
to
change bejDglhAt, insteAd of the viceroy, or the Audience, oI thc ln-
tendents, president of the r€public, or the govelnor, or' chief execu,
the
tive of the Califolnias issued the litles. However'. some sDecialdisDo-
silionsarF r^ be po'r t"d out.
Anxious to populate her vast areas of ten'itolv. as well as to
attain to their inprovement and cultiration, the re*' Mcxican ration
profferedlands to Joreigrte|s:rnd natir.cs, r.hethel i dividuals or Iam-
ilies, to colonizing
or entelprises. (Au$rst 18th, 182.1.)
Later on, a neiv lalv authorized the chief executive of the terri-
tories, including the Cali{ornias, to deed the lands, subject to the
approvalof the so-called "T€rritorial Deputations," or of the national
government. These grants were made lvith the provision that the
settlersor colonists should cultivate and maintaiD the lands populated
for a ce{air lengl.h of time, as set fo1'th in the title, under. Denalty of
fodeitule. After DroDer e'idelcc 1,ilsre deled thai said conditions
$er.efidfilled, the lands bcca e a ille,ocable priv:rte propeltr. The
arcasinchded irr thesc glaDts lar.ied in size, but coukl not bc less than
oneand thlee four'lhs actes IoI the house lot. sever a(r'cs of ilfisabie
l a n d , . rF ' u . d r p d 1 1 , J . ' ' e : . ,- u i . l ' i - l l : , r r s , . , r r , l s u t . . r : , l r r ' A
l r
fifty aclesol glazirg lards (Novenber 21st, 1828). "
As the missions had acquired great iDfluenca and -the lands they
owned were of too large sizes, the National Governrnent deened it
necessary seculArizeor nationalize their holdings; that is, to retur'rl
to
their vast land aleas to tbe nation, making in tulr possible the grant-
ing of these lands to private individuals; and the Government carried
out this secularization through, reser-ving to the missions, however,
the land necessaryfor' the p:uish, the living qualters of the priest and
his assistants, and the schools and othcr establishments, ztnd shops,
and so folth. (Ausust '17th, 18J::1.)
Then the National Govemment, in older lo enhance the coloniza-
tion, empowered the chief executives of the Califonias to grant to
bona-fide colonists the secularized properties takeD back i'on1 the mis-
sioDs, this being thr, ol'igirl ol rnanv ol the cstnles lnror,| rs the
properties of the old Spanish families in Califonlia. (Nov. 26th,
1833.)
On March 29th, 1843, at the city o{ Ins Angeles, Governor
tr{icheltolen^ issuad a declec, recognizing the legal existcnce of the
missions of San Diego, San Luis Rey, San Juan Capistrano, San
Cabriel. San fer_nando, Sall Buen: 'eirtur'a, Santa ISarbala, Santa
Inez,La PLrrisimr.S:u Antonio, S:urtaClala:ud Sno Jose.coDlir'nl-
ing, oncennd Ior all, the glants of lA ds to pli|ate indiriduAls oI

6. 22 The Redta BIM Book of Catriforn t
enterprises, which had formerly belong€d to the missioDs and were
recoverd by the government, and finally reserving to the recognized
missions what little land they still held, for their own support and the
upkeep of the natives of the missions.
In this wey the lands of what is today California were dis_
tributed among the cities and tovns of Spaniartls, the very few exist-
jng "reducciones" reselvationsof Indians,lhe missions
or whoselegal
existence was expresslyrecognizedand t}le estatesgtanted to civil
and military Spaniards and Mexicans. respectively, duriDg th€
Colordal regime, and the Mexlcan administratiof that succeededit]
By the Guadalupe Hidalgo treaty, refomed ir1 La Mesilla, where-
by Cslifonia becamepalt of the United States of America, the Amer-
ican govemment ag.eed to recogrize all titles issued by the MexicaD
government and by the Spanish Crown, and inhedted the civil ownel-
ship in fee simple of all ihe lands which thereiofore had not been
granted to individualsoI corporations.