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Rancho San Francisco

The Mexican government in the early 1800s was something less than stable. Allegiance to Spain was dissolved.
Power drifted ITom one faction to another. The congress in Mexico City gave in to public pressure to distribute the
lands held by the Catholic Church. In 1833 they issued a general secularization law, which would strip the missions
of their property and reduce them to parish churches. Much of this land was then granted to deserving citizens of
Mexico. The Mexican Army was constantly in a state of flux. Rebellion was a way of life. The soldiers were often
not paid for long periods of time. In the end, many of them were paid in land through land grants.

Antonio Del Valle was the MajorDomo of the Mission San Fernando. In that capacity, he inventoried the vast
holdings of the Mission, including the Asistencia and its property. He requested that he be granted the Rancho San
Francisco. In 1839, Governor Juan B. Alvarado granted the rancho to Del Valle, making him the virtual lord of the
upper Santa Clara Valley.

Del Valle accepted the rancho under certain conditions. No grant could exceed 48,000 acres, which was the size
of the Rancho San Francisco. No grant could be less than one square league or 4,439 acres. The land itself had to
meet certain stipulations. It had to contain one league of irrigable land, four leagues of arable and six leagues fit
for grazing of livestock. The parcel had to contain water to maintain the operation of a ranch. The grantee had to
comply with certain rules, as well. Stock had to be maintained and a house had to be erected. The latter was easy
for Don Antonio. He had the Asistencia buildings. He had the buildings readied for occupancy, but it was some time
before he could move his family to their new home. The Native Americans of the area were not pleased with the
granting of the entire valley to Del Valle. They practiced regular raids on the livestock at the rancho. It was a rough
and dangerous place.

Antonio Del Valle had left his native Compostela, Mexico shortly after his first wife, Maria de la Pena died in
1808. She left him with his only son Ygnacio. Del Valle left his son in the care of his wife’s parents and followed the
army to Alta California. By the time he had acquired Rancho San Francisco, he had remarried and started another
family with his new wife, Jacoba Feliz, who was much younger than Del Valle. Unfortunately for Antonio, he was
destined to enjoy his rancho for only a short time. He died in 1841, only two years after acquiring the Rancho San
Francisco.

His son Ygnacio Del Valle, pictured at left, and his widow Jacoba
inherited most of the land. But they also inherited some inherent problems.
The nature of land grants was unfortunately very vague. AS can be seen in
the above map, surveys were considered an unnecessary detail. Records
were casually kept. Everyone knew where the grants were given. This
practice was to create problems for Ygnacio for almost the rest of his life.
He and his wife Ysabel, pictured at right, spent a great deal of time and
resources defending his title to the Rancho San Francisco.

Ygnacio was a highly respected man in Southern California. He served
as alcalde (mayor) of Los Angeles and Recorder. His father, Antonio,
was a man of little humor and not well read. Antonio was once described
as a “nothing but a dried up little piece of vanity.” Ygnacio was very
different. He was well educated, had, a sense of humor and was generally
well liked. He first married Maria Carrillo de Los Angeles, Pio Pico’s
niece. She was to live only to the age of 21. He later married Ysabel
Varela.

It was Ygnacio who began the development of Camulos in the1840s.