Rancho German
Encyclopedia
Rancho German was a 17580 acres (71.1 km²) Mexican land grant
in present day Sonoma County, California
given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico
to Ernest Rufus. Rufus named the ranch after Hermann, the German hero who defeated the Roman legions in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
at the time of the Emperor Augustus
. Herman, in Spanish, would be written "German". The name "Rancho de Hermann" appears on the diseno, but the expediente has "German". The grant extended along the Pacific coast
from the Gualala River
on the north to Salt Point State Park
on the south, and included present day Gualala
and Sea Ranch.
n presence at Fort Ross, was happy to see them leave in 1841, but less pleased when the Russian-American Company
sold it to John Sutter
. The position of the Mexican government had been that neither land nor improvements had ever belonged to the Russians and hence they could not legally be transferred to anyone else. Within two years after the purchase of Fort Ross, everything Sutter considered salvageable had been removed to his Rancho New Helvetia
. In 1843, William Benitz, from Baden
, Germany
, became manager of Sutter's Fort Ross holdings. In 1844 Sutter leased the land to Benitz and a partner, Ernest Rufus, from Württemberg
. Both Benitz and Rufus had been officers in Sutter's militia. That transaction again brought into question the validity of Sutter's title to the property.
In 1845 Wilhelm Benitz and Ernest Rufus petitioned the Mexican governor Pío Pico for a grant of five square leagues. Before the award of the land grant, Rufus invited German immigrants Frederick Hügal and Henry Haeger to assist him in developing the grant. Rufus, a naturalized Mexican citizen, went to Los Angeles
to petition for the land, which in 1846 was granted to Rufus in his name alone. At that time, the Mexican authorities did not like making grants to multiple owners. Rufus gave one and a quarter square leagues each to Hügal and Haeger, leaving one and a quarter square leagues each to Benitz and Rufus.
In 1849, Manuel Torres, grantee of Rancho Muniz
on Rancho German's southern border, sold Rancho Muniz to Benitz and Rufus. Benitz and Rufus now owned approximately two thirds of the Sonoma county coastline, from the Walhalla (Gualala) river in the north to the Russian River
in the south. Rufus left the partnership in June, 1849. William Benitz took another partner, Charles Theodore Meyer, also a German immigrant. In July, 1849, Benitz and Meyer bought out Hügal.
With the cession
of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho German was filed with the Public Land Commission
in 1852, and the grant was patented
to William Benitz, Charles Meyer, Carlos F. Glein, Joshua Hendy
, and Samuel M. Duncan in 1872.
Samuel Duncan and Joshua Hendy established a sawmill on the ridge behind Salt Point, in 1853. In 1855 Joshua Hendy sold his share to Alexander Duncan
, brother of Samuel. Before the official survey was made, Glein, Hendy, and Duncan sold their shares of the rancho to Henry B. Platt. However the official survey area of the rancho was about four square leagues - less than the five square leagues of the original grant. This led to several law suits adjusting boundaries.
By 1855, German immigrants William Bihler and Charles Wagner acquired title to the northern 2 square leagues of Rancho German. Bihler bought out Wagner's interest in 1857. William Bihler (1828 -) was born in Eppingen
, Baden, Germany, and emigrated, with parents, to America, settling in Baltimore
. Bihler arrived in San Francisco in 1849, where he apprenticed as a butcher in for a couple of years before becoming a partner in a cattle ranch operation on Rancho Huichica
in western Napa County
in 1852. Bihler remained at Rancho Huichica until 1859, when he purchased a ranch Lakeville
.
When Bihler acquired his Rancho German property in 1855, he sent back to Baltimore
for his two young nephews to join him and manage his two cattle ranches. The younger, Christian Stengel, along with Adam Knipp, would operate the Rancho German property. Beginning in the 1860s, Knipp and Stengel gradually bought 3220 acres (13 km²) from Bihler. Between 1872 and 1882, Robert Rutherford bought 985 acres (4 km²) from Bihler, but lost it 13 years to foreclosure
. In 1903, Knipp and Stengel began selling off their land to Bender Brothers Mill and Lumber Co., which also acquired the Rutherford ranch. Starting in 1910, Walter P. Frick bought up parcels of the ranch and unified them as the Del Mar Ranch.
Ranchos of California
The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...
in present day Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, located on the northern coast of the U.S. state of California, is the largest and northernmost of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. Its population at the 2010 census was 483,878. Its largest city and county seat is Santa Rosa....
given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico
Pío Pico
Pío de Jesús Pico was the last Governor of Alta California under Mexican rule.-Origins:...
to Ernest Rufus. Rufus named the ranch after Hermann, the German hero who defeated the Roman legions in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest took place in 9 CE, when an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius of the Cherusci ambushed and decisively destroyed three Roman legions, along with their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius Varus.Despite numerous successful campaigns and raids by the...
at the time of the Emperor Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
. Herman, in Spanish, would be written "German". The name "Rancho de Hermann" appears on the diseno, but the expediente has "German". The grant extended along the Pacific coast
Pacific Coast
A country's Pacific coast is the part of its coast bordering the Pacific Ocean.-The Americas:Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western border.* Geography of Canada* Geography of Chile* Geography of Colombia...
from the Gualala River
Gualala River
The Gualala River is a river on the northern coast of California. Most of the river is in Sonoma County, but a portion is in Mendocino County. The headwaters of the river are high in the Coast Range, and it empties into the Pacific Ocean...
on the north to Salt Point State Park
Salt Point State Park
Salt Point State Park is a state park located at in Sonoma County, California, United States. The park covers on the coast of Northern California with of hiking trails and over six miles of a rough rocky coast line including Salt Point which protrudes into the Pacific Ocean. The park also...
on the south, and included present day Gualala
Gualala, California
Gualala is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County in the U.S. state of California. It is located southwest of Hopland, at an elevation of 49 feet . It is located on the Pacific coast at the mouth of the Gualala River, on State Route 1. It serves as a commercial center for the...
and Sea Ranch.
History
The Mexican government, which had been concerned about the RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n presence at Fort Ross, was happy to see them leave in 1841, but less pleased when the Russian-American Company
Russian-American Company
The Russian-American Company was a state-sponsored chartered company formed largely on the basis of the so-called Shelekhov-Golikov Company of Grigory Shelekhov and Ivan Larionovich Golikov The Russian-American Company (officially: Under His Imperial Majesty's Highest Protection (patronage)...
sold it to John Sutter
John Sutter
Johann Augus Sutter was a Swiss pioneer of California known for his association with the California Gold Rush by the discovery of gold by James W. Marshall and the mill making team at Sutter's Mill, and for establishing Sutter's Fort in the area that would eventually become Sacramento, the...
. The position of the Mexican government had been that neither land nor improvements had ever belonged to the Russians and hence they could not legally be transferred to anyone else. Within two years after the purchase of Fort Ross, everything Sutter considered salvageable had been removed to his Rancho New Helvetia
Rancho New Helvetia
Rancho New Helvetia was a Mexican land grant in present day Sacramento County, Sutter County and Yuba County, California given in 1841 by Governor Juan Alvarado to John Sutter. The name means "new Switzerland" after Sutter's home country...
. In 1843, William Benitz, from Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, became manager of Sutter's Fort Ross holdings. In 1844 Sutter leased the land to Benitz and a partner, Ernest Rufus, from Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
. Both Benitz and Rufus had been officers in Sutter's militia. That transaction again brought into question the validity of Sutter's title to the property.
In 1845 Wilhelm Benitz and Ernest Rufus petitioned the Mexican governor Pío Pico for a grant of five square leagues. Before the award of the land grant, Rufus invited German immigrants Frederick Hügal and Henry Haeger to assist him in developing the grant. Rufus, a naturalized Mexican citizen, went to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to petition for the land, which in 1846 was granted to Rufus in his name alone. At that time, the Mexican authorities did not like making grants to multiple owners. Rufus gave one and a quarter square leagues each to Hügal and Haeger, leaving one and a quarter square leagues each to Benitz and Rufus.
In 1849, Manuel Torres, grantee of Rancho Muniz
Rancho Muniz
Rancho Muniz was a Mexican land grant in present day Sonoma County, California given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to Manuel Torres. The grant extended along the Pacific coast from Salt Point State Park on the north to the Russian River on the south...
on Rancho German's southern border, sold Rancho Muniz to Benitz and Rufus. Benitz and Rufus now owned approximately two thirds of the Sonoma county coastline, from the Walhalla (Gualala) river in the north to the Russian River
Russian River (California)
The Russian River, a southward-flowing river, drains of Sonoma and Mendocino counties in Northern California. With an annual average discharge of approximately , it is the second largest river flowing through the nine county Greater San Francisco Bay Area with a mainstem 110 miles ...
in the south. Rufus left the partnership in June, 1849. William Benitz took another partner, Charles Theodore Meyer, also a German immigrant. In July, 1849, Benitz and Meyer bought out Hügal.
With the cession
Mexican Cession
The Mexican Cession of 1848 is a historical name in the United States for the region of the present day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the U.S...
of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...
provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho German was filed with the Public Land Commission
Public Land Commission
The Public Land Commission, a former agency of the United States government, was created following the admission of California as a state in 1850 . The Commission's purpose was to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican land grants in California.California Senator William M...
in 1852, and the grant was patented
Land patent
A land patent is a land grant made patent by the sovereign lord over the land in question. To make a such a grant “patent”, such a sovereign lord must document the land grant, securely sign and seal the document and openly publish the same to the public for all to see...
to William Benitz, Charles Meyer, Carlos F. Glein, Joshua Hendy
Joshua Hendy Iron Works
The Joshua Hendy Iron Works was an American engineering company that existed from the 1850s to the late 1940s. It was at one time a world leader in mining technology and its equipment was used to build the Panama Canal, amongst other major projects...
, and Samuel M. Duncan in 1872.
Samuel Duncan and Joshua Hendy established a sawmill on the ridge behind Salt Point, in 1853. In 1855 Joshua Hendy sold his share to Alexander Duncan
Duncans Mills, California
Duncans Mills is an unincorporated town located in Sonoma County, California.-Geography:Duncans Mills is located at on the Russian River about from the Pacific Ocean...
, brother of Samuel. Before the official survey was made, Glein, Hendy, and Duncan sold their shares of the rancho to Henry B. Platt. However the official survey area of the rancho was about four square leagues - less than the five square leagues of the original grant. This led to several law suits adjusting boundaries.
By 1855, German immigrants William Bihler and Charles Wagner acquired title to the northern 2 square leagues of Rancho German. Bihler bought out Wagner's interest in 1857. William Bihler (1828 -) was born in Eppingen
Eppingen
Eppingen is a town in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The town has the second-largest population in the district....
, Baden, Germany, and emigrated, with parents, to America, settling in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
. Bihler arrived in San Francisco in 1849, where he apprenticed as a butcher in for a couple of years before becoming a partner in a cattle ranch operation on Rancho Huichica
Rancho Huichica
Rancho Huichica was a Mexican land grant in present day Napa County, California given in 1841 to Jacob P. Leese. Carneros Creek forms the northeast boundary of Rancho Huichica, and the grant contains the majority of the Carneros region in Napa Valley....
in western Napa County
Napa County, California
Napa County is a county located north of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is coterminous with the Napa, California, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010 the population is 136,484. The county seat is Napa....
in 1852. Bihler remained at Rancho Huichica until 1859, when he purchased a ranch Lakeville
Lakeville, California
Lakeville is an unincorporated community in Sonoma County, California, United States. It is located near the Petaluma River about southeast of Petaluma....
.
When Bihler acquired his Rancho German property in 1855, he sent back to Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
for his two young nephews to join him and manage his two cattle ranches. The younger, Christian Stengel, along with Adam Knipp, would operate the Rancho German property. Beginning in the 1860s, Knipp and Stengel gradually bought 3220 acres (13 km²) from Bihler. Between 1872 and 1882, Robert Rutherford bought 985 acres (4 km²) from Bihler, but lost it 13 years to foreclosure
Foreclosure
Foreclosure is the legal process by which a mortgage lender , or other lien holder, obtains a termination of a mortgage borrower 's equitable right of redemption, either by court order or by operation of law...
. In 1903, Knipp and Stengel began selling off their land to Bender Brothers Mill and Lumber Co., which also acquired the Rutherford ranch. Starting in 1910, Walter P. Frick bought up parcels of the ranch and unified them as the Del Mar Ranch.
Historic sites of the Rancho
- Knipp and Stengel Ranch Barn. Knipp and Stengel built the Sea Ranch barn that is now in the National Register of Historical Buildings and the California Register of Historical Resources.