April 12, 2019 Gold Rush, Western, & Native American, Las Vegas
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/12/2019
This book is entitled "Land on Broadway Street and San Jose Avenue, City of Alameda, County of Alameda, State of California" with a stamp by the agent. There are two interesting facets: there are 12 one to three page entries dealing with land purchases and sales by John Coffee Hays and/or his wife, Susan. John Coffee Hays is best remembered as the Captain of the Texas Rangers from 1836 to 1848. This put him in Texas, in charge of the Texas Rangers, at the time of Texas independence, the Goliad Massacre, The Battle of San Jacinto and the most remembered, the defeat of the Alamo; all in 1836. He remained captain through the Mexican-American War in which California was absorbed into the United States as part of the treaty. He became an Indian Agent in 1849 through the territories of New Mexico and Arizona. Upon retiring he moved to California, where he spent the last 20+ years of his lives. He married Susan Calvert in 1847 and between then, did a great deal of land trading in the 1860's and 1870's. One of the more interesting aspects of this book is the dispersion of the famous Rancho San Antonio; 16,000 acres rented to Luis Peralta, for his valiant service in the Mexican Army, and the land was granted to him in 1820 by the last Spanish Governor of California. He eventually divided this land between his four sons but problems resulted when California became part of the United states after the 1848 war with Mexico; the sons continued to live there and a large hacienda built by one of the sons in 1870 is still there. By the time the last son died, they had lost all but 23 acres of the original land grant. You can still visit the hacienda today. There is legal paperwork at the beginning of this book which details the dispersment of this land, beginning in 1820 to the 1874 court challenge United States of America to Antonio Peralta by President U.S. Grant recorded September 15th, 1874. Nine pages to tracing the various court cases detailing the United States raping of the Rancho San Antonio. This is some interesting book dealing with the early post-Mexican-American War land deals. If you are interested in California history, you will love this book as this history unfolds before you in a contemporary to the time perspective.
Condition: (Good - Very Good).
Item Dimensions: 12-1/2" x 8-1/2".