Unlike coastal areas in California, the southern San Joaquin Valley saw relatively little development during eras of Spanish and Mexican control. But there were some exceptions, including one that helped shape the way the region would grow for the next century. The story of Rancho Laguna de Tache, today on KVPR's Central Valley Roots.
In 1843, Alta California Governor Pio Pico awarded a land grant of around 48,000 acres to Manuel Castro. It was named for the wetlands occupied by the Tachi Yokuts tribe. The Laguna de Tache grant covered land on the north side of the Kings River, from present day Kingsburg to Laton, Riverdale and Lanare. Following the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the United States agreed to honor Mexican-era land-grants made prior to 1846.
The State Lands Commission was created in 1851 to adjudicate the legitimacy of these claims. Castro filed a claim with the commission, as did American Jerimah Clark. Frenchman Jose Limantour also filed a claim for the south bank of the river, in addition to his claims for much of the City of San Francisco. Limantour’s claims were thrown out as fraudulent.
Castro’s claim was validated by the commission as legitimate, but he wound up selling out to Clark, whose heirs later sold the ranch in 1891 to a British and Canadian-backed syndicate headed up by ex-Confederate doctor Edward B. Perrin. That move would later be a critical part in the growth of the Fresno area, providing water rights for farms and the city we know today, a story which we’ll explore in another episode.
