Rancho Corral de Tierra was a 7,766-acre (31.43 km2) Mexican land grant in present day San Mateo County, California given in 1839 by Governor Pro-Tem Manuel Jimeno to Francisco Guerrero y Palomares.[1] The name means earthen corral in Spanish. Jimeno granted Francisco Guerrero the larger northern part of Rancho Corral de Tierra, and Tiburcio Vasquez the southern part. The Guerrero northern portion extended from Martini Creek south along the Pacific coast past Montara to Arroyo de en Medio just south of El Granada, and included the present day communities of Moss Beach, and Princeton-by-the-Sea.[2][3]
Francisco Guerrero y Palomares (1811–1851) came to California with the Híjar-Padrés Colony in 1834, and settled in San Francisco. He married Josefa de Haro, daughter of Francisco de Haro, and had five sons. He was Alcalde of Yerba Buena in 1836 and in 1839. Guerrero was murdered in San Francisco in 1851.
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 Corral de Tierra was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852,[4] and the grant was patented to Josefa de Haro de Guerrero in 1866.[5]
Guerrero’s widow, Josefa de Haro, later married American James Denniston, for whom Denniston Creek (formerly Guerrero Creek) on Rancho Corral de Tierra is named.
A large portion of the historic rancho is now owned and managed by the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), which purchased 4,262 acres (17.25 km2) of the property from private owners and developers, preventing the planned "ranchettes" and golf course from being built. POST allows some access, but requests that visitors contact the organization before entering the property. POST plans to transfer management responsibility of approximately 3,800 100 acres (400,000 m2) to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) on January 1, 2011. At that time, the public will be able to visit the portions of Rancho Corral de Tierra not under agricultural or commercial use.
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