Rancho Simi

Rancho Simi, also known as Rancho San José de Nuestra Senora de Altagracia y Simi, was a   Spanish land grant in what is now eastern Ventura and western Los Angeles counties given in 1795 to Francisco Javier Pico and his two brothers, Patricio Pico and Miguel Pico by Governor Diego de Borica.  The name derives from Shimiji, the name of the Chumash village in the Simi Valley for thousands of years before the Spanish arrival.

History
Rancho Simi was a Spanish land concession in Alta California given in 1795 to Francisco Javier Pico, a soldier of the Santa Barbara company, and his two brothers, Patricio Pico and Miguel Pico by the Spanish government.

The grant was confirmed in 1842 by Mexican Governor Juan Alvarado. José de la Guerra y Noriega, a Captain of the Santa Barbara Presidio, who had begun to acquire large amounts of land in California to raise cattle, purchased Rancho Simi from the Pico family in 1842.

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 Simi was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852, and the grant was patented to José de la Guerra y Noriega in 1865.

A few years after Jose de la Guerra’s death in 1858, the rancho was sold to the Philadelphia and California Petroleum Company headed by Pennsylvania Railroad president, Thomas A. Scott. When no great amount of oil was discovered, Scott began to sell the rancho. In 1887, a portion of the rancho was bought by a newly formed company, the Simi Land and Water Company. The city of Simi Valley, California incorporated in 1969.

Historic sites of the Rancho
Simi Adobe–Strathearn House – home of Robert P. Strathearn served as the rancho headquarters. It is now part of the Strathearn Historical Park and Museum.

References

See also
Ranchos of California
List of Ranchos of California

External links

 
Map of old Spanish and Mexican ranchos in Los Angeles County
 

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Category:History of Simi Valley, California
Category:Moorpark, California
Category:Oak Park, California
Category:Simi Hills
Category:Geography of Simi Valley, California
Category:1795 in Alta California
Category:1795 establishments in California
Category:California Historical Landmarks