Who got the Mexican land grants?
A survey of the grants in the map shows some surprising things. First, a significant number of the initial rancho grantees were women, Indians and foreigners. Evidently it was not socially or legally impossible for them to acquire lands. Indeed one scholar has found that out of the 700 rancho land grants made by the Mexican government, fifty-five or 13 percent were given to women. In San Diego this was exactly the percentage. There were four women grantees: • Magdalena Estudillo, • Apolinaria Lorenzana (two grants), • María Juana de Los Angeles, and • María Antonia Pedrorena. There were two native grantees, • Felipe, owner of Buena Vista Rancho and • Andrés and José Manuel, the initial owners of Rancho Cuajome. In addition there were several naturalized foreigners who received rancho grants, • John Warner, • Joseph Snook, and • Edward Stokes showing that ethnicity or even recent naturalization was not a barrier to ownership. As might be expected the majority of the first grantees were
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