Arroyo Seco Grant One of the extraordinary events in the history of California's gold era was the sudden revelation of a hitherto unsuspected Spanish grant, known as the Arroyo Seco grant. It appeared out of a clear sky in 1853 and purported to convey eleven leagues of the richest mining and agricultural land in northern California to Teodocio Yerba (or Yorba), an illiterate Mexican. This grant which was dated May 8, 1840, was made by Juan Alvarado, then governor of California under Mexican rule. It included all of the rich Ione Valley, which, in the early fifties, was rapidly being taken up by settlers as homestead land, the sites of half a dozen towns, and many of the richest mines on the Mother Lode. The first record of this huge grant so far as Americans were concerned was in 1852, when Teodocio Yerba and his wife, Maria Antonio, conveyed their right, title, and interest therein to Andres Pico for 500 head of cattle. Why the Yerbas had concealed their title for twelve years, during which they must have known it was being settled and developed by thousands of persons, is a mystery. It is possible, of course, that they considered it more or less worthless property until after the discovery of gold, and then deliberately bided their time for five years before reaping the cumulative values of their secret ownership. But it is much more probable that the grant was fraudulent. Many of them were, as the expose of a ring of expert forgers and deed counterfeiters later disclosed. No record of the transaction could be found in the archives of Mexico City, and the claim, after being examined and investigated by the United States Land Commission, was rejected as worthless in 1855. An appeal was made from this decision, however, and in 1856 the United States Circuit Court confirmed the grant, Judge Hoffman holding that Pico was entitled to the eleven leagues conferred to Yerba, allegedly, by Alavarado. Jacqueline... MOTHER LODE…The Story of California’s Gold Rush by Louis J. Stellman written 1934. Francisco Lopez Rumors came from California that the Jesuits had dicovered gold mines and were working them. But the country was full of wild tales and nobody gave them much heed until Francisco Lopez made his gold discovery in the San Fernando Valley, March 1, 1842. According to available records, he was employed as a vaquero on the rancho of Ignacio del Valle, about twenty miles from San Fernando Mission. With two friends he was resting on a hillside after a long search for strayed cattle. While digging up wild onion roots with his case-knife he was attracted by shining particles adhering to the soil about the roots, but none of the trio was impressed by the happening. They discussed it and decided that the bits of metal must be copper. They were not imaginative, it appears. At the suggestion of his companion, however, Lopez tied up some of the glittering soil in his neckerchief and showed it to a couple of Sonorian friends at the cantina. They at once proclaimed it was gold. A camp was established around the point of Lopez's discovery. Jackie in California [email protected]