Hi Everyone, FYI: BLM land patent owners did not always live on the pre-emption property. The land was often rented to others, either an outright rent per acre or shares of the crop/stock profit. In other cases, they employed individuals to work the land for them. In the case of Southern Monterey County, the primary farm products were either grain crops [wheat, oats, barley] or livestock [sheep or cattle]. Many men [18-50ish] worked on the land as either "farmers," "stock raisers" or "shepherds" but they did not own the land they worked on. There were a number of severe drought years during the latter half of the 19th century that caused some major population shifts. For example, in Southern Monterey County [SMC] many of the livestock owners had their herds moved north to Santa Clara Valley [or possibly east to the San Joaquin Valley]. The hired hands were the ones responsible for moving the herds, many never returned. The drought years also drove many of the land owners and tenants out of the area. The worst drought years occurred in 1850-51, 1863-64, 1870-71, 1876-77, 1880-81, and 1898-99. In between those worst years were some nasty flood years, such as 1853-54, 1861-62, and 1867-68. Both extreme weather conditions had the same result for farmers: either the crops withered from lack of water or drowned from too much water. For those not familiar with California agricultural history: During most of the latter half of 19th century, the homesteading farmers and ranchers were not aware that California did not get rain year round. It took quite a number of years to development irrigation systems. In the case of the Salinas Valley in Monterey County, it wasn't until the 20th century that farmers discovered that the valley sits on a gigantic underground lake of fresh water. Until then farmers and ranchers were at the mercy of "Mother Nature." During drought/flood years when homesteads were abandoned by disallusioned residents, land speculators acquired title to those homesteads. Some made good gambles while others gave up. Hope this helps, Anita C. Monterey County