José de los Reyes Berryessa

Rancho San Vicente

In 1842, José de los Reyes Berreyesa received from Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado a grant giving him one square league, or 4438 acre, of the land he had been cultivating, called Rancho San Vicente. It was located at the south end of Almaden Valley, near the Santa Teresa Hills.

The grant included a large section of the rocky hills upon which a rich source of mercury-carrying cinnabar ore was found in 1844–1845. The discovery was made public and the New Almaden quicksilver mine (mercury mine) began producing a small amount of rich ore in 1846. Mercury was an important part of gold and silver mining operations, and was in demand the world over, and especially after 1848 in the California gold fields.

The neighboring grant, Rancho Los Capitancillos, was held by Justo Laros who claimed the mercury mine was part of his land. Andres Castillero also claimed the mercury mine was part of his land.

Robert Walkinshaw and some other men squatted on the rancho land in February 1845, and began to take lumber and limestone away to sell in August.

Bear Flag Revolt

In 1846, during the Bear Flag Revolt, three of the Californio sons of José de los Reyes Berreyesa were imprisoned by John C. Frémont in Sonoma, California, where one of the sons, José de los Santos Berreyesa, had been serving as alcalde. Accompanied by two cousins, twin sons of Francisco de Haro, the 61-year-old father went to see how his sons were being treated in prison. After they landed their boat in San Rafael, the three men were shot and killed by three of Frémont's men, including Kit Carson,

Later, Carson told Jasper O'Farrell that he regretted killing the Californios, but that the act was only one such that Frémont ordered him to commit.

References

References

1. FamilyTreeMaker.com. [http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/c/o/p/Marlene-Y-Coppi/BOOK-0001/0004-0004.html ''Descendants of Luis Cayetano (Berrelleza) Berreyesa''] {{webarchive. link. (6 June 2011 . Retrieved on 14 August 2009.)
2. [http://supreme.justia.com/us/69/649/case.html ''The Fossat or Quicksilver Mine Case'', U.S. Supreme Court, 69 U.S. 2 Wall. 649 649 (1864)]
3. [https://books.google.com/books?id=9Yo8AAAAIAAJ ''The United States vs. Andres Castillero: "New Almaden" : transcript of the record, Volume 1.''] United States District Court, California, Northern District. 1859.
4. Eldridge, Zoeth Skinner. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Om0UAAAAYAAJ ''The Beginnings of San Francisco: From the Expedition of Anza, 1774, to the City Charter of April 15, 1850 : with Biographical and Other Notes''], Z.S. Eldredge, 1912, pp. 406–408.
5. link. (3 March 2016 Hosted at SFGenealogy. Retrieved on 16 August 2009.)