HISTORY AT POINT LOBOS 79 



In 1771 Mission San Carlos (Carmel Mission) was established near 

 Carmel River, with Point Lobos in view to the southwest. Padre Junipero 

 Serra, who was a great walker, doubtless visited the Point many times. 



The native vaqueros of Carmel Mission ran large herds of cattle in the 

 Point Lobos area from an early date, and the padres claimed the land on 

 behalf of their Indians. Cattle grazing was the first real use made by the 

 Spaniards of this region. Old records tell of the Mission herders lassoing 

 bears upon the banks of San Jose Creek, while driving their cattle. 



It is likely that the name Point Lobos {Lohos Marinos, sea lions) was 

 given in Spanish times. 



After 1833, when the Missions of California began to go through the 

 process of secularization — that is, when their lands were thrown open to 

 ownership and settlement by private citizens — properties which had been 

 under the control of Carmel Mission went through the same process as the 

 others. Juan B. Alvarado was given a grant on September 30, 1834, which 

 may have included a portion of the lands in the vicinity of Point Lobos. 

 When Teodoro Gonzales, on September 2, 1835, applied for the rancho of 

 Sur Chiquito, the map which he submitted shows that the grant for which 

 he applied definitely included Point Lobos. 



The grant w'hich remained valid, however, was that given to Don Mar- 

 celino Escobar, a prominent official of Monterey, on April 16, 1839. This 

 baronial domain of the Rancho San Jose y Sur Chiquito, consisting roughly 

 of two leagues, w^as bounded on the north by the Carmel River, on the east 

 by the mountains, on the south by Palo Colorado Canyon, and on the west 

 by the Pacific Ocean. From this grant, which was confirmed in 1840, are 

 traced all chains of title to Point Lobos. 



More than 115 years have elapsed since the original grant was made 

 by the Mexican Government in 1839. Since that time, until the State secured 

 ownership, scores of claimants tried to prove the legitimacy of their claims. 

 The record of litigation, as traced by historic researchers, is both complex 

 and confusing. 



Two of Don Marcelino's sons, Juan and Augustin, seem to have obtained 

 possession of the rancho shortly after the grant to their father. However 

 that may have been, they deeded it to Dona Josefa de Abrego on August 

 26, 1841. That seiiora, holding power of attorney from her husband to 

 buy and sell land, paid two hundred and fifty dollars, one-half in silver and 

 one-half in merchandise, for the rancho. 



The next step in the process of conveyance remains somewhat of a 

 mystery — at least the deeding of the rancho to a group of soldiers of the 

 Monterey presidio on January 16, 1843, by Doiia Josefa. It seems that 

 they paid nothing for it, and yet the records leave no doubt that she 

 deeded it to them. There is a legend of a gambler losing the rancho at cards. 

 Is this where the story comes in? Did Doiia Josefa, acting in the power of 

 attorney for her husband, Don Jose de Abrego, turn the property over to 

 the soldiers in payment of her husband's gambling debts to them? That 

 story has been told of Don Marcelino, but, if holding a half-truth, it would 

 appear that it was Don Jose who gambled and lost a rancho and not Don 

 Marcelino. 



The soldiers of the presidio, about 10 in number, held the land in their 

 names until June 7, 1844, when they turned it over to their superior officer, 

 Colonel Jose Castro, prominent in the annals of California history for his 

 opposition to the American invasion. As late as 1 848, Castro was given quit- 

 claim deeds by the soldiers concerned. 



