Don Pedro Carrillo Receives Mexican Rancho Land Grant
Governor Pío Pico grants the Coronado peninsula to Don Pedro Carrillo as a wedding gift.
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Archival Chronicle & Historical Significance
Historical Chronicle
Historic portrait of Governor Pio Pico, who granted the Coronado peninsula to Don Pedro Carrillo.
During the closing months of Mexican rule in Alta California, Governor Pío Pico governed from Los Angeles as political tensions with the United States intensified. On May 15, 1846, Governor Pico issued an official Mexican land grant transferring the uninhabited peninsula of Coronado to Don Pedro Carrillo.
The grant of the two islands, known historically as the Peninsula de San Diego, was presented as a wedding gift upon Carrillo’s marriage to Josefa Bandini, daughter of influential Californio leader Don Juan Bandini. The legal grant comprised 4,185 acres of coastal dunes, tidal mudflats, and chaparral.
Carrillo, aware of the approaching American military occupation during the Mexican-American War, held the remote land for only seven months. On December 23, 1846, Carrillo transferred ownership to American sea captain Bezer Simmons, forever transitioning the peninsula from Mexican rancho territory into private commercial hands.
On-Location Photographic Suite (2 Archival Photographs)
Record #1 Governor Pio Pico, Last Mexican Governor of Alta California
Historic portrait of Governor Pio Pico, who granted the Coronado peninsula to Don Pedro Carrillo.
Record #2 Historical Rancho Land Grant Survey Map of Coronado (1846)
Official Mexican diseno sketch showing the boundaries of Rancho San Diego and the Coronado peninsula.
Other Key Milestones in this Era
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo Sights the Peninsula
Portuguese navigator sailing under the Spanish crown sails into San Diego Bay, sighting the sandspit.
Sebastián Vizcaíno Maps Bay & Names Coronado
Spanish naval explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno charts San Diego Bay, surveys the Coronado sandspit, and names Los Coronados in honor of the Four Crowned Martyrs.
Captain Bezer Simmons Purchases Coronado for $1,000
American sea captain Bezer Simmons buys the entire 4,185-acre peninsula from Pedro Carrillo for $1,000.
Primary Archival Sources & Official Portals
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