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In Northern California, in the Sonoma and Solano County areas, lived a very important family, the Vallejo family. Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo was born in 1808, two years before Mexico gained its independence from Spain. The two year old boy, who became a General in the Mexican Army, came from a military family. One of the ancestors of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, was responsible for returning Christopher Columbus to Spain when he was recalled by the King and Queen.
When he was a young man, Vallejo came to the Sonoma area to scout for an outpost for the Mexican Government. He was a Lieutenant then. During that trip he lost a mare when his group was swimming across the Carquinez Straits where now we have bridges. Later that mare was found on an island. This is how Mare Island received its name. (Later, Captain David Farragut, of Civil War fame, was to become the first commandant of Mare Island when it became a Naval Station. Only recently has that famous Naval Station been decommissioned by the U.S. Government.)
General Vallejo owned vast tracts of land in Sonoma, Solano and other areas. The city of Vallejo was named after him, and nearby Benicia was named after his wife.
General Vallejo was responsible for a large area of unsettled land, and he took applications for grants of that land. Suisun Indian Chief Solano was one of the applicants. He was granted a large tract in the area of the present day cities of Suisun and Fairfield and so owned a large portion of present day Solano County. When did Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla launch the Mexican War for Independence?
Answer: September 15, 1810 when General Vallejo was a two year old boy.
"Mexican citizens claimed huge pieces of land. To make a claim, a person drew a boundary map.... of the land." Who accepted the application or claim for land in Northern California on behalf of the Mexican Government?
Answer: General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo received the applications for grants of land for the Mexican Government.
What Indian Chief received a grant of land from the Mexican Government?
Answer: Suisun Indian Chief Solano
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