Editing Berkeley, California (section)

===Spanish and Mexican eras===
The first people of European descent (most of whom were of mixed race and born in America<ref>{{cite web|url=https://anzasociety.org/the-spanish-myth/|title=The Spanish Myth|date=April 3, 2016|access-date=March 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304172443/https://anzasociety.org/the-spanish-myth/|archive-date=March 4, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>) arrived with the [[De Anza Expedition]] in 1776.<ref>{{cite web|last=National Park Service|title=Juan Bautista de Anza|url=http://www.borregospringschamber.com/juan_bautista_de_anza.html|publisher=Borrego Springs Chamber of Commerce|access-date=February 12, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725052027/http://www.borregospringschamber.com/juan_bautista_de_anza.html|archive-date=July 25, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> The De Anza Expedition led to establishment of the Spanish [[Presidio of San Francisco]] at the entrance to San Francisco Bay (the "[[Golden Gate]])." [[Luis María Peralta|Luis Peralta]] was among the soldiers at the Presidio. For his services to the [[King of Spain]], he was granted a vast stretch of land on the east shore of San Francisco Bay (the ''contra costa'', "opposite shore") for a ranch, including that portion that now comprises the City of Berkeley.
[[File:Peralta Family.jpg|thumb|right|Berkeley and much of the [[East Bay]] was part of [[Rancho San Antonio (Peralta)|Rancho San Antonio]], granted to the [[Luís María Peralta|Peralta family]] in 1820.]]
Luis Peralta named his holding "[[Rancho San Antonio (Peralta)|Rancho San Antonio]]." The primary activity of the ranch was raising cattle for meat and hides, but hunting and farming were also pursued. Eventually, Peralta gave portions of the ranch to each of his four sons. What is now Berkeley lies mostly in the portion that went to Peralta's son [[José Domingo Peralta|Domingo]], with a little in the portion that went to another son, Vicente. No artifact survives of the Domingo or Vicente ranches, but their names survive in Berkeley street names (Vicente, Domingo, and Peralta). However, legal title to all land in the City of Berkeley remains based on the original Peralta land grant.

The Peraltas' Rancho San Antonio continued after [[Alta California]] passed from Spanish to Mexican sovereignty after the [[Mexican War of Independence]]. However, the advent of U.S. sovereignty after the [[Mexican–American War]], and especially, the [[California gold rush|gold rush]], saw the Peraltas' lands quickly encroached on by [[squatter]]s and diminished by dubious legal proceedings. The lands of the brothers Domingo and Vicente were quickly reduced to reservations close to their respective ranch homes. The rest of the land was surveyed and parceled out to various American claimants (''See'' [[Kellersberger's Map]]).

Politically, the area that became Berkeley was initially part of a vast [[Contra Costa County]]. On March 25, 1853, Alameda County was created from a division of Contra Costa County, as well as from a small portion of [[Santa Clara County]]. The area that became Berkeley was then the northern part of the "Oakland Township" subdivision of Alameda County. During this period, "Berkeley" was mostly a mix of open land, farms, and ranches, with a small, though busy, wharf by the bay.