Editing Alta California (section)

====Establishment of ranchos====
In 1784, the Spanish established the first rancho, [[Rancho San Pedro]], as a 48,000 acre site for [[cattle grazing]]. Nine ranchos were subsequently established before 1800.<ref name="Robinson">{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=William Wilcox |title=Land in California |publisher=Ayer Co. |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-405-11352-9}}</ref> Spanish, and later Mexican, governments rewarded retired ''[[soldado de cuera|soldados de cuera]]'' with large land grants, known as ''ranchos'', for the raising of [[cattle]] and [[sheep]]. Hides and [[tallow]] from the livestock were the primary exports of California until the mid-19th century. Similar to the missions, the construction, ranching and domestic work on these vast estates was primarily done by [[Indigenous peoples of California|Indigenous peoples]], who learned to speak Spanish and ride horses. Under Spanish and Mexican rule, the ranchos prospered and grew. ''Rancheros'' (cattle ranchers) and ''pobladores'' (townspeople) evolved into the unique [[Californio]] culture.[[File:Mission_San_Carlos_Borromeo_de_Carmelo_(Oriana_Day,_c.1877–84).jpg|thumb|left|[[Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo]], established in 1770, was the headquarters of the [[Spanish missions in California|Californian mission system]] from 1797 until 1833.]]
By law, mission land and property were to pass to the Indigenous population after a period of about ten years, when the Indigenous people would become Spanish subjects. In the interim period, the Franciscans were to act as mission administrators who held the land in trust for the Indigenous residents. The Franciscans, however, prolonged their control over the missions even after control of Alta California passed from Spain to independent Mexico, and continued to run the missions until they were secularized, beginning in 1833. The transfer of property never occurred under the Franciscans.<ref>Beebe, 2001, p. 71</ref><ref>Fink, 1972, pp. 63–64.</ref>

As the number of Spanish settlers grew in Alta California, the boundaries and natural resources of the mission properties became disputed. Conflicts between the Crown and the Church arose over land. State and ecclesiastical bureaucrats debated over authority of the missions.<ref>Milliken, 1995, p. 2 footnote.</ref> The Franciscan priests of [[Mission Santa Clara de Asís]] sent a petition to the governor in 1782 which stated that the [[Mission Indians]] owned both the land and cattle and represented the [[Ohlone people|Ohlone]] against the Spanish settlers in nearby San José.<ref>Milliken, 1995, pp. 72–73</ref> The priests reported that Indians' crops were being damaged by the pueblo settlers' livestock and that the settlers' livestock was also "getting mixed up with the livestock belonging to the Indians from the mission" causing losses. They advocated that the Indigenous people be allowed to own property and have the right to defend it.<ref>Milliken, 1995, p. 73, quoting Murguia and Pena [1782] 1955:400.</ref>