Rancho de Nuestra Señora de Refugio land grant
72,000 Acres the Rancho de Nuestra de Refugio land grant ranged from the entire Gaviota coast up int the Santa Ynez Valley including the Zonja Cota settlement before it became the Santa Ynez Mission Indian Reservation. .
The Rancho Nuestra Senora del Refugio Trust was created by the Ortega Chumash family with lineages that represent four Channel Island villages and six Chumash mainland villages. By the late 1700’s Our Chumash matrilineal bloodlines began to marry into the Gente de Razon and become the indigenous Nobles of California and one of the original founding families of Santa Barbara. By the early 1800's The Nuestra Senora del Refugio Ortega family had established a monarchy through their continuity of selected intermarriages and regional ceremonial participation. The Rancho was established for the self determination of the indigenous people of this coastal area. Rancho de Nuestra Señora de Refugio land grant can be considered one of the first Indian reservations in central California.
Original Land Grant was granted by the king of Spain to Jose Francisco Ortega in 1797, and that upon his death it passed to his grandson Josef Antonio Maria Ortega and Magdalena Cota de Ortega by Jose Figueroa who was the Mexican Governor of Alta California 1834 it was reduced to 6 square leagues. in 1860 the Nuestra Senora del Refugio land grant containing 26,529.30 acres was awarded again to Josef Antonio Maria by the United States.
The Rancho de Nuestra Señora de Refugio land grant was officially awarded during the Spanish era, and the heirship of the Ortega family was still recognized in each era, even in the early American period and is still validated today by the United States of America. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo resulted in the cessation of the northern Mexican regions, while containing clauses recognizing the former property rights of Mexican citizens living within those territories. As supreme law of the land, the treaty confirmed the property rights to Rancho Nuestra Señora del Refugio to the Ortega Family. Our ancestor, a third generation lineal descendant of José Francisco Ortega, Antonio María Ortega and his aunt, Magdalena Cota, were granted a legal patent to the territory by the United States government in 1866, to be handed down to their heirs and assigns forever. .
