Henry Hancock

Henry Hancock (April 11, 1822 – January 9, 1883) was a Harvard trained lawyer and a land surveyor working in California in the 1850s.

In the early 1850s, the rancheros who had received their land grants during the Mexican and Spanish occupation of California were required to prove their claims to the new American government.

They filed claims with the United States Land Commission and had to have their property surveyed and mapped by government surveyors.

[3][4] As a lawyer, Henry Hancock worked for the Rocha family to aid them with their efforts to prove their claim to Rancho La Brea.

He became major of the 4th California Infantry Regiment and for a time was commanding officer of Camp Drum, established to guard against pro-Confederate activities near Los Angeles.

[citation needed] It was at Yiorgos Caralambo's cabin on Hancock's ranch that the notorious outlaw Tiburcio Vásquez was captured in 1874.