Rancho del Arroyo Chico

[1][2] With Alta California under the control of the Mexican government, Governor Manuel Micheltorena granted Rancho del Arroyo Chico to William Dickey in 1844.

[3] Within a decade, ownership of the land transferred hands a number of times and settled in John Bidwell's (1819–1900) possession.

Dickey, Bidwell, and George McKinstry, Jr. (1810–1882) had all worked at one time for John Sutter and were also partners in various mining ventures.

Dickey, wanting to return to his eastern home, sold Rancho Arroyo Chico to McKinstry in 1849.

[6] With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored.