[2][3] Jose Maria Sanchez (1804–1852), came to California from Mexico in 1825 forming a partnership with Francisco Perez Pacheco, grantee of Rancho Ausaymas y San Felipe.
[5] 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.
[8] With the acquisition of Rancho Lomerias Muertas, the Sanchez domain extended over 49,000 acres (198 km2) with the Pajaro River dividing his lands.
Godden was killed in the explosion of the steamboat "Jenny Lind" en route from Alviso to San Francisco on April 11, 1853.
[9] In 1855, California jurist and Democratic politician David S. Terry took up the cause of the "Widow Sanchez" after it was found she was being cheated by local authorities, including the sheriff, William Roach, who took her fortune under the guise of guardianship.