In 1846, Martin Murphy Sr. purchased the Rancho Ojo del Agua de la Coche.
Murphy's sons, John and Daniel, struck gold in the Sierras, then made a fortune selling dry goods to local miners and Native Americans.
[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] Bernard Murphy was killed in the explosion of the steamboat "Jenny Lind" en route from Alviso to San Francisco on April 11, 1853.
In 1854, Daniel Murphy (d. 1881) took over operation of Rancho Ojo del Agua de la Coche.