Rancho Zayante

It included most of the present-day communities of Felton, Mount Hermon and Olympia, along with parts of Ben Lomond, Quail Hollow and Brackney, but not Zayante.

[1][2] Rancho Zayante was granted in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to Joaquin Buelna, who had been a teacher in San Jose and alcalde of Branciforte (part of today's city of Santa Cruz).

[3] Joseph Ladd Majors (1806–1868), a trapper from Tennessee, came to California in 1834 over the Santa Fe Trail in a party that included Isaac Graham.

Majors' new status as a Mexican citizen and member of the Castro family allowed him to apply for and receive the grant of Rancho San Agustin (today's Scotts Valley).

Majors then acted as middleman to obtain the additional grant of Rancho Zayante for Graham, who was not a Mexican citizen and therefore was not allowed to own land.