History 197 Project Castro Family in Early Santa

History 197 Project Castro Family in Early Santa Clara By Peter Ostroskie (revised)

De Anza Expedition in 1775 Picture is of the Tubac Presidio The Trail De Anza Took

Families on the De Anza Castro Family, on De Anza

De Anza Costume for Edutainment

In the Beginning…… Historical ties all the way back to the castile in Spain. n Family arrived on the De Anza Trail n Joaquin Ysidro Castro served at the presidio of San Francisco http: //www. californiadar. org/ch apters/deanza 1. jpg

The Move Into Santa Clara Valley n n n After the expedition the family moved down into the Santa Clara staying at the mission Santa Clara Then was given one of the only Spanish land grants, “Rancho Buena Vista. ” After Ysidro died his children would also be given land grants that would last until the Mexican American War. http: //www. books-aboutcalifornia. com/Images/SF_100_Years_Ago/View_ of_Presidio. jpg

Life Inside of the Mission http: //www. mymission. org/images/ clara. gif http: //www. soulofthegarden. com/Imag es/Missions. San. Jose. Quarters 1. jpg

Wrapping up Family Ties! n n http: //content. cdlib. org/ark: /13030/h b 3 v 19 n 8 kv/? order=2&brand=calisph ere n One of Joaquin’s sons, Jose Mariano Castro would acquire two grants, “Rancho Las Animas” and “Rancho La Brea” These land grants are located in the southern part of Santa Clara County near Gilroy. This grant was left to my ancestor Maria Dolores del Carmen Castro.

Family Tree

Mission Statement! To collect and preserve the Early California History for future generations, also, to help find roots in Alta California families.

Public History and the Castros n n n n My project will look at the Castro family and how they should be remembered as one of the many Californios families. Starting with my Interview with an ancestor from the Castro family describing, why, who, what, when, where, and why of the family. Followed by a look at the CRM project on the Castro adobe that is being restored in Watsonville, CA. Then getting into the Driving Tour of certain important sites and other ways of knowing that you are at a Castro place of importance. All along the way you will see pictures that is a culmination of sites, culture, and the way the Californios are represented today. Once going through that I will talk about problems and hardship that happened all along the way to the making of this project. Finally ending on where this project to go in the near future!

What are Californios? ? ? http: //theindianlover. com/db 5/00497/theindianlover. co m/_uimages/ropingthebear. jpg http: //www. militarymuseum. org/Re sources/Soldaldo%20 de%20 Curea. jpg

Californios

Oral History n n My interview The Gentleman is named Charlie Kieffer His is one of the ancestors of the Castros and a proud Californio. By the end of my interview and spending time with Charlie, we were calling each other cousins.

Charles Words…. n “In fact my great, great grandmother Marie De Los Angeles Castro they asked how many children, only 21, some are dead and some are gone now but I will tell you this to this day their is hardly anyone in California that doesn’t have the blood of a Castro in them. ”- Charles Kieffer.

CRM Project n n n Castro Adobe, located off of Old Adobe Road in Watsonville, Ca. Under reconstruction to become one of Santa Cruz State Park’s. However, it has a long way to go! http: //castroadobe. org/ http: //castroadobe. blogspot. com/2007_1 2_01_archive. html Circa 1890 Circa 2007

Pictures of what the Adobe use to look like….

Reconstruction Process http: //castroadobe. org/photo_gallery 2. php# http: //castroadobe. blogspot. com/2008_03_01_archive. h tml http: //castroadobe. blogspot. com/2008_03_0 1_archive. html http: //castroadobe. blogspot. com/2008_03_01_a rchive. html

May 2008, Reconstruction Fandango Room The original Kitchen

Donations and Funding for the Castro Adobe This is to let all people know that the Castro Adobe will need help from the local community. Donations and other support is much needed for the completion of the house. One way of donating is to buy an adobe brick, this brick will sit in the Castro Wall located on the site of the Adobe for years to come. Come on out and show your support for local parks!

Words of Marie De Los Angeles… n “I remember the senoritas sitting on the balcony and the vaqueros riding their horses to the front of the house and taking a little longer than necessary to tie them up…for they knew that the senoritas were watching them from the veranda. ”

Driving Tour of the Castro’s n n n Barrowing the idea of the Driving tour these markers will be placed along the way on and Castro historical site. The tour will be accompanied by a packet talking about specific sites, also having music of the Californios, and interviews by decedents. The final destination will be Colton hall in Monterey where the California Constitution was signed and where East would move in.

Rancho Las Animas/ Ranch La Brea Rancho Las Animas, 2008 n n n This was known in the 1800 as the Rancho Las Animas and Rancho La Brea. Still very rural, this land was much about the Californio lifestyle of cattle raising. In the years to come, Las Animas would be bought by the Sanchez Family and then by Miller and Lux.

Mission San Juan Bautista was another major area for the Castros. n Here is the Castro-Breen Adobe and the Mission where my ancestor was married to Jose Joaquin Soto. http: //cache. virtualtourist. com/3151604 -cr. San_Juan_Bautista_Mission. San_Juan_Bautista_State_Historic_Park. jpg

Castro Adobe n n Was built by Juan Jose Castro on the Rancho of San Andrés Next to purchase the adobe was the Hansen family and they lived in the adobe until 1906 The adobe would pass hand through other hands until 2002 when the State Parks purchased the Land. Now it is being reconstructed with one of the only complete Hacienda kitchen that will be fully restored.

Headaches, pains of research, and what I would do differently! Where to start is always the problem. Luckily my grandmother already had me on the right track. Following what she already had, I went even deeper into the history of the ranchos and land grants. Books on land grants are easy to find but take some time to understand. My biggest break in making this project go smoother was the use of the Los Californios

The Future of this Project… n This project will be continued for the genology purposes of my family. n Also I am passing most of my research on to Charlie to help in the Adobe endeavor. n Possibly sending the project to grant level so that I may continue my research and possibly write a book.

Final words from Marie de Los Angeles Castro… n “Today I am old and poor. The young men who were my friends who made the papers for me to sign are all very rich. They have hundreds of acres of land much money while I sit here like an old owl in the dark corner and tell the few who ask that these men have robbed me of all that was mine by their crooked talk and their crooked laws. They smile and tap their heads so and say, “dreaming”. And maybe it is so that I am dreaming. Maybe old age and sickness and sorrow have climbed into my eyes and brain just as ivy climbed into the broken window of my old Casa Adobe and shut out the light of reason. But this! If this is dreaming, tell me why these men once so poor are now so rich and I am now so poor? Hold my hands Señor, look into my old eyes and tell me, if you can, why it is that out of my vast inheritance I have nothing but poverty. ”

Adios, Amigos!

Bibliography Atherton, Gertrude. California: An Intimate History. New York: Blue Ribbon Books, Inc. , 1935. n Mettet, Lucille. Notes on family history. Santa Cruz, 1994 -2001. Bauer, Bill. Family History Notes. Yuba City: 1994 -2008. n Mora, Jo. Californios. New York: Doubleday & Company Inc. , 1994. Beck, Warren A. and Ynez D. Haase. Historical Atlas of California. n Northrop, Marie E. Spanish-Mexican Families of Early California. n Bernal-Mendoza, Greg. A Guide to the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail. San Diego: Los Californios, 2005 n Salewske, Claudia. Images of America: Gilroy. San Francisco: Arcadia Publishing, 2004. n Burrill, Robert. And Lynn Rogers. Images of America: Alviso San Jose. San Francisco: Arcadia Publishing, 2004 n Torchiana, H. A. van Coenen. Story of the Mission Santa Cruz. San Francisco: Paul Elder and Company, 1933. n Gilbert, Lauren Miranda. , Bob Johnson and San Jose Public Library. Images of American: San Jose Historic Downtown. San Francisco: Arcadia Publishing, 2004. n Wilson, Florence Slocum. Windows on Early California: The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America Resident in the State of California, 1971. n Hoover, Mildred Brooke, Hero Eugene Rensch, Ethel Grace Rensch, and William N. Abeloe. History Spots in California. 5 th ed. Revised by Douglas E. Kyle. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002. n Juan Bautista de Anza National Historical Trail. California. n De Anza Costumes 1776. California. n http: //cache. virtualtourist. com/3151604 -cr. San_Juan_Bautista_Mission. San_Juan_Bautista_State_Historic_Park. jpg n n Kieffer, Charlie and Pat Kieffer. Family History Notes. Watsonville, 2008. n Lichtenstein, Bea. Images of America: Santa Clara. San Francisco: Arcadia Publishing, 2004. n Mc. Kittrick, Myrtle M. Vallejo Son of California. Portland: Binfords & Mort, Publishers, 1944.

Special Thanks to: n San Jose Public Library, California Room. n Charlie and Pat Kieffer n Los Californios n Lucille Mettet n Bill Bauer n Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks n De Anza Historic Trail n California State Parks n All decedents of the Castro Family n History 197 n Marie & Gordon Wesenfeld