Manuel Dominguez

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Manuel Dominguez, (1804 - (1882), born in Alta California, New Spain at the Mission San Juan Capistrano, was the eldest son of Cristobal Dominguez, who was the nephew of Juan Jose Dominguez, a retired Spanish soldier who came to San Diego, California with the Gaspar de Portolà expedition and later to San Juan Capistrano and San Gabriel with Father Juniperro Serra. In 1784, Juan Jose was granted 75,000 acres of land from the Spanish King Carlos III which was named Rancho San Pedro, and included what today is the entire Los Angeles harbor, the Palos Verdes peninsula, San Pedro, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Torrance, Lomita, Harbor City, Wilmington, Carson , and Compton.

Manual is credited with the land grant solidification and development of the rancho, erecting the rancho headquarters in present day Carson at the Dominguez Rancho. In 1823, California was controlled by the Mexican government, and in 1828 Manuel was elected to the Los Angeles City Council. Four years later, at the age of 29, he was elected Mayor of Los Angeles. From 1833 to 1834, Manuel served as a representative from Los Angeles to the Mexican Provincial legislature in Monterey. At this same time, he was appointed by the Governor as the Third Prefect of the Southern District of California, which gave Manuel authority over all of Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

The Battle of Dominguez Rancho on October 7 - October 9, 1846, was a military engagement of the Mexican-American War. Captain José Antonio Carrillo, a Dominguez contemporary, Californio politician, land owner and former 3 time mayor of Los Angeles, led fifty Californio Lancer troops, successfully halting an invasion of Pueblo de Los Angeles by 203 United States Marines, under the command of US Navy Captain William Mervine, who was attempting to recapture the pueblo after the Siege of Los Angeles. During the battle, fourteen US Marines were killed. The Californios suffered no casualties.

Upon the settlement of the Mexican-American war and the annexation of California by the United States of America in 1848, a patent was granted to Dominguez and signed by President James Buchanan on December 18, 1858, more than 7 years after it was first requested and nearly 75 years after the original Spanish land grant. This was the first U.S. land patent granted in California. However, throughout the years of political turmoil in California, prolonged court battles over ownership of the Rancho, numerous surveys of the land, and the sale of some parcels, the United States land patent stated that the Rancho now encompassed 25,000 acres, far fewer than the 75,000 acres included in the original land grant.

Upon Manuel’s death in 1882, and the passing of his wife one year later, the Rancho lands were partitioned among his six surviving children, all daughters. Three of the married daughters continued the Dominguez legacy through the Carson, Del Amo and Watson families. Today, the descendants of Manuel Dominguez operate the Watson Land Company and the Carson Estates Company on the original, unincorporated Rancho land.