Name/Title
Don Jose MartinezDescription
In 1821, Mexico took control of California from Spain. In 1823, Ygnacio Martinez became the grantee of 17,786 acres stretching from San Pablo Bay to the Carquinez Strait. Martinez had been a dutiful soldier on the Spanish frontier for 42 years, most without pay. At first the rancho was called Nuestra Señora de la Merced, and later Rancho El Pinole.
At the time, Pinole Valley was described as a wild and desolate place with herds of deer and elk and numerous grizzly bear. The Martinez girls learned to rope grizzlies for sport from horseback.
By 1836, Martinez had built a large adobe home in the valley about three miles inland from the bay where he kept a large boat. Into this setting he brought his wife, Doña Maria Arellanes, and most of his eleven children.
By 1839, he had thousands of cattle, horses, and sheep, and an orchard and vineyard. Hides were taken by carreta, or ox cart, to Point Pinole and traded for supplies from Yankee ships.
Martinez kept a brass cannon as protection from the threat of Indians. When his sons, Jose and Vicente, were married, he fired it in celebration. A week of festivities followed with feasting, dancing, horse racing, and bullfights. The sons built adobe homes next to their father. The cluster became known as Los Adobes of Pinole Viejo (old Pinole).Copyright
Copyright Holder
Pinole Historical Society