Family Feud: The Sepulvedas vs. the Dominquez’s

The History of the South Bay of Los Angeles is fascinating, and includes one of the longest running family feuds in Los Angeles County history.; the Sepulveda Family versus the Dominquez Family.

The land which includes the entire Palos Verdes Peninsula, San Pedro, and parts of Wilmington was part of the first Spanish land grant in California. Juan Jose Dominquez, a member of the 1769 Spanish Portola Expedition to Alta, California, stayed in Alta as a peace officer and guide. He helped protect Junipero Serra and other Franciscan padres who established a chain of missions from San Diego to Sonoma. In September 1782, Pedro Fages, the military commandante of California, became the Provincial Governor of Alta California. He was Dominguez’s former lieutenant and accompanied him during the Portola Expedition of 1769. While Fages visited San Diego in 1783, Dominguez sought an opportunity to make a request for property from his former commander, who had become a powerful and influential official. Dominguez petitioned for some vacant land south of the pueblo of Los Angeles.

Early map of 1784 land grant for Rancho San Pedro. Map
Courtesy of California University Dominquez Hills archives

Due to Dominguez’s many years of dedicated service to the King of Spain, Governor Fages bestowed a provisional grant to the retired old soldier in March 1784, allowing him to graze his cattle on Rancho San Pedro. These original land grants were not considered at the time to be a permanent ownership interest, but were instead merely considered a permit to use the land and to occupy it. This was the first private land grant in Southern California. Rancho San Pedro stretched from Compton to Redondo Beach and Long Beach, and included the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

After the death of Juan Jose in 1809, Manuel Gutierrez, who had been the ranch manager of the Dominquez ranch, became the executor of Juan Jose’s estate. In his will, drawn up three days before his death, as Juan Jose Dominguez had no wife or children, he left half of Rancho San Pedro to Cristobal Dominguez and the other half was divided between Mateo Rubio, who had been in charge of ranch operations, and Gutierrez. Shortly after Gutierrez assumed control over Rancho San Pedroin 1809, Gutierrez allowed a friend, Jose Dolores Sepulveda, to graze a thousand head of cattle in the southwest portion of the property known as Canada de Los Palos Verdes (Canyon of the Green Trees).

In August 1817, Cristobal Dominguez finally filed a petition with Governor Pablo Vicente de Sola to have Sepulveda removed from the property and request that Rancho San Pedro be fully granted to him by eliminating the ownership rights of Gutierrez and Mateo Rubio. Gutierrez and Sepulveda refused to give up the land they worked so hard to improve. The governor issued a short poignant decree ordering Sepulveda from the rancho and granting provisional ownership to Cristobal Dominguez. Sepulveda refused to relinquish his home and appealed the governor’s decree. On December 31, 1822, shortly after Mexico had gained its independence from Spain, Governor Sola formalized the land grant by confirming Cristobal Dominguez as owner of Rancho San Pedro.

After Jose Dolores Sepulveda died in 1824, his young sons, Juan Capistrano Sepulveda and Jose Loreto Sepulveda, continued his quest for Rancho Palos Verdes. They continued to appeal the 1822 ruling, but in 1826 the governor of California ruled in favor of Dominquez, but in 1827 reversed his decision in favor of the Sepulveda. In 1834, governor Figueroa again ruled in favor of the Sepulvedas. This decree awardesd the Sepulvedas the 31,629 acre Rancho Palos Verdes and left the Dominguez family with 43,119 acres reducing Rancho San Pedro nearly by half the area of the original grant.

The Sepulvedas were given yet another order to leave the Palos Verdes section of Rancho San Pedro in June 1839. Again, the Sepulvedas defended their title and on April 22, 1841, they received a Decree of Possession and an additional strip of land north of Palos Verdes Hills from Governor Alverado. In June 1841, an agreement was signed by the Dominquez family transferring all right to the Rancho de los Palos Verdes to the Sepulvedas. Then on June 3, 1846, Governor Pio Pico officially confirmed the title of Rancho de los Palos Verdes to the two oldest Sepulveda brothers. Pico also confirmed the title of the balance of the Rancho San Pedro to Manuel Dominguez and the other members of his family.

Unfortunately, during the ten year period from 1855 to 1865, the Sepulvedas incurred significant financial difficulties, including a severe drought in 1862-1864 which wiped out most of their cattle herd. During this time, the Sepulvedas began to incur significant debt. During the period from 1865 to 1880, the Sepulvedas were engaged in 78 lawsuits, six land partitions suits, and 12 suits over eviction of squatters.

At the conclusion of these complicated law suits on September 25, 1882, Rancho de los Palos Verdes was partitioned into seventeen portions, with very little left to the Sepulveda family.

For more about the HISTORY OF THE SOUTH BAY OF LOS ANGELES , visit my website at https://www.maureenmegowan.com