William Richardson; Hopeless Romantic or Land Grabber?

Portrait of William Richardson

NPS

After the Spanish colonized the area in 1776, it took some time for Europeans to inhabit the lands north of the Golden Gate. The grasslands of the area did provide good prospect for cattle ranching, and in 1838 during the Mexican period, the Marin Headlands and what would someday become Fort Baker became part of Rancho Sausalito, owned by William Richardson. Richardson tells the story of his life here....


I spent a large amount of my early years on the sea, as just a cabin boy and would later work my way up the ropes to become a Captain.

In 1825, I found myself in San Francisco falling in love with Maria Antonia Martinez, daughter of the commandant of the Presidio. So, I became a Mexican citizen, married my love and built a home made of redwood, near the Yerba Buena cove. Our house was the first home in what is now San Francisco.

After a number of years, I obtained land in the southern Marin headlands, The Rancho was officially granted to me from Governor Alvarado. The land was rich and untouched, 20,000 acres of what is known now as Rancho Sausalito. And in 1844 I was awarded a second tract of fertile land along the Mendocino coast.

I had a made a series of poor investments and at the end of my life, I had lost almost everything. In a last attempt to salvage what we had, 640 acres were deeded over to my wife and the rest of the rancho was left in the hands of my administrator, Samuel Throckmorton.