José Antonio Chávez, came to California in 1833 with Governor
José Figueroa. He was tax collector at
Monterey in 1843, and one of the prime movers in the movement against
Manuel Micheltorena 1844. Chaves was the grantee of the eleven square league
Rancho Cienega del Gabilan in 1843, and the three square league Rancho Pleyto in 1845. He took part as
Lieutenant in various military operations in the
Mexican–American War of 1846. He was sent by
José Castro to
John C. Frémont's camp at
Gavilan Peak. Later he kidnapped
Thomas O. Larkin and was second in command at the
Battle of Natividad, where he was wounded. He returned to Mexico in 1848. Thomas O. Larkin (1802–1858) bought Rancho Pleyto from Chaves. Larkin also bought Rancho Cienega del Gabilan from Chaves. William S. Johnson and Preston K. Woodside came to California with
Jonathan D. Stevenson's
1st Regiment of New York Volunteers, part of the American occupation army force that landed in California in 1847. With the
cession of California to the United States following the
Mexican-American War, the 1848
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Pleyto was filed with the
Public Land Commission in 1852, and the grant was
patented to William S. Johnson and Preston K. Woodside in 1872. William Pinkerton (1843–1918) bought a large portion of Rancho Pleyto in 1868, and founded the town of
Pleyto, which is now completely under water, inundated by the creation of Lake San Antonio. ==See also==