was granted Rancho San Justo in 1839. purchased Rancho San Justo in 1850. General José Castro was granted Rancho San Justo, one of three ranches attached to
Mission San Juan Bautista, by the
Mexican government. José Castro was the son of José Tiburcio Castro, administrator of the
secularized Mission San Juan Bautista, and grantee of
Rancho Sausal.
Francisco Pérez Pacheco, grantee of
Rancho Ausaymas y San Felipe in 1833, bought the rancho from Castro in 1850. 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 San Justo was filed with the
Public Land Commission in 1852, and the grant was
patented to Francisco Pérez Pachecoo in 1859. In 1855
Flint, Bixby & Co bought the Rancho San Justo from Francisco Pérez Pacheco with the understanding that
William Welles Hollister would buy a one-half interest in the ranch in 1857. Rancho San Justo was held in joint custody for three years, until the property was divided in 1861. Thomas Flint and Hollister dissolved their partnership, with Flint taking all the land east of the San Benito River, and Hollister the land west of the river. Later, Hollister and Flint traded holdings, with Hollister taking the land east of the
San Benito River, and Flint taking the land lying to the west, including the San Juan Valley. In 1868, Colonel Hollister sold his of the Rancho San Justo to the San Justo Homestead Association. ==Historic sites of the Rancho==