Miguel Avila (1796 – 1874) was a son of Jose de Santa Ana Avila, a Spanish soldier stationed at the
presidio of Santa Barbara. In 1816 Miguel Avila was in the Monterey company, and in 1824 he was corporal of the guard at
Mission San Luis Obispo. In 1826 he was transferred to
Monterey for quarreling with the mission priests. In Monterey, he married Maria Inocenta Pico (1810-), daughter of Jose Dolores Pico. Avila was granted Rancho San Miguelito in 1842. Miguel Avila was
alcalde of
San Luis Obispo in 1849. 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. A claim for Rancho San Miguelito, filed as required by the Land Act of 1851, with the
Public Land Commission in 1852 was confirmed. Another claim by Miguel Avila for an addition to Rancho San Miguelito filed with the Land Commission in 1852 was also confirmed. A third claim by Miguel Avila for a two square league addition to Rancho San Miguelito filed with the Land Commission in 1852 was rejected. The grant was
patented to Miguel Avila in 1877. ==Historic sites of the Rancho==