Una Legua Cuadrada: Exploring the History of Swanton Pacific Ranch and Environs

<p>Swanton Pacific Ranch is an educational and research facility owned by the Cal Poly Corporation and managed by the Cal Poly State University (Cal Poly) College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. Located about 180 miles north of campus and just 14 miles north of Santa Cruz, California on Highway 1, the property was first leased to and then donated to Cal Poly by the late Albert E. Smith in 1993. The rancho’s original inhabitants included Native Americans, Spaniards, Mexicans, as well as various European immigrants and their descendants; currently, the staff, faculty, and students of Cal Poly occupy the land. Each of these groups used the land’s rich environment for a variety of purposes from subsistence to financial and intellectual pursuits. Over time, researchers and local historians have discussed specific aspects of the Swanton Pacific Ranch and its environs, particularly concerning its occupants, land use (e.g. businesses, farming, research), and land features (e.g. geology, botany). The following work offers a more cohesive, descriptive narrative of the land and its people organized chronologically from prehistory to the present.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

MA in History

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Year dc:date.available

2015

Author dc:creator

• Scaramozzino, Jeanine Marie

Contributors dc:contributor

• Joel Orth
• History
• College of Liberal Arts

• Swanton Pacific Ranch
• Rancho Agua Puerca y las Trancas
• Cal Poly
• spr_fac
• spr_stu
• History

Identifier

10.15368/theses.2015.170

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-2680