Rancho Cuyama Rojo

Rancho Cuyama (No. 1) was a 22,193-acre Mexican land grant located in present-day eastern Santa Barbara County, California. It was granted by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to José María Rojo in 1843. The rancho extended along the Cuyama River in the Cuyama Valley, near the areas now known as Cuyama and New Cuyama. There were two separate land grants in the lower Cuyama Valley: Rancho Cuyama (No. 1) to the north, granted in 1843, and Rancho Cuyama (No. 2) to the south, granted in 1846.

José María Rojo was the original grantee of Rancho Cuyama (No. 1). After his death in 1847, the rancho was sold to Cesario Lataillade, a French trader involved in the hide and tallow trade who had arrived in Santa Barbara in 1841. Lataillade married Antonia María de la Guerra, the youngest daughter of José de la Guerra y Noriega, in 1845. He also acquired other properties, including Rancho La Zaca and Rancho Corral de Cuati. Lataillade died in an accident in 1849, leaving his widow and their two children, Maria Antonia Lataillade and Cesario Eugene Lataillade, to inherit the properties.

Following the Mexican-American War, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) ensured that land grants would be honored under U.S. rule. A claim for Rancho Cuyama was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852, and the grant was patented to María Antonia de la Guerra y Lataillade in 1877. Today, the rancho continues to operate as El Ranch Espanol de Cuyama on 5,652 acres.