Manuel Garfias

Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Garfias (1819 - 1895). The Colonel loved to party and dance! Manuel Garfias, an officer in the Mexican Army, was granted the 14,000-acre Rancho San Pascual in 1843 as a wedding gift. He successfully took over a land grant of both Eulalia Pérez, first grantee who had been widowed and her nephew José Pérez, with his frenemy Enrique Sepúlveda. These three were all unable to keep their cattle from being lost or stolen — a grant requirement. So Manuel Garfias and his new bride, Señorita Luisa Abila, took it over.

He lived in downtown Los Angeles, but owned the Adobe Flores at the foot of the future Raymond Hill, which was home to his ranch manager. On January 11, 1847 this home was used by General Flores to write terms of surrender in the U. S.-Mexican War after an American force had occupied the Pueblo de Los Angeles. Flores fled to avoid execution with Garfias joining him. Garfias returned within a year and reclaimed his land. By 1852 he had built a lavish hacienda on the banks of the Arroyo Seco. He spent beyond his means as a rancher and lost control of it all through foreclosure by Benjamin Wilson, whose loan carried a high interest rate. Nevertheless, Garfias was recognized as the first Mexican-American to own the Rancho San Pascual by Abraham Lincoln in 1851.

The land historically occupied by the Hahamong’na tribe before the rancho period had become the property of “Don Benito” Benjamin Wilson and his business partner Benjamin Eaton, who sold parts to Daniel Berry, a scout for a group of Midwestern investors. It was part of the Southern California land boom of the 1880s, leading to the formation of Pasadena, South Pasadena, San Marino and Altadena.

Garfias went on to become the first Los Angeles County Treasurer and remained politically active. He died in Mexico City in 1895. His descendants later lived in El Monte and Alhambra.