Rancho Yokaya
Rancho Yokaya was a Mexican land grant in present-day Mendocino County, California, given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to Cayetano Juarez. The name Yokaya means in the language of the Pomo people. The grant extended along the Russian River from the southern end of Ukiah Valley to the northern end of Redwood Valley, from wide, and approximating in length, and encompassed present-day Ukiah.
History
Spanish, then later Mexican, influence extended into Mendocino County, leading to the establishment in southern Mendocino County of Rancho Sanel at Hopland in 1844 and Rancho Yokoya in 1845.Cayetano Juárez was a soldier at Presidio of San Francisco until 1836. Juárez married María de Jesús Higuera, daughter of Francisco Higuera, in 1835. In 1836 Juárez was made mayordomo at Sonoma. For his decade of service to the Mexican government, Juárez was granted Rancho Tulucay in present-day Napa County, California in 1840. In 1844 he was elected Alcalde of Sonoma. Although often away, Juárez resided on Rancho Tulucay until his death in 1883, and is buried in the Tulocay Cemetery in Napa, California. Juárez was granted the 8 square league Rancho Yokaya in 1845.
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 Yokaya was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852, but rejected by the Commission in 1854. However, on appeal it was confirmed by the District Court in 1863, and US Supreme Court in 1864, and the grant was patented to Cayetano Juárez in 1867.
James H. Burke came to California in 1853, and in 1857 he and his brother, J. W. Burke, purchased of Rancho Yokaya, extending from Robinson Creek to Burke Hill, about.