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History

Introducing Bernal Ranch 

Introducing Bernal Ranch is a video sharing the story of the site's Californio origins and ranching history. It explains the reasons for the 1775-1776 Anza Expedition that brought the Bernal Family to California, the establishment of a cattle ranching operation, and the reasons why Bernal Family descendants transitioned to different industries, including mining and raising fruit orchards. 

A Home for Centuries

This area, near the Santa Teresa Hills, is part of the homelands of Tamyen-speaking indigenous groups, perhaps members of the Ritocsi or Partacsi tribes. Tamyen is an Ohlone language, with Ohlone being the name the descendants of these tribes call themselves today. A large village was in this general area and was home to generations of people for at least 3,000 years, until the 18th century. This village was supported by fresh water from the Santa Teresa Spring. For hunters, there are game animals like deer and rabbits, and many different plants grow here that could be used by generations of families.

Dry grass and oak trees cover hills beneath a partly cloudy sky.

The Anza Expedition

In 1774, Juan Bautista de Anza traveled on an overland route from Mexico to the Mission San Gabriel. He proved that a land route into Alta California was possible for the people in New Spain. Eager to prove himself again, he went to Mexico City and got permission to lead families from Mexico into Alta California.

An illustration of men on horseback, including a priest, leading families over coastal hills.
Illustration of the Anza Expedition by Walter Francis. Courtesy of the Bancroft Library, Berekely, CA.

Why would people decide to travel hundreds of miles on foot? Tragedy? Opportunity? For members of the Second Anza Expedition in 1775 and 1776, the answer was both. Due to floods in Sinaloa and Sonora, Mexico, many people were left homeless and joined the expedition. Others wanted to look for fortunes in gold and silver by moving to the San Francisco Bay Area. 

One of these people was José Joaquin Bernal.

Rancho Santa Teresa

José Joaquin Bernal arrived in the Bay Area at age 14. He became a soldier in the San Francisco Presidio, until he retired and left in 1826. The Anza expedition had passed by the Santa Teresa Spring when he was a teenager, and he settled his family there to start a cattle rancho. Beef from cows fed the presidios, and cow hides could be made into leather goods like saddles and ropes. These were important items for people living on the frontier in Alta California. By selling meat and cow hides, rancheros, or rancho owners, like José Joaquin could make enough money to support their families and build their wealth. 

Much of the Bay Area's indigenous population lost their ancestral lands under the Spanish rule and the creation of the missions in California. The missions were intended to convert Native American people to Catholicism, often by force. As the mission system ended in the 1830s, many Native American people in the Bay Area found work on ranchos, such as Santa Teresa and formed their new rancherias - which is the Spanish word for small indigenous settlements. Native Americans at the rancheros worked as field laborers, farm hands, and vaqueros (cowboys), although they often had no other choice. Many Native Americans in California were attacked if they tried to return to their villages and ancestral homes. Around San Jose, there were at least six rancherias, including one on the lands of Rancho Santa Teresa. Maria de los Angeles Colos, also known as Angela Colos, who was one of the last speakers of Chocheño, another Ohlone language,  worked with early linguists and anthropologists to record her language and to provide insight on the Native American experience of colonization, was born on the Bernal Rancho in 1839.

After José Joaquin’s death in 1837, he left the newly created Rancho Santa Teresa to his wife and children, including his son Augustin Bernal. Following the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848, former Mexican citizens in California had to prove they owned their lands in a court of law. Augustin fought for his family’s ranch in a case that went to the Supreme Court. The Bernals won their court case in 1865. However, their lands were narrowed down to 400 acres after they sold much of the Rancho to pay for legal fees.

Under Ygnacio Bernal, Augustin’s nephew, the ranch focused on fruit orchards. Profits from fruit sales allowed Ygnacio to repurchase several parcels of land. After his death in 1906, his wife and son, Jesusita and Pedro, ran several businesses. These included a marl fertilizer company and a bottled water company.

Historic photo. Two men stand on a grassy hillside overlooking rows of fruit trees.

The Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch name comes from Carlos Maria Gulnac, who married Rufina Bernal, and Patrick Joice, who married Susan Gulnac. After the deaths of Pedro and his sister, Jacoba Fisher, in the 1930s, the Joices ran the ranch as a cattle ranch. The land was gradually sold off, with a major purchase made by IBM in 1980 from the younger Patrick Joice (grandson of the Patrick Joice who married Susan Gulnac). In 1986, the County negotiated an agreement with IBM to take ownership of much of the modern park lands, including the Joice Ranch.

Online historical collections

Be sure to check our online historical collections to see photos, documents, and artifacts from the Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum. You can also view artifacts from Martial Cottle County Park or Joseph D. Grant County Park and can request images from us.