Webinar

About the Webinar

Join us for a SCGS Webinar with Susan Skilton presents "Wealth and Loss in the Land of Ranchos: Family Stories from Alta California".

"Wealth and Loss in the Land of Ranchos: Family Stories from Alta California" traces the evolution of land ownership and loss in early California. In this webinar we will examine how the descendants of the de Anza expedition and other early settlers built their lives on vast Spanish and Mexican land grants—and how those fortunes shifted over time. The presentation traces the rise of prominent Californio families, the division of land through inheritance, and the financial and legal struggles that led many to lose their holdings after U.S. statehood in 1850. By connecting diseños, probate files, and land commission cases with mission registers and census records, this talk shows how researchers can follow patterns of wealth distribution, loss, and resilience across generations. Attendees wi…