Rancho Bodega
Rancho Bodega was a 35,487-acre (143.61 km2) Mexican land grant in present day Sonoma County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Stephen Smith. Bodega takes its name from the Peruvian explorer Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra who discovered Bodega Bay in 1775. The grant extended along the Pacific coast from the Russian River on the north to Estero Americano on the south, and included the present-day town of Bodega Bay. Only a small part of Bodega is within the grant (most of Bodega in on Rancho Estero Americano).
The Mexican government, which had been concerned about the Russian presence at Fort Ross, was happy to see them leave in 1841, but less pleased when the Russian-American Company sold it to John Sutter. The position of the Mexican government had been that neither land nor improvements had ever belonged to the Russians and hence they could not legally be transferred to anyone else. Within two years after the purchase of Fort Ross, everything Sutter considered salvageable had been removed to his Rancho New Helvetia. In 1844 Sutter leased the land to William (Wilhelm) Benitz, from Baden, Germany, manager of Sutter's Fort Ross holdings and a partner, Ernest Rufus, from Württemberg. That transaction again brought into question the validity of Sutter's title to the property, and Governor Manuel Micheltorena granted Rancho Bodega in part of the southern half of the former Russian claim to Captain Stephen Smith in 1844. Governor Pío Pico granted Rancho Muniz in the northern half of the former Russian claim to Manuel Torres in 1845.
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