Four Points Bulletin

In 1845, Jose Maria Orozco, a customs agent, boarded a horse-drawn wagon and headed north from Old Town to what is now Valley Center. There he took claim to 13,298 acres of land, a gift from the Mexican Governor of California, Pio Pico, who had handed out 800 similar land grants to other friends and political supporters. Orozco named the land Rancho Guejito. Rancho Guejito is now the only surviving land grant parcel in existence. Not only was it not sold to developers but it has grown to 23,000 acres as the current owner buys adjoining land when it becomes available. It is still a working ranch and farm, the same as it has been for the past 175 years. The most recent addition to the property was the Roockwood Ranch, which included a historic Rockwood Farmhouse, built in the early 1800s. Although guests are bot permitted inside the farmhouse it is the focal point of the wine tasting venue, and so becomes the backdrop of an afternoon of enjoying the fermented fruits of Rancho Guejito’s labor.