He possessed the land by herding stock upon it.
General Vallejo, as military commandante of his district, consisting
of all Alta California lying north of the bay of San Francisco, was
necessarily the leading personage of the country. His influence among
the rude inhabitants of the Territory was almost monarchical, and his
establishment was in accordance with his influence. His residence
at Sonoma was the capital of his commandancy, and the people of the
country for hundreds of miles around looked to General Vallejo for
advice and assistance in business and for protection and defence in
time of trouble. These things are part of the history of California.
He had other ranches besides that of Soscol, as that at Sonoma, which
was devoted to agriculture and residences.
The Soscol he especially devoted to the herding and grazing of stock,
for which purpose it was most admirably adapted. Wild oats grew in
great luxuriance all over this tract, from the water's edge to
the tops of the highest hills, and being surrounded on three sides by
the waters of the bays and rivers, required little attention in the
way of herdsmen.
On this rancho General Vallejo kept as many as fifteen thousand head
of horses and horned cattle running at will, attended only by the
necessary vaqueros employed to watch and attend them.
There was no other use to which the land could at that time be
devoted.
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