Early Settlers

Early Settlers. . For centuries, prior to the 1800s, Amah Mutsun native peoples, often referred to as Costanoan or Ohlone, lived in four small clans around Gilroy., Their diet was acorns, berries, mushrooms, pine nuts and wild fruit, fish and small game. Ancient grinding stones and cavities in boulders around Gilroy are the few remaining artifacts of their thousands of years in the Gilroy region., 1768 The King of Spain directed Father Junipero Serra to bring the Christian religion to California. In the process, the local natives were relocated to the mission grounds at either San Juan Bautista or Santa Cruz in the late 1790s., 1775-1776 The DeAnza Trail Juan Bautista de Anza brought 240 men, women and children on a 1200 mile journey overland from Mexico and Arizona to the Santa Clara Valley. These were the first non-native settlers of California., 1810 Don Ygnacio Ortega was granted the 13,066-acre Spanish lands of Rancho San Ysidro. These Hispanic settlers created this valley’s agricultural heritage., 1814 John Gilroy (1794-1869) left his ship in Monterey and became the first permanent English-speaking settler in California. Later he made his way to Rancho San Ysidro and married Don Ortega’s daughter, Maria Clara., Gilroy’s Boom Years , The fertile land brought the settlers and helped to create economic vitality for our valley., 1849 Prospectors flocked from all parts of the globe in hopes of making their fortune, though little gold was found in the area. Riches were to be made from agriculture., Inset Image: , The William’s House near 5th and Monterey Street, built in 1872, later became the Central Hotel, favored by many businessmen., Gilroy’s Downtown , ‘Coming into Town’ by horse crawn carriages, the ranchers, farmers, and lumbermen of the region flocked to Monterey Street for supplies and to ship their products to market., Inset Images: , The path of the padres, El Camino Real, became Monterey Street and the Center of Commerce for Gilroy. , Monterey Street over the years., 1876 Map of the City of Gilroy.