Manuel Nieto

Jose Manuel Nieto (1734–1804) was a soldier from the Presidio of San Diego who was assigned to the Mission San Gabriel at the time his land was granted by the Spanish Empire in 1784.

Spanish soldier Nieto was a man of mixed European and African descent, born in New Navarre, Mexico in 1734. He came to Alta California with the Gaspar de Portolà expedition of 1769. He served in the Royal Army in the province of Alta California. Jose Manuel Perez-Nieto was first mentioned as a soldier of the Presidio of Monterey, in 1773.

Rancho Los Nietos Presidio soldiers were permitted to raise cattle for food and make a small profit. As his cattle numbers increased, the need for more grazing land was required. In 1784, he was granted a provisional grant of the land that would become Rancho Los Nietos by Pedro Fages, the governor of Alta California.

The original grant was , but in 1785 Father Sanchez from the San Gabriel Mission contested the Nietos grant on the grounds that it encroached upon the southern portion of their property. A decision in favor of the mission was reached and Rancho Los Nietos was reduced to nearly half of its original size, but still leaving Corporal Nieto with . Nieto retired from duty in 1795 and settled down on his rancho with his family.

Upon Manuel's death, his rancho was inherited by his widow and four children. Name Birth/Death Married