DOI: 10.25549/chs-m6763
title: Exterior side view of "El Ranchita", the favorite ranch of Governor Pio Pico, Whittier, California, ca.1895

description: Photograph of the exterior side view of "El Ranchita", the favorite ranch of Governor Pio Pico, Whittier, California, ca.1895. The two-story building has a Federal-style look where back section of the building (at right) features a boxy-type of architecture and balustraded walkways. An arcade covers the corner of the building (at left). The building is in dilapidated condition. The lawn is uneven and has scrub grass growing on it. A sign posted on a lamppost in the front yard reads: "El Camino Real, this was the house of the last governor under Mexican rule, Don Pio Pico." Photoprint reads: "Note: photo is a fake. Bell was pasted on later." -- Chuck Elliot.; "Pio de Jesus Pico (1801-1894), the last Mexican governor of Alta California, the region above what is now Mexico, was born in the San Gabriel Mission, the son of a soldier, Jose Maria Pico.  His father had come from Mexico with the famous Anza expedition of 1801.  The fourth of ten children, Pico's heritage was a mix of African, Native American, Hispanic and European roots.  A revolutionary in his youth, he became governor in 1845 following a revolt that ended with a bloodless artillery duel near Cahuenga Pass that forced out governor Manuel Micheltorena.  The historic site, Campo de Cahuenga, opposite Universal Studios, marks the spot today. During his brief tenure as the last Mexican governor, Pico completed the secularization of the missions. He was also accused of recklessly redistributing mission property to friends and allies as the American takeover of California neared. Pico greatly feared the growing American migration to California. Pico favored annexation with France or England, believing that the European powers would be more tolerant of the slower Californio way of life. In 1846, with American troops occupying Los Angeles (which Pico had had made the state capital) and San Diego, Pico bowed to the inevitable and escaped to Mexico." -- Albert Greenstein, 1999 (part 1 of 2).; "Two years later, with California a territory of the United States, he returned home as a private citizen, businessman and early member of the Los Angeles City Council. Over the years, gambling losses took a heavy toll on Pico's fortune. He eventually sold his last major holding, a ranch in the San Fernando Valley, and built Pico House, a deluxe downtown hotel that was the largest of its day. He eventually lost the hotel too. Living off the charity of friends, he died in poverty in Los Angeles at the home of his daughter, Joaquina Pico Moreno, and was buried in a pauper's grave. The Pico House, located on the Plaza across from Olvera Street, has been restored and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Pico Boulevard, a major L.A. thoroughfare, bears the governor's name. The Pio Pico home he called El Ranchito still stands in Whittier." -- Albert Greenstein, 1999 (part 2 of 2).; "In the mid 1800s, the last Governor of Mexican California built his ranch house in Whittier. This large adobe building has survived floods, earthquakes, and numerous owners. The story of the building mirrors its owner's life: the famed Don Pio Pico. It is a classic rags to riches and back to rags story. By 1855, soon after the building of his "El Ranchito" he held title to over 532,000 acres of southern California land, making him one of the wealthiest men in the state. The man born into the Mission system of California rose to be Governor and a Los Angeles councilman. The story of how he lost his beloved ranch is a story itself of a swindle that eventually reached the State Supreme Court. By 1891, a mortgage he thought he had on the property (it actually was a deed) was foreclosed and he lost the property. By 1894 he died and his ranch house was almost in ruin. This "little ranch" was actually a 27- room, two-story adobe, and it is now revealing her secrets to the DPR archaeologists and historians." -- Parkman, E. Breck, ca.2001.