José Berreyesa families
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UnclaimedThe Berreyesa family was a prominent Basque-heritage Californio family whose landholdings and descendants influenced the historical geography of Northern California.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
The Berreyesa family, also recorded under forms such as Berrelleza, Berreyarza, Berelleza, Berrellez and Berryessa, was a large Basque-heritage, Spanish-speaking Californio family associated with the settlement, ranching and landholding history of Northern California. The family’s roots in California began with siblings Ana Ysabel and Nicolás Antonio Berrelleza, who traveled from New Spain with the 1775–1776 Juan Bautista de Anza colonizing expedition. Their descendants established marriages, military careers, ranches and land claims across the greater San Francisco Bay Area and adjacent parts of Napa and Solano counties. During the Spanish and Mexican periods, members of the family received or inherited substantial ranchos. José de los Reyes Berreyesa held Rancho San Vicente in the Almaden Valley, where the New Almaden cinnabar and mercury deposits later became the focus of prolonged disputes. His brother Nazario Antonio Berrelleza received Rancho Las Putas, a large ranch surrounding Putah Creek and the valley now generally known as Berryessa Valley. Nicolás Antonio Berreyesa II received Rancho Milpitas, while María Gabriela Berreyesa, through her marriage to Francisco María Castro, became associated with Rancho San Pablo. Other relatives held or contested additional grants, including Rancho Mallacomes, Rancho Cañada de Capay and Rancho Las Putas. The family’s position deteriorated after the United States acquired California. Although the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo promised recognition of existing Mexican land rights, the federal land-claims process established in 1851 required Californio landowners to defend their grants through lengthy and expensive litigation. Anglo-American settlers, squatters, lawyers and competing claimants challenged many Berreyesa holdings. Debt, legal costs, uncertain boundaries and changing political authority caused the family to lose most of its real estate. The family also suffered severe violence. During the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt, José de los Reyes Berreyesa and two companions were killed by men associated with John C. Frémont, including Kit Carson, while attempting to visit imprisoned relatives. Several Berreyesa men were later attacked or killed in disputes connected with land, mining claims and vigilante activity. These episodes became part of the wider history of violence directed at Californio landowners during the transition from Mexican to American rule. The family’s history also includes a documented and deeply coercive relationship with Native people. An 1854 report to California’s Superintendent of Indian Affairs described Native Americans held in conditions of slavery in Berryessa Valley and alleged that the Berreyesas had participated in the violent acquisition and illegal sale of Native laborers. This aspect is essential to any balanced account of the family and complicates portrayals that focus only on Californio dispossession. The Berreyesa name survived most visibly through geography. Berryessa Valley, Lake Berryessa, the Berryessa district of San José and other local references preserve variants of the family name. The family is therefore best understood not as a modern commercial brand but as a historically significant Californio lineage whose land claims, conflicts, violence and descendants helped shape the historical record and place-names of Northern California.
History
The family’s documented California history begins with Ana Ysabel Berrelleza and Nicolás Antonio Berrelleza, children of José de Jesús Berrelleza and María Nicolasa Micaela Leyba of Sinaloa. In 1775, the siblings joined Juan Bautista de Anza’s expedition to Alta California. Ana later married Juan José Peralta, while Nicolás married María Gertrudis Peralta at Mission Santa Clara in 1779. Their nine children formed the principal early California branch of the family. The next generation became prominent through military service, marriage and landholding. María Gabriela Berreyesa married Francisco María Castro and became associated with Rancho San Pablo. José de los Reyes Berreyesa served at the Presidio of San Francisco and received Rancho San Vicente in 1842. Nazario Antonio Berrelleza, who served at the presidio, received the extensive Rancho Las Putas. Nicolás Antonio Berreyesa II received Rancho Milpitas in 1834. These properties placed the family among the substantial Californio landholding clans of the region. Rancho San Vicente became central to the New Almaden controversy after cinnabar was discovered in the Almaden Valley in the 1840s. Competing claims were advanced by Andrés Castillero, the New Almaden Mining Company and the United States government. The family alleged that squatters had entered the land and that a document used to support the mining company’s possession was forged. Litigation continued for decades, with testimony and evidence concerning Mexican-era grants, boundaries and the legal status of the mineral hills. The American conquest brought both political displacement and physical danger. In 1846, during the Bear Flag Revolt, José de los Reyes and two companions were killed after traveling to visit Berreyesa sons imprisoned at Sonoma. In subsequent years, family members faced attacks connected with land disputes and accusations of association with bandits. Joseph Zenobia Nemesio Berreyesa was killed while guarding the mine in 1854; Francisco Antonio Berreyesa was killed during an 1856 attack; and José de la Encarnación Ramón Antonio Berreyesa was hanged by Los Angeles vigilantes in 1857. The family’s land losses reflected the broader experience of Mexican-era landowners after California became part of the United States. The Public Land Commission process required claimants to prove grants in American courts, often at great expense. Squatting, competing claims, debt and legal uncertainty eroded the family’s holdings. A 1863 decision allowed the family to sell asserted mining rights, but subsequent federal action treated the mineral hills separately. In 1868, a United States Supreme Court patent confirmed the family’s ownership of the arable land while excluding the hills containing the mines. The historical record also documents the exploitation of Native people in the Berryessa Valley. A 1854 government report described Native people held in slavery and alleged violent acquisition and illegal sale of Native laborers associated with the family. This evidence must be considered alongside accounts of Californio dispossession rather than omitted from the family’s history. By the late nineteenth century, the family’s direct landownership had greatly diminished, but its name remained embedded in Northern California geography. Berryessa Valley, Lake Berryessa and the Berryessa district of San José are among the best-known place-names associated with the lineage. The family’s legacy consequently combines migration, ranching, military and civic participation, land litigation, Californio displacement, anti-Native violence and enduring geographic commemoration.
- 1868
Federal patent confirms arable land
[1]A United States Supreme Court patent recognized the family’s title to the rancho’s arable land but not the mineral-bearing hills.
- 1863
Court decision favors Berreyesa mining rights
[1]A court ruling enabled the family to sell rights associated with working the New Almaden mine, although the broader ownership dispute continued.
- 1854
Government report records slavery in Berryessa Valley
[1]A report to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs described Native people held in slavery and alleged family involvement in their violent acquisition and sale.
- 1851
Federal land-claims process begins
[1]The establishment of the United States Public Land Commission subjected Mexican-era grants, including Berreyesa claims, to costly American legal review.
- 1846
Deaths during the Bear Flag Revolt
[1]José de los Reyes Berreyesa and two companions were killed while traveling to inspect the treatment of imprisoned family members.
- 1842
Rancho San Vicente grant
[1]José de los Reyes Berreyesa received a grant covering land he had cultivated in the Almaden Valley.
- 1834
Rancho Milpitas grant
[1]Nicolás Antonio Berreyesa II received a one-square-league grant known as Rancho Milpitas.
- 1779
Nicolás Antonio Berrelleza marries María Gertrudis Peralta
[1]Their marriage at Mission Santa Clara established the principal California branch from which many later Berreyesa landholders descended.
- 1776
Arrival in Alta California
[1]The expedition reached Mission San Gabriel and continued north to Monterey, bringing the siblings into the early Spanish settlement network of California.
- 1775
Berreyesa siblings join the Anza expedition
[1]Ana Ysabel and Nicolás Antonio Berrelleza joined the colonizing party organized by Juan Bautista de Anza to establish a stronger Spanish presence in Alta California.
Products and positioning
A historical Californio family and namesake lineage rather than a commercial brand.
Controversies
1854
Allegations of Native enslavement in Berryessa Valley
A government report described approximately 150 Native people in conditions of slavery and alleged that Berreyesa family members had violently acquired and illegally sold Native men, women and children.
1846
Killing of José de los Reyes Berreyesa and companions
José de los Reyes Berreyesa and two companions were killed by men associated with John C. Frémont while attempting to visit imprisoned relatives during the Bear Flag Revolt. The incident is part of the wider record of violence surrounding the American conquest of California.
Brand decisions
1868
Federal resolution of the San Vicente land claimOtherBackground
After decades of competing claims involving the New Almaden mine, the Berreyesa family’s land rights were divided between arable rancho property and the mineral-bearing hills.
Action taken
The United States Supreme Court issued a patent recognizing the arable land while excluding the hills containing the mines.
Aftermath
The decision formalized the family’s reduced land position and helped end the central phase of the New Almaden ownership dispute.
Sources1 sources
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