Californio landholding families
The Ortega family
Patriarch: José Francisco Ortega (1734 – 1798)
The Ortegas held the Refugio coast west of Santa Barbara for generations and spread grants from Santa Barbara to San Diego. The founder's role as Portolà's pathfinder made the family one of the most storied of the Spanish period; some later individual grantees in the register cannot be pinned to the main line with certainty.
Origin
José Francisco Ortega was chief scout of the 1769 Portolà expedition (credited with sighting San Francisco Bay); after 40 years' service he received a coastal concession north of Santa Barbara, Rancho Nuestra Señora del Refugio.
Members
| Name | Relation | Ranchos |
|---|---|---|
| José Francisco Ortega | patriarch | Rancho Nuestra Señora del Refugio (El Refugio / Cañada del Corral coast) |
| Ignacio Ortega | son | Rancho San Ysidro (San Diego area) grantee, 1809 |
| Ysabel Ortega | female descendant (relationship to patriarch unverified) | appears as a register grantee |
Genealogical confidence: high
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Francisco_Ortega
- https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8cc11fb/ (Rosario Curletti Collection of Ortega Family Papers, OAC)
- https://goletahistory.com/who-was-el-capitan/