The Gordon Grant

William Gordon, a native of Ohio who migrated with his family from New Mexico to California as part of the Workman-Rowland party, receives the first Mexican land grant along Cache Creek. He names it Rancho Quesesosi, meaning “that which is solicited;it is usually referred to as the Gordon Grant. Gordon raises stock and hunts game on his territory, and is the first to experiment with planting grain in the area.  On his ranch the first Anglo girl in the region is born. Historian H. H. Bancroft notes that between 1843 and 1846 Gordon’s place on Cache Creek was “a general rendezvous for settlers and hunters, and is oftener mentioned than any other place except Sutter’s Fort and Sonoma.” The Gordon Grant includes land that will become the Cache Creek Nature Preserve.