Historic Canoa Ranch Honors 200th Anniversary of Land Grant
This month marks the 200th anniversary of the original land grant that helped to create Historic Canoa Ranch. Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva will read a proclamation honoring the occasion at the ranch today at 4 p.m.
“I am pleased to read a Pima County proclamation commemorating the 200th anniversary of the San Ignacio de la Canoa Land Grant,” Grijalva said.
“This land grant evolved into a large and important Southern Arizona ranch, the home of my father’s family in his earliest years, and now is Pima County’s Raúl M. Grijalva Canoa Ranch Conservative Park, a treasure for county residents and visitors to enjoy and to learn about local history.”
Live music by Mariachi Aztlán de Pueblo High School will follow the reading of the proclamation. The ranch’s historic buildings will be open until 8 p.m. tonight so that visitors can enjoy the Christmas lights, and roving historians will be on hand to answer questions. Tamales, churros, champurrado, hot chocolate and sodas will also be available for purchase.
Tomas and Ignacio Ortiz purchased the land that became Historic Canoa Ranch from Spain on Dec. 15, 1821. After being used as a working cattle ranch for many decades, the ranch eventually fell into disrepair. Pima County purchased Historic Canoa Ranch in 2001, and the ranch was restored and opened to the public in 2013.
