Rancho La Tajauta

Rancho La Tajauta
Rancho La Tajauta branding iron
Town/City	Los Angeles, CA (Watts) Los Angeles County
State	California
Country	United States
Coordinates	33°55′46″N 118°14′33″W / 33.92944°N 118.24250°W / 33.92944; -118.24250
Established	1843
Owner	Anastasio Avila
Area	3,560 acres (14.4 km2)
Status	Limited public access

Rancho Tajauta was a 3,560-acre (14.4 km²) Mexican land grant in present-day Los Angeles County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Anastasio Avila.^[1] The grant was named for the Gabrielino/Tongva place name of Tajáuta. The grant encompassed present-day Willowbrook and Watts.^[2]

Anastasio Avila, one of the sons of Cornelio Avila, was alcalde of Los Angeles in 1819 – 1821, and granted one square league in 1843.

With the cession of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho La Tajauta was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852,^[3][4] and the grant was patented to Anastasio's son Enrique Avila in 1873.^[5] Rancho Tajauta was surveyed in 1858 by Henry Hancock, deputy United States surveyor, and the survey approved in 1860.^[6]

The legacy of Rancho Tajauta survives in the name Tajauta Avenue in the Compton/Carson area.

• Ranchos of California
• List of Ranchos of California
• Watts, California
• Category: Tongva populated places

• Map of old Spanish and Mexican ranchos in Los Angeles County Archived 2016-07-27 at the Wayback Machine