Rancho Olompali

About this property

Olompali State Historic Park is a 700-acre (2.8 km2) California State Park in Marin County, California. It consists of the former Rancho Olómpali and was the site of the famed Battle of Olómpali during the Bear Flag Revolt. Rancho Olómpali was purchased by the Californian government in 1977, which turned it into a public park. The park is the site of the oldest surviving house north of the San Francisco Bay, built in 1776 of adobe bricks by the chief of the Olompolli band of the Coast Miwok tribe. It is California Historical Landmark #210. The chief's son, given the Spanish Mission Indian name of Camilo Ynitia (alternatively spelled 'Camillo'), was the only Californian Native American in Northern California to confirm and keep a large Mexican-era land grant in the post—Mexican Cession U.S. era. The name "Olompali" comes from the Coast Miwok language and likely means "southern village" or "southern people". The Coast Miwok village site of Olompali (alternatively spelled "Olompolli", "Olompoli" or "Olumpali") dates back to about 500 CE. Olompali had been a main center in 1200 CE, and might have been the largest native village in Marin County. An Elizabethan English silver sixpence minted in 1567 was discovered in the park by archeologists, indicating that villagers may have had contact with Sir Francis Drake, or with people who had traded with the early English explorer. Many Miwok cultural artifacts have been identified during archaeological studies within the area of the present-day park, indicating this may have once been an important trade and cultural crossroads. The oldest house built north of the San Francisco Bay was built here in 1776 by the Coast Miwok, out of adobe bricks, and owned by the chief of the Olompoli tribe Aurelio, who was the father of Camillo Ynitia. Camillo was known as the last Hoipu (Headman) of the Miwok community living at Olompali. "Olompali #48, Marin Co., Grant of 2 sq. leagues made in 1843 by Gov. Micheltorena to Camilo Unitia [sic]. Patent for 8,877.48 acres (35.9259 km2) issued in 1862 to Camilo Unitia [sic] in T 3-4N, R 6-7W, MDM." The newly secured grant of Rancho Olompali included Ynitia's father's historic house, the first adobe house built north of the San Francisco Bay, as well as his own adobe house. Ynitia's adobe house was the site of the Battle of Olompali in June 1846, during the Bear Flag Revolt. Ynitia held onto the Olompali land title for 9 years, but in 1852 he sold most of the land to James Black of Marin for $5,200. Black was to become one of the largest landowners of Marin County. Ynitia retained 1,480 acres (6.0 km2) of Olompali called Apalacocha.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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