Glossary
The terms The Bay Horses uses, each in a plain sentence or two.
- Alcalde
- The chief officer of a Spanish or Mexican town, with the duties of both mayor and judge.
- Californio
- A Spanish-speaking resident of California in the Spanish and Mexican periods, and their descendants.
- Diseño
- The hand-drawn sketch map submitted with a petition for a Mexican land grant in California.
- Horsecar
- A streetcar pulled along rails by horses or mules.
- Land grant
- Land given by the Spanish or Mexican government to an individual. Most of California's ranchos were granted under Mexican rule, before 1846.
- League
- A Spanish unit of distance, about 2.6 miles. In California land records a square league is about 4,400 acres.
- Livery stable
- A business that boarded horses and rented out horses and carriages.
- Patent
- In California land history, the document by which the United States confirmed title to a Spanish or Mexican land grant after the review required by the Land Act of 1851.
- Rancho
- A large tract of grazing land held under a Spanish or Mexican grant, usually stocked with cattle and worked on horseback.
- Reata
- A long rope of braided rawhide used by vaqueros. The English word lariat comes from la reata.
- Rodeo
- In the rancho era, the roundup at which neighboring ranches gathered and sorted their cattle. The sport took its name from it.
- Scow schooner
- A flat-bottomed sailing vessel used on San Francisco Bay to carry hay and other bulk cargo.
- Teamster
- The driver of a team of horses or mules pulling a wagon.
- Vaquero
- A mounted cattle herder of Spanish and Mexican California. The English word buckaroo comes from it.