Rancho Cañada de la Segunda
Rancho Cañada de la Segunda was a 4,367-acre (17.67 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, California given in 1839 by Governor José Castro to Lazaro Soto. The grant extended along the north bank of the Carmel River, from the Pacific coast and present day Carmel-by-the-Sea up into the Carmel Valley.
Lazaro Soto's grandfather, Ygnacio Soto, came to California with the De Anza Expedition. His father, Ysidoro Soto, was an officer in the Mexican army at Monterey. Lazaro Soto was also a soldier in the Mexican army of California. Lazaro Soto received the one square league grant in Carmel Valley in 1839. Lazaro Soto married Felicita Cantua and he and his family resided in Monterey. Lazaro Soto was the officer in charge of horses and munitions at the Battle of Natividad.
Lazaro Soto sold Rancho Canada de la Segunda to Andrew Randall. Andrew Randall (1819–1856), a native of Rhode Island, came to California in 1849 as the newly appointed customs inspector for Monterey. Randall was an entrepreneur with training as a geologist. He founded, and was elected chairman of the California Academy of Sciences. In addition to Rancho Cañada de la Segunda, he was the claimant for Rancho San Lorenzo in Monterey County; Rancho Punta de los Reyes and Rancho Punta de los Reyes Sobrante in Marin County; and Rancho Aguas Frias in Butte County - a little over 110,000 acres (445 km2). However Randall had stretched his credit to the limit, and he could not, or would not pay immediately. Joseph Hetherington, a creditor, undertook to force payment by hounding him on every occasion with insults and threats. Hetherington fatally shot Randall in a San Francisco hotel on July 24, 1856. Hetherington was allowed to have an interview with his attorney Fletcher Mathews Haight, and the Committee of Vigilance hanged Hetherington July 29, 1856.
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