Henry Dalton

Rancho Santa Anita Owner 1847 - 1854 (Mexican and American Periods)

Henry Dalton was born in London on October 8, 1804 to Winnall Thomas Dalton and Ann Woolfe. Dalton was apprenticed to an elder brother, a merchant tailor, and became a member of the Tailors' Guild. Other fields seemed to offer him greater opportunities, and he left England for Peru at the age of fourteen. Dalton spent the next twenty-five years of his life in Peru, building up a modest fortune as a merchant.

He came to Southern California in 1843, as he guided the Mexican brig "Soledad," from Mazatlán to San Pedro, and promptly bought several lots in the pueblo of Los Angeles. He opened an adobe store selling hides, tallow, wine and grain and built the pueblo’s first wooden residence known as La Cases de Tres Picos and “The Three Sisters,” among other properties. To complete his acceptance into the Mexican Californio community, he married into the prominent Zamorano family in 1847. Before the marriage, he embraced Roman Catholicism and on July 31, 1847 at Mission San Gabriel with Hugo Reid by his side, was rechristened “Enrique Dalton.” His wife, Maria Guadalupe Zamorano, was the sister-in-law of Jose Maria Flores, an officer in the Mexican army.

Santa Anita

On December 24, 1844, Dalton increased his land holdings. He obtained the deed for the purchase of the 44 acre rancho El Susa (The Azusa) and also held a 1/3 interest in Rancho San Jose. The following year, Dalton acquired Rancho San Francisquito in a Mexican land grant given by Governor Pio Pico. In 1847 Dalton paid Hugo Reid $2,700.00 for the purchase of Rancho Santa Anita. By that time, he was a major southern California landowner. His holdings extended along the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains from present day Pasadena to San Dimas. Most historians claim that Dalton was an absentee owner of the Santa Anita Rancho, spending most of his time at Azusa. With the purchase of Rancho Santa Anita, Dalton added 13,300 acres to his rapidly expanding land portfolio. This Rancho included all or portions of the present day cities of Arcadia, Monrovia, Sierra Madre, Pasadena and San Marino. His progressive ranch was well known as one of the most diversified operations in Southern California. By 1851, this totaled 45,280 acres.

After California was made a state, many land disputes occurred as land owners were forced to prove their holdings and went through years of litigation. In 1854, for financial reasons, Dalton sold the Rancho Santa Anita to Joseph A. Rowe for $33,000.00, making a profit of $30,300.00. The patent for the Santa Anita, covering 13,319 acres, was signed by President Johnson, August 9, 1866.

One of Dalton’s daughters married Lewis, a son of William Wolfskill who was also a Santa Anita Rancho owner.