Camilo Ynitia was born in about 1803, in Marin County, southern Marin, of the Huiman tribe near Sausalito.
21 Facts About Camilo Ynitia
1.
2.
Camilo Ynitia was the only Native American on the northern frontier of Alta California to secure and keep a large Mexican-era land grant: In 1843 Governor Manuel Micheltorena of Alta California deeded him the Rancho Olompali, a large tract of land that is between present-day Novato and Petaluma, California.
3.
Camilo Ynitia was born to Aurelio and Aurelia about 1803 and baptized under the Spanish name Camilo Ynitia on 9 January 1819 in the chapel at the Mission San Rafael Arcangel, according to his baptismal record.
4.
Camilo Ynitia's surname was the Spanish transliteration of his father's original native name.
5.
Camilo Ynitia's father built the very first adobe home north of the San Francisco Bay at Olompali.
6.
Camilo Ynitia inherited this original home and built another adobe nearby for himself.
7.
Camilo Ynitia's birthplace was in "a sheltered valley, with an abundance of game", adjacent to the salt water Bay, with abundant mollusks and fish.
8.
In 1843, because of this treaty with Vallejo and the Mexican-Americans, Camilo Ynitia was one of the two Native Americans to be deeded a large grant from the Mexican-American Government.
9.
Camilo Ynitia built his own home partly with the bricks his father had used earlier.
10.
The adobe home as adapted by Camilo Ynitia had walls 32 inches thick, and ceilings 8 feet high.
11.
Camilo Ynitia owned 600 cattle, and was a notable breeder who owned numerous horses and sheep.
12.
Camilo Ynitia raised wheat and some think sold it to the Russians at Fort Ross.
13.
Camilo Ynitia eventually had to sell most of Rancho Olompali to James Black on 13 August 1852 for $5,200, but retained 1,480 acres called Apalacocha.
14.
Camilo Ynitia died in 1856, either abruptly or of a short illness.
15.
Camilo Ynitia married his first wife Elena 22 October 1822; she died in April 1830.
16.
Camilo Ynitia next married Candida on 22 May 1831; she died 13 March 1835.
17.
Camilo Ynitia's godfather was William A Richardson, the namesake of Richardson Bay.
18.
Cayetana died 21 November 1850, and Camilo Ynitia married his fourth wife, Susanna Maria on 5 January 1852.
19.
Camilo Ynitia adopted another girl, who married John Pingston, a "free man of color".
20.
Camilo Ynitia conveyed approximately 20 acres in the extreme southwest corner of Apalacocha to John on 14 February 1853.
21.
Much of the original Rancho Olompali, along with the ruins of the original Camilo Ynitia adobe, is protected within the Olompali State Historic Park.