User:Joseph Botts

Joseph Botts is the author of THE PLEYTO HILLS, HUNGRY FLATS - EAST OF LUCIA and THE SHERIFF OF SAN LUCAS. He was raised in California on what was the original Spanish land grant property which had originally been called EL PLEITO. The property was later granted in 1845 by the Mexican Government who had taken over the area in 1822. Due to the misspelling by the English Speaking People who came in when California became a state, the property became known as THE PLEYTO RANCHO and was referred to as such by James Lynch who came through in 1848, and the town itself was mentioned by John Franklin Botts when he came through in 1876. The property was purchased in 1928 by THE BOTTS BROTHERS which were John, William, Milton, Frank, and Eugene, who were the sons of John Franklin Botts. After losing the property during the great depression, John and Eugene stayed on until they were able to start repurchasing it in 1943. The San Antonio Dam was constructed in 1962 and the resultant San Antonio Lake flooded the actual townsite. But the Botts Family retained ownership of most of the property until about 1990-91 when a shareholder's suit forced it's liquidation. The property has now been divided into smaller parcels.