Mission Trail Nature Preserve/Flanders Mansion Walk - Part 2, Carmel, California

In the 1830's under Mexican rule, a number of ranchos were created around Carmel Mission. One of those ranchos was Cañada de la Segunda granted to Lazaro Soto in 1839 (yellow highlight).

His land encompassed 4,367 acres northeast of the mission. In 1851, Soto sold the rancho to Andrew Randall for $500. Randall got himself a little bit behind with some of his creditors and was murdered in a San Francisco hotel in 1856. Mr. Randall's land was subsequently aquired by his attorney, Fletcher M. Haight, in 1859.

Mr. Haight needed money and took out a loan for $4,000 with Lloyd Tevis in 1862. Four years later, Mr. Tevis bought the land from Mr. Haight for (an additional) $11,950.

In 1869 Faxon Dean Atherton (namesake of Atherton California) purchased the land. At his death in 1877 title transfered to his wife, Dominga Doni de Atherton who in 1888 hired William Hatton to manage her holdings. By 1892 the enterprising Hatton had purchased the land from Dominga. The picture above shows Hatton Fields in 1921, what would become the Flanders Mansion backyard.

Dr. MacDougal began his career working at The New York Botanical Garden in 1899 he was recognized as the leading American authority on desert ecology and one of the first botanists to research chlorophyll. In 1906 he became the Director of Botanical Research at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C. By 1909, he had established a coastal botanical lab for the Carnegie Institue in Carmel, California and became known as an expert on the Monterey pine. The coastal laboratory was established at Junipero and Twelfth and remained in operation until the early 1940's. During Dr. MacDougal's tenure at the Carnegie Institute in Carmel, he purchased 80 acres of land adjacent to Mr. Hatton's property. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).