HOME HISTORY STORIES RESOURCES	The Move North 1837 In 1836, at age 43, Maria’s husband died. She was left with nine children at home and no money except what she earned from her garden and orchards. Maria never returned to this house after the funeral. On the advice of her priest and her son-in-law, Mariano G. Vallejo, she loaded her worldly goods on pack mules and carretas and with her nine children traveled 700 miles north to Sonoma where her daughter and son-in-law had established a home. The family stayed there about one year. At this time the Russians occupied the coastal area around Fort Ross to the north. Two other of Maria’s daughters were already established on ranchos between Sonoma and Sebastopol. In order to be closer to them, Maria and her sons scouted land along the "Arroyo de Santa Rosa". The site she selected was where Santa Rosa and Matanzas creeks came together. Read about establishing the rancho