Pio Pico State Historic Park

Ito: an affectionate diminutive suffix en español.

Example: Perro = dog. Perrito = cute, cute, puppy.

Another example? Gordinflón = chubby. Gordito = cute, chubby person.

Pio Pico named his ranch, El Ranchito because it’s 8,891 acres were scraps compared to the 532,000 acre feast owned by the Pico brothers.  But, Pico lost everything after a variety of court appearances for his surreptitious business practices.

Now, the five acre park preserves the Pico Adobe.  It also highlights the Californio dichotomy between wealth and grit- the $12,000 piano and 16 surviving rooms amidst a house made of mud and an outdoor clay oven.

Just like how Pico lost his property, the public is losing their right to this property as well.  The park, which operates on $100,000 a year, has been declared one of the 70 California State Parks to be closed in February 2012.

To read more about this park check here: http://www.piopico.org/index.html

To read more about California State Park closures, check here: http://parks.ca.gov/?page_id=26685

To see lots of pictures from the November 5th Fiesta fundraiser to keep the park open, check here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/69304449@N03/sets/72157627961193131/