The Spanish and later Mexican governments encouraged settlement of Alta California (now known as California) by giving prominent men large land grants called ranchos, usually two or more square leagues. Land-grant titles (concessions) were government-issued, permanent, unencumbered property-ownership rights to land called ranchos. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves after the landed gentry of Spain. Their workers included Californian Native Americans who had learned to speak Spanish, many of them former Mission residents.