JoséDarío Argüello (1753–1828) was a Querétaro-born Californio politician,soldier,and ranchero. He served as interim Governor of Alta California and then a term as Governor of Baja California.
JoséDarío Argüello was born in 1753 in Santiago de Querétaro,New Spain (present day Mexico).
Argüello enlisted in the Mexico regiment of dragoons,serving as a private,and later sergeant of the presidial company of Altar,Sonora. In 1781 he was promoted to alférez (sub-lieutenant) and commandant for what was to become the Presidio of Santa Barbara in Alta California.
Under orders from Governor Felipe de Neve,Argüello led the first ten Los Angeles Pobladores families and their livestock overland to settle. Military commander Fernando Rivera y Moncada led the guard,until killed during a civil resistance uprising by Quechan Indians near Yuma Crossing.
Argüello and the settlers continued onward to Mission San Gabriel in today's San Gabriel Valley. They founded the Pueblo de Los Angeles beside the Los Angeles River on September 4,1781. This became present day Los Angeles,California. [1]
He continued on to Santa Barbara when the Presidio of Santa Barbara was founded in 1782. In 1787,Argüello was appointed lieutenant and commandant of the Presidio of San Francisco,serving until 1791 and again from 1796 to 1806. In between he was commandant of the Presidio of Monterey,from 1791 to 1796. [2]
In 1795,Governor Diego de Borica issued Argüello a Spanish land grant,the Rancho de las Pulgas (Ranch of the Fleas). This rancho was the largest grant on the San Francisco Peninsula consisting of 35,260 acres (142.7 km2). [3] It was in present-day San Mateo County,and encompassed contemporary San Mateo,Belmont,San Carlos,Redwood City,Atherton and Menlo Park. [4] [5] [6]
After the death of Governor JoséJoaquín de Arrillaga,Argüello was appointed acting governor of Alta California from 1814 to 1815 while he remained in Santa Barbara.
In 1815,Argüello was appointed governor of Baja California,serving until 1822. He died in Guadalajara,Jalisco,in 1828.
Argüello married Maria Ygnacia Moraga. Their daughter,Maria Concepción (María Jesús Argüello),is the subject of an early California love story,portrayed in the Russian rock opera Juno and Avos . [7]
Two of their sons came to public service in Alta California also:Luis Antonio Argüello,California's first native-born governor (1822–1825);and Santiago Argüello,who was commandant of the Presidio of San Diego and alcalde (mayor) of Pueblo de San Diego . Other children:Teniente JoséDarío Argüello,Joaquín Máximo Argüello;Gervasio Argüello and Ana Gertrudis Rudecinda Argüello. [8] JoséDarío Argüello died in 1828,at the then quite elderly age of 75,in Guadalajara,Jalisco,Mexico.
The San Francisco Peninsula is a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area that separates San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. On its northern tip is the City and County of San Francisco. Its southern base is Los Altos and Mountain View,in Santa Clara County,south of Palo Alto and north of Sunnyvale. Most of the Peninsula is occupied by San Mateo County,between San Francisco and Santa Clara counties,and including the cities and towns of Atherton,Belmont,Brisbane,Burlingame,Colma,Daly City,East Palo Alto,El Granada,Foster City,Half Moon Bay,Hillsborough,La Honda,Loma Mar,Los Altos,Los Altos Hills,Menlo Park,Millbrae,Mountain View,Pacifica,Palo Alto,Pescadero,Portola Valley,Redwood City,Redwood Shores,San Bruno,San Carlos,San Mateo,South San Francisco,West Menlo Park and Woodside.
Alta California,also known as Nueva California among other names,was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula,it had previously comprised the province of Las Californias,but was made a separate province in 1804. Following the Mexican War of Independence,it became a territory of Mexico in April 1822 and was renamed Alta California in 1824.
Luis Antonio Argüello was the first Californio (native-born) governor of Alta California,and the first to take office under Mexican rule. He was the only governor to serve under the First Mexican Empire and also served as acting governor under the subsequent provisional government,which preceded the First Mexican Republic.
JoséFrancisco Ortega was a New Spanish soldier and early settler of Alta California. He joined the military at the age of twenty-one and rose to the rank of sergeant by the time he joined the Portola expedition in 1769. At the end of his military duty he would be granted land which he named Rancho Nuestra Senora del Refugio near Santa Barbara.
JoséAntonio de la Guerra y Noriega was a Californio military officer,ranchero,and founder of the prominent Guerra family of California. He served as the Commandant of the Presidio of Santa Barbara and the Presidio of San Diego.
JoséMaría de Echeandía (?–1871) was the Mexican governor of Alta California from 1825 to 1831 and again from 1832 to 1833. He was the only governor of California that lived in San Diego.
Manuel Victoria was governor of the Mexican-ruled territory of Alta California from January 1831 to December 6,1831. He died in exile. He was appointed governor on March 8,1830 by Lucas Alamán.
Diego de Borica (1742–1800) was a Basque colonial Governor of the Californias,from 1794 to 1800.
Rancho de las Pulgas was a 35,240-acre (142.6 km2) 1795 Spanish land grant in present-day San Mateo County,California,to JoséDarío Argüello. The literal translation is "Ranch of the Fleas," named after the exceptional abundance of fleas in the area. The grant was bounded by San Mateo Creek on the north and San Francisquito Creek on the south,and extended about one league from San Francisco Bay to the hills. The grant encompassed present-day San Mateo,Belmont,San Carlos,Redwood City,Atherton and Menlo Park.
Doña María Soledad Ortega de Argüello (1797–1874) was a Californio ranchera and socialite. She inherited the vast Rancho de las Pulgas,which encompassed most of the southern half of the San Francisco Peninsula,stretching from San Mateo to Menlo Park.
The Ávila family was a prominent Californio family of Spanish origins from Southern California,founded by Cornelio Ávila in the 1780s. Numerous members of the family held important rancho grants and political positions,including two Alcaldes of Los Angeles.
Santiago Argüello (1791–1862) was a Californio,a soldier in the Spanish army of the Viceroyalty of New Spain in Las Californias,a major Mexican land grant ranchos owner,and part of an influential family in Mexican Alta California and post-statehood California.
Juno and Avos is a popular Russian-language rock opera written by Alexey Rybnikov,poetry by Andrei Voznesensky. It was first performed in 1981 in the Lenkom Theatre,Moscow,directed by Mark Zakharov. Main roles in the premiere performed by Soviet stars Nikolai Karachentsov and Elena Shanina.
Argüello is a Spanish surname,most commonly associated with the early settlers in the cities of Granada,Nicaragua and of Córdoba,Argentina,as well as throughout Mexico and,in the United States,in what is now the state of California,the so-called Californio Argüellos.
The Carrillo family is a prominent Californio family of Southern California. Members of the family held extensive rancho grants and numerous important political positions,including Governor of Alta California,Mayor of Los Angeles,Mayor of Santa Barbara,Mayor of Santa Monica,and a signer of the Californian Constitution.
The Pico family is a prominent Californio family of Southern California. Members of the family held extensive rancho grants and numerous important positions,including Governor of Alta California,signer of the Constitution of California,and California State Senator,among numerous others. Numerous locations are named after the family across California.
The Guerra family is a prominent Californio family of Southern California. Members of the family held extensive rancho grants and numerous important positions,including numerous Mayors of Santa Barbara,California Senators,a Lieutenant Governor of California,and a signer of the California Constitution.
The Sepúlveda family is a prominent Californio family of Southern California. Members of the family held extensive rancho grants and numerous important positions,including Alcalde de Los Ángeles,California State Assemblymen,and Los Angeles County Supervisor.