A Name Grander Than The Town Itself

Today is the official celebration of the 234th anniversary of the founding of the City of Los Angeles.  This is the official date, although there is reason to believe, from the distance of 234 years, that that date may be arbitrary.  What matters, though, is that we have a date we can use for our birthday celebrations.

This blog tells a bit about what happened 234 years ago, including the names of the people who were involved in founding this great city that we love today — Los Angeles, California.

El pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles sobre el Río de Porciuncula

It's a grand name, and it is debated whether it is even accurate, and to what extent.  Whatever the name, however, it is surely grander than the tiny pueblo that sprang up near río Porciuncula, or what we now call the Los Angeles River.

The indigenous people who lived here then were called Tongva after their eponymous Uto-Aztecan language.  They called the region Yaa.  Their village nearest the pueblo was called Yang-naa (there are various spellings), and they held council at the base of the then-400-year-old sycamore tree that grew in the fertile soil on the banks of the Los Angeles River and which came to be called el Aliso by the settlers.

The Plaza in Los Angeles, with el Aliso in the background [ca. 1860]

Who were los Pobladores?

There were 44 of them — 11 families, comprising 22 adults and 22 children.  They were recruited from various parts of México and one was from Spain.  They came from Nayarít, Sinaloa, Jalisco, Durango, and Chihuahua in México; and Cádiz in Spain.  Five heads-of-household were from Sinaloa; two were from Jalisco; and one each were from Nayarít, Durango, Chihuahua, and Cádiz.

They were also of diverse racial backgrounds.  Remember that Spanish North America had an extensive casta system that classified people based upon their ethnic backgrounds — at various times, upwards of 30–40 separate classifications were used.  William Mason, historian and co-founder of the Los Angeles Historical Society, explains:

"Of the 44 original pobladores who founded Los Angeles, only two were white …  Of the other 42, 26 had some degree of African ancestry and 16 were Indians or mestizos." .
                                                                                           — William M. Mason, Los Angeles Times, 1975

It should be pointed out that the census that was taken on December 31, 1781 — just 42 days after the original padrón — lists not eleven families, but twelve:  it included Antonio Rodrígues, 50, chino, from Manila, viudo, and his 8-year-old daughter, Juana María.  It is not known whether Rodrígues was actually present at the founding in September; he was certainly not present for the November padrón.

La Escolta

A miliitary escort of four soldados de cuera — three privates commanded by a corporal — was assigned to ensure the safety of los pobladores on their trek from Misión San Gabriel Arángel to the site of the new pueblo.  Like the settlers themselves, the members of the escolta traveled with their families.  The escolta was comprised of:

• Corporal José Vicente Felíz.  Español.  His wife died in childbirth in Sonora, but Corporal Felíz and his six children arrived safely in Los Angeles.

• Private Roque Jacinto de Cota (the author's fourth-great-grandfather).  Español.  He arrived in Los Angeles with his wife, Juana María Verdugo.  A daughter, María Celia Bonifacia de Cota, married José de Jesús Felíz, son of Corporal José Vicente Felíz (above) in Loreto, Baja California.

• Private Antonio de Cota.  Español.  A younger brother of Private Roque Jacinto de Cota (above).  He was accompanied by his wife and two children.
• Private Francisco Salvadór de Lugo.  Español.  A daughter, Rosa María de Lugo, married Pablo Antonio de Cota, a brother of escolta soldiers Roque Jacinto de Cota and Antonio de Cota (above).

Both the pobladores and the members of the escolta are commemorated by bronze plaques in the plaza.

Los Pobladores

La Escolta

The pueblo began to grow immediately

A padrón was taken in 1790, and the original pueblo had grown to 31 households and 139 persons in just under nine years.

Felíz 234º Cumpliaños, Los Ángeles!

So if you love Los Angeles as I do, perhaps you can take a moment today to reflect on the great diversity and enormous effort and sacrifice it took on the part of those brave souls to have left their homes in México and traveled to el Pueblo so long ago.  Their spirit and determination are present in modern-day Los Angeles, and we should be both proud of them and determined to keep that spirit and determination alive today.

Gracias por leer.

For further study ...

For those who may be interested in following the genealogies of los Pobladores or members of la Escolta, may I suggest the following resources:

• Northrup, Marie E., Spanish-Mexican Families of Early California, Volume III.  Burbank, California:  Southern California Genealogical Society, Inc., 2004.

• Early California Population Project.  San Marino, California:  The Huntington Library, 2006; http://www.huntington.org/Information/ECPPmain.htm