José María Alvarado (1813–1846) was the son of Juan Bautista Alvarado (a soldier and cousin to the governor by the same name) and María Raimunda Yorba.

Life

Alvarado's grandfather, the elder Juan Bautista Alvarado, accompanied Gaspar de Portolà as an enlisted man in the Spanish Army in 1769. Alvarado's father, Juan Bautista Alvarado, was the grantee of

Rancho Rincon del Diablo Rancho Rincon del Diablo was a Mexican land grant in present-day San Diego County, California given in 1843 to Juan Bautista Alvarado. The name means "the devil's corner" or "the devil's lurking place". The rancho lands include the present day ci ...

. José María Alvarado married Lugarda Dionisia Osuna, daughter of Juan María Osuna. In 1840, Sgt. Alvarado was given

Rancho Vallecitos de San Marcos Rancho Vallecitos de San Marcos was a Mexican land grant in present-day northern San Diego County, California given in 1840 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Jose María Alvarado. The name means little valleys of St. Mark. The grant was located bet ...

Mexican land grant by his cousin, Governor Alvarado. The rancho was located in present

San Marcos, California San Marcos ( ; Spanish for " St. Mark") is a city in the North County region of San Diego County, California. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 94,833. It is the site of California State University San Marcos. The city is bordere ...

. In 1842, Alvarado was Suplente (Substitute Justice of the Peace) of San Diego. During the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

, Alvarado fought in the

Battle of San Pasqual The Battle of San Pasqual, also spelled San Pascual, was a military encounter that occurred during the Mexican–American War in what is now the San Pasqual Valley community of the city of San Diego, California. The series of military skirmishes ...

in 1846. After the battle, Alvarado was one of 11 men captured by an Indian band in the home of José Antonio Serrano, owner of Rancho Pauma. They were taken to an Indian ranchería at Agua Caliente, on Rancho San José, and killed in what was known as the Pauma Massacre."The Bloody Lances", ''The Silver Dons'' (1963) by Richard F. Pourade
details the Indian massacre. Also the chapter "Pauma Rancho and Cuca Rancho" in ''Historic Ranchos of San Diego'' Alvarado's widow, Lugarda, later married Jesús Machado, who owned Rancho Buena Vista.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarado, Jose Maria People from San Diego 1813 births 1846 deaths People of Mexican California