Juan Bautista Valentín Alvarado y Vallejo (February 14, 1809 – July 13, 1882) was a
Californio politician that served as
Governor of Alta California from 1837-42. Prior to his term as governor, Alvarado briefly led a movement for
independence of Alta California from 1836-37, in which he successfully deposed interim governor
Nicolás Gutiérrez
Lieutenant Colonel Nicolás Gutiérrez was twice Acting (law), acting governor of the northern part of The Californias, ''Las Californias'' (what had previously been Alta California) in 1836, from January to May and July to November.
Gutiérr ...
, declared independence, and created a new flag and constitution, before negotiating an agreement with the Mexican government resulting in his recognition as governor and the end of the independence movement.
Early years
Alvarado was born in
Monterey
Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bot ...
,
Alta California
Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New 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 , but ...
, to Jose Francisco Alvarado and María Josefa Vallejo. His grandfather Juan Bautista Alvarado accompanied
Gaspar de Portolà
Gaspar is a given and/or surname of French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish origin, cognate to Casper (given name) or Casper (surname).
It is a name of biblical origin, per Saint Gaspar, one of the wise men mentioned in the Bible.
Notable peo ...
as an enlisted man in the Spanish Army in 1769. His father died a few months after his birth and his mother remarried three years later, leaving Juan Bautista in the care of his grandparents on the Vallejo side, where he and
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo
Don (honorific), Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (4 July 1807 – 18 January 1890) was a Californios, Californio general, statesman, and public figure. He was born a subject of Spain, performed his military duties as an officer of the Republic of ...
grew up together. They were both taught by
William Edward Petty Hartnell
William Edward Petty Hartnell (April 24, 1798 – February 2, 1854), later known by his Spanish name Don Guillermo Arnel, was a merchant, schoolmaster, and government official in California. He arrived in California in 1822 as a trader, where he ...
, an English merchant living in Monterey.
In 1827 the eighteen-year-old Alvarado was hired as secretary to the territorial legislature. In 1829 he was briefly arrested along with Vallejo and another friend,
José Castro
José Antonio Castro (1808 – February 1860) was a Californio politician, statesman, and general who served as interim Governor of Alta California and later Governor of Baja California. During the Bear Flag Revolt and the American Conquest of ...
, by soldiers involved in the military revolt led by
Joaquín Solis. In 1831 he built a house in Monterey for his mistress, Juliana Francisca Ramona y Castillo, whom he called "Raymunda", to live in (or, more likely, her sister, Maria Reymunda Castillo ). Over the years, the pair had a total of at least two illegitimate daughters whom he recognized (Estefana del Rosario, b 1834, and Maria Francisca de la Asencion born 1836 ) and perhaps several more he did not recognize, but he never married their mother. During this period Alvarado began drinking heavily. One of his daughters claimed that Raymunda had refused to marry Alvarado because of his excessive drinking.
Supports secularization
Alvarado supported
secularization
In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...
of the
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California ( es, Misiones españolas en California) comprise a
series of 21 religious outposts or missions established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the U.S. state of California. Founded by Catholic priests ...
. He was appointed by
José María de Echeandía
José María de Echeandía (?–1871) was twice 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.José Bandini, in a note to Governor Echeandía or ...
to oversee the turn over of
Mission San Miguel, even though Echeandía was no longer governor. The new governor
Manuel Victoria
Manuel Victoria (died 1833) 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.
Exile
The revolt, called Battle of ...
rescinded the order and sought to have Alvarado and Castro arrested. The pair fled and were hidden by their old friend Vallejo, who had become
adjutant at the
Presidio of San Francisco
The Presidio of San Francisco (originally, El Presidio Real de San Francisco or The Royal Fortress of Saint Francis) is a park and former U.S. Army post on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, and is part o ...
. However, Victoria was unpopular and Echeandía overthrew his rule and replaced him with
Pío de Jesús Pico near the end of 1831. Secularization of the missions resumed in 1833.
In 1834 Alvarado was elected to the legislature as a delegate and appointed customs inspector in Monterey. Governor
José Figueroa
José Figueroa (1792 – 29 September 1835), was a General and the Mexican Governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835. He wrote the first book to be published in California.
Background and governorship
Figueroa was a Mestizo of Spanish ...
granted
Rancho El Sur
Rancho El Sur was a Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, California on the Big Sur coast given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to Juan Bautista Alvarado. The grant extended from the mouth of Little Sur River inland about 2.5 ...
, two square leagues of land, or about , south of Monterey, to Alvarado on October 30, 1834.
Independence movement
![1836 alvarado flag](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/1836_alvarado_flag.webp)
After Figueroa's death in September 1835,
Nicolás Gutiérrez
Lieutenant Colonel Nicolás Gutiérrez was twice Acting (law), acting governor of the northern part of The Californias, ''Las Californias'' (what had previously been Alta California) in 1836, from January to May and July to November.
Gutiérr ...
was appointed as interim governor in January 1836. He was replaced by
Mariano Chico
Colonel Mariano Chico Navarro (1796–1850) served one of the briefest terms as Alta California governor from April 1836 to July 1836. He was both preceded and succeeded by the equally unpopular Lieutenant Colonel Nicolás Gutiérrez, who joine ...
in April, but Chico was unpopular. His intelligence agents told him that another Californio revolt was brewing, hence he fled to
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, claiming he planned to gather troops against the independent Californios. Instead, Mexico reprimanded him for abandoning his post. Gutierrez, the military
commandant
Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...
, re-assumed the governorship, but like the Mexican governors before him, the Californios forced him to flee. As senior members of the legislature, Alvarado and Castro, with political support from Vallejo and backing from a group of Tennesseans led by Capt.
Isaac Graham
Isaac Graham (April 15, 1800 – November 8, 1863) was a fur trader, mountain man, and land grant owner in 19th century California.
In 1830, he joined a hunting and trapping party at Fort Smith, Arkansas that included George Nidever. Graham ...
, staged a revolt in November 1836 and forced Gutierrez out of the country.
Alvarado's Californio coup wrote a constitution and adopted a
new flag—a single red star on a white background, but neither were used after Alvarado made peace with Mexico.
Governor Alvarado
Alvarado, at age 27, was then appointed governor, but the city council of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
protested. Alvarado, Castro, and Graham went south and negotiated a compromise after three months, avoiding a civil war. However, the city council of San Diego then voiced its disagreement with Alvarado's revolt. This time, the Mexican government was involved and there were rumors that the Mexican Army was ready to step in. Alvarado was able to negotiate another compromise to keep the peace.
Mexico reneged on the agreement, however, and appointed
Carlos Antonio Carrillo
Carlos Antonio Carrillo (24 December 1783 – 23 February 1852) was a Californio politician, military officer, and ranchero. He was nominated to serve as Governor of Alta California from 1837–38, in opposition to Juan Bautista Alvarado's rule. ...
, who was very popular among the southerners, governor on December 6, 1837. This time, civil war broke out and after several battles, Carrillo was forced out. Mexico finally relented and recognized Alvarado as governor.
Alvarado married Doña Martina Castro on August 24, 1839 in
Santa Clara, but didn't attend his own wedding having his half-brother, Jose Antonio Estrada, stand in for him. Though he claimed to be detained in
Monterey
Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bot ...
on official business, it was rumored he was actually drunk and unable to function. After the wedding, Alvarado lived with his bride in Monterey, but continued on with mistress, Raymunda, who lived nearby.
The process of secularization of the missions was in its final stages, and it was at this time that Alvarado parceled out much of their land to prominent
Californios
Californio (plural Californios) is a term used to designate a Hispanic Californians, Hispanic Californian, especially those descended from Spanish and Mexican settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries. California's Spanish language, Spanish-s ...
via land grants. Though he took no land for himself, he did however, trade his Rancho El Sur to
John B.R. Cooper in exchange for
Rancho Bolsa del Potrero which he subsequently sold back to Cooper. He purchased
Rancho El Alisal
Rancho El Alisal was a Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, California, given in 1833 by Governor José Figueroa to the brothers Feliciano and Mariano Soberanes and to William Edward Petty Hartnell. Alisal means Alder tree (sycamo ...
near
Salinas in 1841 from his former tutor
William Hartnell
William Henry Hartnell (8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his portrayal of the First Doctor, first incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' from 1963 to 1966. In film, ...
.
In April 1840 a report of a planned revolt against Alvarado by a group of foreigners, led by former ally
Isaac Graham
Isaac Graham (April 15, 1800 – November 8, 1863) was a fur trader, mountain man, and land grant owner in 19th century California.
In 1830, he joined a hunting and trapping party at Fort Smith, Arkansas that included George Nidever. Graham ...
, caused the governor to order their arrest and deportation to Mexico City for trial. They were eventually, however, acquitted of all charges in June 1841. Also in 1841, political leaders in the United States were declaring their doctrine of
Manifest Destiny
Manifest destiny was a cultural belief in the 19th century in the United States, 19th-century United States that American settlers were destined to expand across North America.
There were three basic tenets to the concept:
* The special vir ...
, and Californios grew increasingly concerned over their intentions. Vallejo conferred with Castro and Alvarado recommending that Mexico send military reinforcements to enforce their military control of California.
Tensions between Northern and Southern California
In response, Mexican president
Antonio López de Santa Anna
Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón (; 21 February 1794 – 21 June 1876),Callcott, Wilfred H., "Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez De,''Handbook of Texas Online'' Retrieved 18 April 2017. usually known as Santa Ann ...
sent
Brigadier General
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
Manuel Micheltorena and 300 men to California in January 1842. Micheltorena was to assume the governorship and the position of
commandant general
Commandant-general is a military rank in several countries and is generally equivalent to that of major-general.
Argentina
Commandant general is the highest rank in the Argentine National Gendarmerie, and is held by the national director of the g ...
. In October, before Micheltorena reached Monterey, American
Commodore
Commodore may refer to:
Ranks
* Commodore (rank), a naval rank
** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom
** Commodore (United States)
** Commodore (Canada)
** Commodore (Finland)
** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore''
* Air commodore ...
Thomas ap Catesby Jones
Thomas ''ap'' Catesby Jones (24 April 1790 – 30 May 1858) was a U.S. Navy commissioned officer during the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War.
Early life and education
Thomas ap Catesby Jones was born on 24 April 1790 in Westmor ...
mistakenly thought that war had broken out between the US and Mexico. He sailed into
Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area and its major city at the south of the bay, San Jose. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by ...
and demanded the surrender of the
Presidio of Monterey
The Presidio of Monterey (POM), located in Monterey, California, is an active US Army installation with historic ties to the Spanish colonial era. Currently, it is the home of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLI-FLC). ...
. Micheltorena's force was still in the south and the Monterey presidio was undermanned. Alvarado reluctantly surrendered, and retired to Rancho El Alisal. The next day Commodore Jones learned of his mistake, but Alvarado declined to return and instead referred the commodore to Micheltorena.
Micheltorena eventually made it to Monterey, but was unable to control his troops, a number of which were convicts. This fomented rumors of a revolt, and by 1844, Alvarado became associated with the malcontents and an order was made by Micheltorena for his arrest. His detention was short-lived, as Micheltorena was under orders to organize a large contingent in preparation for war against the US. All hands would be required for the task.
This turned out to backfire on him, as on November 14, 1844, a group of Californios led by
Manuel Castro revolted against Mexican authority. José Castro and Alvarado commanded the troops. Castro's drummer Juan 'Tambor' Higuera was killed during the capture of the barracks in Los Angeles, possibly the only Californio killed. A truce was negotiated and Micheltorena agreed to dismiss his convict troops. Micheltorena later reneged on the deal and fighting broke out this time. The rebels won the
Battle of Providencia in February 1845 at the
Los Angeles River
, name_etymology =
, image = File:Los Angeles River from Fletcher Drive Bridge 2019.jpg
, image_caption = L.A. River from Fletcher Drive Bridge
, image_size = 300
, map = LARmap.jpg
, map_size ...
and Micheltorena and his troops left California.
Pío Pico was installed as governor in Los Angeles and
José Castro
José Antonio Castro (1808 – February 1860) was a Californio politician, statesman, and general who served as interim Governor of Alta California and later Governor of Baja California. During the Bear Flag Revolt and the American Conquest of ...
became commandant general. Later, Alvarado was elected to the Mexican Congress. He prepared to move to Mexico City, but Pico declined funding for the transfer, and relations between northern and southern California deteriorated further.
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...
arrived in Monterey at the beginning of 1846. Afraid of foreign aggression, Castro assembled his militia, with Alvarado second in command, but Frémont went north to
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
instead. An unstable political situation in Mexico strained relations among the Californios and it seemed that civil war would break out between north and south.
During and after the Mexican-American War
On July 7, Commodore
John D. Sloat
John Drake Sloat (July 26, 1781 – November 28, 1867) was a commodore in the United States Navy who, in 1846, claimed California for the United States.
Life
He was born at the family home of Sloat House in Sloatsburg, New York, of Dutch ancestr ...
occupied Monterey, declaring to the citizenry that 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 ...
had begun. Pico, Castro, and Alvarado set aside their differences to focus on the American threat, but by the end of August, Pico and Castro fled to Mexico, and Alvarado was captured. Following his release, Alvarado spent the remainder of the war on his estate in Monterey.
After the war, Alvarado was offered the governorship but declined, instead retiring to his wife Martina's family estate at
Rancho San Pablo in 1848. Alvarado did not participate in the
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...
, instead concentrating his efforts on agriculture and business. He opened the Union Hotel on the rancho in 1860, but his businesses were mostly unsuccessful. After Martina's death in 1876, Alvarado wrote his ''Historia de California''. He died on his ranch in 1882 and is buried at
Saint Mary Cemetery in
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
.
Alvarado's
adobe
Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
house, at the foot of Alvarado Street in downtown Monterey, survives as a
California Historical Landmark
A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance.
Criteria
Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...
. The former settlement of
Alvarado (now part of
Union City) was named after him, as was Alvarado Street in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
's
Noe Valley. Portions of the Rancho San Pablo adobe are incorporated into the current City of
San Pablo government campus and
Alvarado Park
Alvarado Park (formerly Grand Canyon Park
, Richmond Museum of History, retrieved September 4, 2007) is ...
within
Wildcat Canyon Regional Park
Wildcat Canyon Regional Park is a East Bay Regional Parks District park bordering the city of Richmond in Contra Costa County in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. It includes a portion of Wildcat Canyon as well as a portion of the adjoin ...
is named in his honor.
California Historical Landmark
![Governor Alvarado House](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Governor_Alvarado_House.JPG)
Governor Alvarado House is
California Historical Landmark
A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance.
Criteria
Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...
number #348.
California Historical Landmark reads:
:''NO. 348 HOUSE OF GOVERNOR ALVARADO - A native of Monterey, Alvarado served as Governor of Mexican California from December 20, 1836 to December 20, 1842. During his administration the increasing influx of Americans and the Russian settlement at Fort Ross began to be regarded as serious problems.''
californiahistoricallandmarks.com Landmarks chl-348
/ref>
See also
* California Historical Landmarks in Monterey County
*History of California through 1899
Human history in California began when indigenous Americans first arrived some 13,000 years ago. Coastal exploration by the Spanish began in the 16th century, with further European settlement along the coast and in the inland valleys following ...
*Revolt of 1837 (New Mexico)
The Revolt of 1837, also known as the Chimayó Rebellion, was a popular insurrection in New Mexico against Albino Pérez, the Mexican governor at the time.
Background
Governor Pérez had arrived from central Mexico in 1835. The Pérez administr ...
*Republic of the Rio Grande
The Republic of the Rio Grande ( es, República del Río Grande) was an independent nation that insurgents fighting against the Centralist Republic of Mexico
sought to establish in northern Mexico. The Republic of the Rio Grande was one of a se ...
* Republic of Yucatan
References
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarado, Juan
Californios
People of Mexican California
Governors of Mexican California
Writers from California
Namesakes of San Francisco streets
People from Monterey, California
1809 births
1882 deaths
Mexican military personnel of the Mexican–American War
People of the Conquest of California
19th-century American politicians
Big Sur