Juan María Osuna (1785 – March 5, 1851) was an early settler of

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

Life

Juan María Osuna was born 1785 in California to Juan Hismerio Osuna and Maria Alvarado. He was a soldier and corporal of the San Diego Company and settled in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

. Juan María Osuna was District elector in 1830 and took part in the Mexican Revolution of 1831. After retiring as a corporal, Osuna and his family were the first to build on the plain outside the

Presidio of San Diego El Presidio Real de San Diego (Royal Presidio of San Diego) is a historic fort in San Diego, California. It was established on May 14, 1769, by Gaspar de Portolá, leader of the first European land exploration of Alta California—at that time an ...

. He built a three-room adobe with his sons and a dispensary. In 1833, with five other male citizens, Osuna urged the governor to establish a pueblo (town) government for San Diego, to replace 60-some years of military rule. On January 1, 1835, this came to reality and Osuna was elected the first

Alcade Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) a ...

of San Diego pueblo. Lt.

Santiago Argüello 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- ...

, the last Commandant of

San Diego Presidio El Presidio Real de San Diego (Royal Presidio of San Diego) is a historic fort in San Diego, California. It was established on May 14, 1769, by Gaspar de Portolá, leader of the first European land exploration of Alta California—at that time a ...

gave Osuna his staff of office, symbolizing the transfer of government from the military to civilian self-rule. He defeated

Pío Pico Don Pío de Jesús Pico (May 5, 1801 – September 11, 1894) was a Californio politician, ranchero, and entrepreneur, famous for serving as the last governor of California (present-day U.S. state of California) under Mexican rule. A member of ...

by 13 votes. Pico later became the last Mexican governor of Alta California. Osuna also served as ''juez de pas'' (justice of the peace) 1839–40 and 1846. On February 15, 1806, Juan María Osuna married María Juliana Josepha Lopez, who was born March 16, 1791, to Juan Francisco Lopez, of the Portolà Expedition) and María Feliciana Arballo de Gutierrez. Their daughter Felipa married

Juan María Marrón Juan María Marrón (February 8, 1808 – September 17, 1853) was an early settler of San Diego, California. Life Marrón was a ship's captain before settling San Diego in the early 1820s. In 1834 Marrón, married Felipa Osuna (c. 1818 – Dec ...

, their daughter Luguarda married

José María Alvarado 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 ...

, and their two sons were Leandro and Ramon. Juan María Osuna was granted Rancho San Dieguito, 25 miles (40 km.) north of San Diego along the coast, during 1836–1845. He raised cattle and horses on the ranch. Osuna had a weakness in gambling and had to sell some of his land to pay off his debts. Today Rancho San Dieguito is known as

Rancho Santa Fe Rancho Santa Fe is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California, United States, within the San Diego metropolitan area. The population was 3,156 at the 2020 census. The CDP is primarily residential with a few shopping block ...

, an exclusive residential area. Juan María Osuna's adobe, overlooking the San Dieguito River Valley, has been restored and is part of The Rancho Santa Fe Homeowners Association. 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 ...

Juan María Osuna remained loyal to Mexico. In 1846, U.S. troops occupied his San Diego home and his youngest son Santiago was killed. His last years were difficult under U.S. rule as he didn't speak English and was unfamiliar with U.S. law and customs. Osuna died 1851, and is buried in El Campo Santo Catholic Cemetery in Old Town San Diego. A modern headstone reads "Juan Maria Osuna Died 1851 First Alcalde Of San Diego". His wife died December 22, 1871, and was buried next to him.

Sources

* "San Dieguito Rancho", ''Historic Ranchos of San Diego'' by Cecil C. Moyer, Richard F. Pourade, ed. (1960)
Biography (San Diego Historical Society)
from Smythe's ''History of San Diego'' (1907), p. 171.

* ttp://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/68april/tradition.htm "Tradition and Today: The Osuna Story" ''The Journal of San Diego History'' 14:2 (1968)* 1850 Census, San Diego, California, p. 278A * Early California Population Project, www.huntington.org, Mission San Juan Capistrano baptismal record #03846 of daughter shows his parents' names. {{DEFAULTSORT:Osuna, Juan Maria People from San Diego 1785 births 1851 deaths People of Alta California People of Mexican California Californios