Joseph Manuel María Joaquin Micheltorena y Llano (8 June 1804 – 7 September 1853) was a
brigadier general of the
Mexican Army,
adjutant-general of the same, governor,
commandant-general and inspector of the department of
Las Californias, then within
Mexico. Micheltorena was the last non-Californian Mexican governor before Californian native son
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 ...
took office.
Personal life
Micheltorena was born in 1804 in
Oaxaca de Juárez,
Oaxaca, Mexico, into a prominent
Basque family. His parents were Army Captain Joseph Eusebio Micheltorena (who in 1819 was included among a list of notable foreigners in Mexico), and Catarina Gertrudis Llano. He was baptized at five days old at
Oaxaca Cathedral. His grandparents were Joseph de Micheltorena (Mitxeltorena) and María Encarnación de Herrera (paternal), and Joseph Augustín de Llano and María Romero (maternal).
Career
Micheltorena was appointed governor of California by
Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna and served from 30 December 1842, until his ouster in 1845.
In 1844, while he was governor, he granted Rafael Cacho the 8,701-acre land of
Rancho San Geronimo. In 1846, Cacho sold the land to
Joseph Warren Revere, who used it as a plantation wherein he enslaved
Coast Miwok people
Coast Miwok are an indigenous people that was the second-largest group of Miwok people. Coast Miwok inhabited the general area of modern Marin County and southern Sonoma County in Northern California, from the Golden Gate north to Duncans Point ...
of
Marin County, California
Marin County is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and ...
.
[San Geronimo Valley Historical Society]
"A brief history of potato farming in the #sangeronimovalley
, May 1 2020.
Micheltorena continued previous governors' policy of
large land grants ("ranchos"). He faced criticism, opposition, and eventually rebellion by the
Californios who wanted local-born governors.
Micheltorena brought with him from Mexico a group of soldiers that included criminals, and who were derisively referred to by some as ''
cholos'',
to enforce his policies. Micheltorena was defeated at the 1845
Battle of Providencia
Battle of Providencia (also called the "Second Battle of Cahuenga Pass") took place in Cahuenga Pass in 1845 on Rancho Providencia in the San Fernando Valley, north of Los Angeles, California. Native ''Californios'' successfully challenged Mex ...
, left California, and was succeeded by
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 ...
as governor.
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Micheltorena, Manuel
1804 births
1853 deaths
People from Oaxaca City
Mexican people of Basque descent
Californios
Governors of Mexican California
Mexican generals
Mexican people of the Bear Flag Revolt
People of the Conquest of California
19th-century American politicians