José Antonio de la Guerra y Noriega (March 6, 1779 – February 18, 1858) was a

Californio Californios (singular Californio) are Californians of Spaniards, Spanish descent, especially those descended from settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries before California was annexed by the United States. California's Spanish language in C ...

military officer, ranchero, and founder of the prominent

Guerra family of California The Guerra family is a prominent Californio family of Southern California. Members of the family held extensive rancho grants and numerous important positions, including numerous mayors of Santa Barbara, California Senators, a Lieutenant Governo ...

. He served as the Commandant of the

Presidio of Santa Barbara El Presidio Real de Santa Bárbara, also known as the Royal Presidio of Santa Barbara, is a former military installation in Santa Barbara, California, United States. The presidio was built by Spain in 1782, with the mission of defending the Span ...

and 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 a ...

Biography

José de la Guerra was born 1779 at Novales,

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. When he was 13 De La Guerra went to

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

, to live with his maternal uncle Pedro Gonzales de Noriega, a wealthy merchant. De La Guerra joined the frontier army in 1793, working for the paymaster general. In 1796, his uncle the major merchant obtained permission to export otter hides from Acapulco to Manila on the galleon. De la Guerra was appointed a cadet in 1798 at the

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva 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 was made a separat ...

. He was promoted to ''alférez'' (ensign) at 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). ...

in 1800, and was its acting Commandant in 1804. In 1806 he was made lieutenant at the

. From 1807 to 1815 he was lieutenant at the

, and was, for a short time during 1806–1807 the

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 ...

. From 1815, De La Guerra served at Santa Barbara, becoming captain in 1817. He became Commandant in 1827, succeeding

José Darío Argüello José Darío Argüello (1753–1828) was a Querétaro-born Californio politician, soldier, and ranchero. He served as interim Governor of Alta California and then a term as Governor of Baja California. Biography José Darío Argüello was born ...

, who was promoted to Governor of

. De La Guerra also became a Deputy (''diputado'') to the Mexican National Congress in 1827. De La Guerra served as Commandant until 1842, when he retired after 52 years of service in the army. De La Guerra was a

popularly known as ''El Capitán''. From land grants and purchases, De La Guerra became owner of over 1/2 million acres (2000 km²) in present Santa Barbara, Ventura, Marin, and

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

counties, California. These include

Rancho Simi Rancho Simi, also known as Rancho San José de Nuestra Señora de Altagracia y Simí, was a Spanish land grant in what is now eastern Ventura and western Los Angeles counties granted in 1795 to Santiago Pico, founder of the Pico family of Cal ...

Rancho Las Posas Rancho Las Posas was a Mexican land grant in present-day Ventura County, California. It was given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to José Antonio Carrillo. Geography The grant extends along the Arroyo Simi (river) in the western Simi ...

Rancho San Julian Rancho San Julian was a Mexican land grant and present-day ranch in present-day Santa Barbara County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to José de la Guerra y Noriega. The grant name probably refers to José Antonio Julian ...

Rancho Los Alamos Rancho Los Álamos was a Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Barbara County, California given in 1839 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José Antonio de la Guerra, a son of José de la Guerra y Noriega. ''Los Álamos'' is Spanish for "the c ...

and

Rancho El Conejo Rancho El Conejo was a Spanish land grant in California given in 1803 to Jose Polanco and Ygnacio Rodriguez that encompassed the area now known as the Conejo Valley in southeastern Ventura and northwestern Los Angeles Counties. ''El Conejo'' is ...

. De La Guerra married María Antonia Carrillo (January 8, 1786 - December 26, 1843), daughter of

José Raimundo Carrillo Captain José Raimundo Carrillo (1749–1809) was Californio soldier and settler, known as an early settler of San Diego, California and as the founder of the Carrillo family of California. Biography Carrillo was born in 1749 in New Spain (pre ...

, on May 16, 1804. They had seven sons (Jose Antonio, Juan, Francisco, Pablo, Joaquin, Miguel, and

Antonio Maria Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ...

) and four daughters (Teresa, Angustias, Anita, and María Antonia).De La Guerra Family
De La Guerra died in 1858 and is buried in the church crypt at

Mission Santa Barbara Mission Santa Barbara () is a Spanish missions in California, Spanish mission in Santa Barbara, California, United States. Often referred to as the 'Queen of the Missions', it was founded by Padre Fermín Lasuén for the Franciscan order on Decem ...

with his wife. His house, called the

Casa de la Guerra The Casa de la Guerra was the residence of the fifth commandant of the Presidio de Santa Barbara, José de la Guerra y Noriega, founder of the Guerra family of California (a prominent Californio family) from 1828 until his death in 1858. Desc ...

, still stands and is a historic landmark of downtown Santa Barbara.

Biography

See also

References

Further reading