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. He served as the Commandant of the Presidio of Santa Barbara and the Presidio of San Diego.

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 Presidio of San Diego in

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 in 1800, and was its acting Commandant in 1804. In 1806 he was made lieutenant at the Presidio of Santa Barbara. From 1807 to 1815 he was lieutenant at the Presidio of San Diego, 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, 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 Las Posas, Rancho San Julian, Rancho Los Alamos and Rancho El Conejo. De La Guerra married María Antonia Carrillo (January 8, 1786 - December 26, 1843), daughter of José Raimundo Carrillo, 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, still stands and is a historic landmark of downtown Santa Barbara.

Biography

See also

References

Further reading