Juan Bautista Alvarado
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Juan Bautista Valentin Alvarado y Vallejo (February 14, 1809–July 13, 1882) was a Californio and Governor of Alta California from 1836 to 1842.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
He was born in Monterey, California, to Jose Francisco Alvarado and Maria Josefa Vallejo. His grandfather Juan Bautista Alvarado accompanied Gaspar de Portolà 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, the Vallejo family. He and Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo grew up together in the Vallejo household. They were both taught by William Edward Petty Hartnell, 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, by soldiers involved in the military revolt led by Joaquin Solis. In 1831 he built a house in Monterey for his mistress, Juliana Francisca Ramona y Castillo, whom he called "Raymunda", to live in. Over the years, the pair had a total of five illegitimate daughters, all of whom he recognized, 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.
Alvarado was in favor of secularizing the missions and he was appointed to oversee the secularization of Mission San Miguel by José María de Echeandía, even though he had already been replaced as governor. The new governor, Manuel Victoria rescinded the order and wanted Alvarado and Castro arrested. The pair fled and were hidden by their old friend Vallejo, who was now adjutant at the Presidio of San Francisco. However, Victoria's rule proved to be unpopular and he was overthrown by Echeandía and replaced by Pío Pico at 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 granted Rancho El Sur (south of Monterey) to Alvarado on October 30, 1834.
After Figueroa's death in September 1835, Mariano Chico was appointed governor in January 1836, but he was very unpopular. Thinking a revolt was coming, he returned to Mexico to gather troops, but was reprimanded for leaving his post. Nicolas Gutierrez, the military commandante, assumed the governorship, but he too was unpopular. Alvarado (now senior member of the legislature) and Castro, with political support from Vallejo and assistance from a group of Americans led by Isaac Graham, staged a revolt and forced Gutierrez to relinquish power. The Americans wanted California independence, but Alvarado instead preferred staying a part of Mexico, but with greater autonomy.
[edit] Governor Alvarado
Alvarado (age 27) was then appointed governor, but the city council of Los Angeles 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, 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 Dona Martina Castro on August 24, 1839 in Santa Clara, but he didn't attend his own wedding—his half-brother Jose Antonio Estrada stood in his place. He claimed he was held up in Monterey on official business, but it was rumored that he was actually drunk and unable to function. After the wedding, he and Martina lived in Monterey and he continued to see his mistress Raymunda, who lived nearby, on the side.
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 via land grants. He did not, however, take any land for himself. He did trade his Rancho El Sur to John Rogers Cooper for Rancho Bolsa del Potrero (subsequently sold back to Cooper). In 1841 he purchased Rancho El Alisal (near Salinas) from his former tutor Hartnell.
In April 1840 a report of a planned revolt against Alvarado by a group of foreigners led by Isaac Graham caused the governor to order their arrest and deportation to Mexico City for trial, but they were acquitted of all charges in June 1841. Also in 1841, political leaders in the United States were voicing the policy of Manifest Destiny and Californios became increasingly worried about their intentions. Vallejo conferred with Castro and Alvarado and recommended that Mexico send military reinforcements to enforce their military control of California.
[edit] Tensions between Northern and Southern California
In response, Mexican president Santa Anna sent Brigadier General Manuel Micheltorena and 300 men to California in January 1842. Micheltorena was to assume the governorship and the position of commandante general, but in October, Commodore Thomas ap Catsby Jones mistakenly thought that war had broken out between the United States and Mexico. He sailed into Monterey Bay and demanded surrender. Micheltorena's force was still in the south and the Monterey presidio was undermanned. As such, 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 caused rumors of a revolt to foment, and by 1844, Alvarado himself was associated with them. As a result, Micheltorena had Alvarado arrested, but he soon released Alvarado, as he had been ordered to organize a large militia in preparation for a war against the U.S. and he needed all the support he could get.
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. There was no actual fighting, however; a truce was negotiated and Micheltorena agreed to dismiss his convict troops. However, Micheltorena reneged on the deal and fighting broke out this time. The rebels won a skirmish in February 1845 at the Los Angeles River and Micheltorena and his troops left California.
Pío Pico was installed as the new governor in Los Angeles and José Castro became commandate general. Later, Alvarado was elected to the Mexican Congress. He prepared to move to Mexico City, but Pico declined to provide funds for the transfer, and relations between northern and southern California deteriorated.
John C. Frémont 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 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.
[edit] An independent California
On June 14, 1846, a group of foreigners staged the Bear Flag Revolt, capturing the town of Sonoma and Mariano Vallejo. On July 7, Commodore John D. Sloat occupied Monterey, and informed the citizenry that the Mexican-American War had begun. Pico, Castro, and Alvarado immediately dropped their differences to focus their attention on the Americans, but it was too late. By the end of August, Pico and Castro fled to Mexico and Alvarado was captured. He was soon released, and he spent the remainder of the war in his estate in Monterey.
After the war, he was offered the governorship, but he 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, instead concentrating his efforts at 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 in 1882 on his rancho and is buried at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Oakland.
Alvarado's adobe-built house, at the commencement of Alvarado Street, in downtown Monterey, California, survives as a historic landmark.
[edit] References
- Juan Alvarado - Biographic Notes. Inn-California. Retrieved on September 7, 2005.
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alvarado, Juan Bautista |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Governor of Alta California |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 14, 1809 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Monterey, California |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 13, 1882 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | San Pablo, California |
