José María Cañas

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José María Cañas Escamilla was a Costa Rican militar, born in Suchitoto, El Salvador.

He moved to Costa Rica in 1842 along with general Francisco Morazán, where he married Guadalupe Mora Porras, sister of president Juan Rafael Mora Porras.

He was named Secretary of War during the Mora Porras presidency. As a general, he commandered the Costa Rican Army during the third and most important part of the campaign against filibuster William Walker. He was known as an affable and kind person amongst his troops.

In representation of Costa Rica he signed the Cañas-Juárez Treaty, the Cañas-Martínez Treaty and the Cañas-Jerez Treaty that dealt with the demarcation of the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

In 1859, when his brother-in-law was deposed, he emigrated back to El Salvador with him. The following year they returned to Costa Rica seeking the restoration of Mora Porras in the presidency. The expedition failed and they were both executed in Puntarenas on October 2, 1860.