José Darío Argüello

José Darío Argüello (1753–1828) was a Spanish soldier, Las Californias (California) pioneer, founder of Los Angeles, twice a Spanish colonial governor, of Alta California and then of the Baja California Peninsula, and father of a later Mexican colonial California governor.

Biography

José Darío Argüello was born in Santiago de Querétaro, New Spain (present day Mexico).

Argüello enlisted in the Mexico regiment of dragoons, serving as a private, and later sergeant of the presidial company of Altar, Sonora. In 1781 he was promoted to alférez (sub-lieutenant) and commandant for what was to become the Presidio of Santa Barbara in upper Las Californias.

Alta California

Founding Los Angeles

Under orders from Governor Felipe de Neve, Argüello led the first ten Los Angeles Pobladores families and their livestock overland to settle. Military commander Fernando Rivera y Moncada led the guard, until killed during a civil resistance uprising by Quechan Indians near Yuma Crossing.

Argüello and the settlers continued onward to Mission San Gabriel in the geographic Los Angeles Basin. They founded the Pueblo de Los Angeles beside the Los Angeles River on September 4, 1781. This became present day Los Angeles, California.

Presidio commandant

He continued on to Santa Barbara when the Presidio of Santa Barbara was founded in 1782. In 1787, Argüello was appointed lieutenant and commandant of the Presidio of San Francisco, serving until 1791 and again from 1796 to 1806. In between he was commandant of the Presidio of Monterey, from 1791 to 1796.

Rancho de las Pulgas

In 1795, Governor Diego de Borica issued Argüello a Spanish land grant, the Rancho de las Pulgas (Ranch of the Fleas). This rancho was the largest grant on the San Francisco Peninsula consisting of 35,260 acres (142.7 km²).^[1] It was in present day San Mateo County, and encompassed contemporary San Mateo, Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City, Atherton and Menlo Park.^[2]

Governor

Alta California

After the death of Governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga, Argüello was appointed acting governor of Alta California from 1814 to 1815 while he remained in Santa Barbara.

Baja California

In 1815, Argüello was appointed governor of Baja California, serving until 1822. He died in Guadalajara, Jalisco, in 1828.

Family

Argüello married Maria Ygnacia Moraga. Their daughter, Maria Concepción, is the subject of an early California love story, portrayed in the Juno and Avos.

Two of their sons came to public service in Alta California also: Luis Antonio Argüello, California's first native-born governor (1822–1825); and Santiago Argüello, who was commandant of the Presidio of San Diego and alcalde (mayor) of Pueblo de San Diego.

José Darío Argüello died in 1828, at the then quite elderly age of 75, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.

Legacy

• Point Arguello in Santa Barbara County just west of Lompoc, California, was named Argüello's honor by George Vancouver in 1793.
• In San Francisco, there is Arguello Boulevard, rather than a First Avenue.
• There is an Arguello Park in San Carlos, California, an area that was formerly a part of Argüllo's Rancho de las Pulgas.
• Argüello's daughter is a prototype of the Conchita, main protagonist of the Juno and Avos.

References

Further reading

• OAC.org: Online guide to the José Dario Argüello documents, 1792-1815 - from The Bancroft Library

v t e Governors of California Before US 1 de Portolà 2 Fages 3 Rivera 4 de Neve 5 Fages 6 Roméu 7 Arrillaga 8 Arrillaga 9 Borica 10 Alberní 11 Arrillaga 12 J. Argüello 13 Solá 14 L. Argüello 15 Echeandía 16 Victoria 17 P. Pico 18 Zamorano / Echeandía 19 Figueroa 20 Castro 21 Gutierrez 22 Chico 23 Gutierrez 24 Alvarado 25 Carrillo 26 Alvarado 27 Micheltorena 28 P. Pico 29 Flores 30 A. Pico 31 P. Pico 32 Riley 33 Burnett After US 34 Burnett 35 McDougall 36 Bigler 37 J. Johnson 38 Weller 39 Latham 40 Downey 41 Stanford 42 Low 43 Haight 44 Booth 45 Pacheco 46 Irwin 47 Perkins 48 Stoneman 49 Bartlett 50 Waterman 51 Markham 52 Budd 53 Gage 54 Pardee 55 Gillett 56 H. Johnson 57 Stephens 58 Richardson 59 Young 60 Rolph 61 Merriam 62 Olson 63 Warren 64 Knight 65 P. Brown 66 Reagan 67 J. Brown 68 Deukmejian 69 Wilson 70 Davis 71 Schwarzenegger 72 J. Brown Before US After US US list by time in office US list by age