Juan Bautista de Anza | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Portrait by Fray Orcí, 1774 | |
| 55thGovernor of Province of New Mexico | |
| In office 1778–1788 | |
| Preceded by | Francisco Trevre |
| Succeeded by | Fernando de la Concha |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto July 6 or 7, 1736 |
| Died | December 19, 1788 (1788-12-20) (aged 52) Arizpe, New Navarre, New Spain |
| Profession | Explorer and Governor of New Mexico |
| Signature |  |
Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto (July 6 or 7, 1736[1] – December 19, 1788) was a Spanish expeditionary leader, military officer, and politician primarily inCalifornia andNew Mexico under theSpanish Empire. He is credited as one of the founding fathers ofSpanish California and served as an official within New Spain asGovernor of the province of New Mexico.[2]
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Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto was born inFronteras,New Navarre,New Spain (todaySonora,Mexico) in 1736 (nearArizpe), most probably at Cuquiarachi, Sonora,[3] but possibly at the Presidio of Fronteras.
His family was a part of the military leadership inNew Spain (Nueva España), as his father and maternal grandfather, Captain Antonio Bezerra Nieto, had both served Spain, their families living on the frontier of Nueva Navarra. He was the son ofJuan Bautista de Anza I. It is traditionally thought that he may have been educated at the College of San Ildefonso inMexico City, and later at the military academy there.[4] In 1752 he enlisted in the army at the Presidio of Fronteras. He advanced rapidly and had become acaptain by 1760. He married in 1761. His wife was Ana María Pérez Serrano (b. January 1744/45, d. date unknown), the daughter of Spanish mine owner Francisco Pérez Serrano. They had no children. His military duties mainly consisted of hostile forays againstNative Americans, such as theApache, during the course of which he explored much of what is nowArizona.
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The Spanish began colonizingAlta California with thePortolá expedition of 1769–1770. The two-pronged Portolá effort involved both a long sea voyage against prevailing winds and theCalifornia Current, and a difficult land route from Baja California. Colonies were established atSan Diego andMonterey, with apresidio and Franciscanmission at each location. A more direct land route and further colonization were desired, especially at present-daySan Francisco, which Portolá saw but was not able to colonize. By the time of Juan Bautista de Anza's expedition, three more missions had been established, includingMission San Antonio de Padua in theSan Antonio River Valley.
In 1772, Anza[5] proposed an expedition to Alta California to theViceroy of New Spain. This was approved by theKing of Spain and on January 8, 1774, with 3 padres, 20 soldiers, 11 servants, 35 mules, 65 cattle, and 140 horses, Anza set forth fromTubac Presidio, south of present-dayTucson, Arizona. Anza heard of a California Native American called Sebastian Tarabal who had fled fromMission San Gabriel to Sonora, and took him as guide. The expedition took a southern route along theRio Altar (Sonora y Sinaloa, New Spain), then paralleled the present-day Mexico–California border, crossing theColorado River at its confluence with theGila River. This was in the domain of theYuma tribe, with which he established good relations.
Anza reachedMission San Gabriel Arcángel, near the California coast, on March 22, 1774, andMonterey, California, Alta California's future capital (Alta California split from Las Californias 1804, creating Baja and Alta), on April 19. He returned to Tubac by late May 1774. This expedition was closely watched byViceroy and King, and on October 2, 1774, Anza was promoted to the rank oflieutenant-colonel, and ordered to lead a group of colonists to Alta California. The Spanish were desirous of reinforcing their presence in Alta California as a buffer againstRussian colonization of the Americas advancing from the north, and possibly establish a harbor that would give shelter to Spanish ships. The expedition got under way on October 23, 1775, and arrived atMission San Gabriel Arcángel in January 1776, the colonists having suffered greatly from the winter weather en route.
The expedition continued on to Monterey with the colonists. Having fulfilled his mission from the Viceroy, he continued north with the priestPedro Font and a party of twelve others, following an inland route to theSan Francisco Bay established in 1770 byPedro Fages.[citation needed] On the way, he led a raid on Apache settlements nearPresidio San Ignacio de Tubac, capturing forty Apaches. The soldiers divided the captives among them as slaves; Anza kept the fifteen female captives and their newborns as his share.[6]
In Anza's diary on March 25, 1776, he states that he "arrived at the arroyo ofSan Joseph Cupertino (nowStevens Creek), which is useful only for travelers. Here we halted for the night, having come eight leagues in seven and a half hours. From this place we have seen at our right the estuary which runs from the port of San Francisco."[7] Pressing on, Anza located the sites for thePresidio of San Francisco andMission San Francisco de Asis in present-daySan Francisco, California on March 28, 1776. He did not establish the settlement; it was established later byJosé Joaquín Moraga. While returning to Monterey, he located the original sites forMission Santa Clara de Asis and the town of San José de Guadalupe (present-daySan Jose, California), but again did not establish either settlement.[8] Today this route is marked as theJuan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail.
Despite DeAnza's successes, Spanish ambitions to establish a permanent overland route from Sonora to Alta California were thwarted in 1781, when a revolt of theYumas tribe closed the trail at theYuma Crossing of the Colorado River. The route was not reopened until the late 1820s, and the only regular travel to Alta California during the intervening years was by sea.
On his return from this successful expedition in 1777 he journeyed toMexico City with the chief of the lowerColorado River areaQuechan (Yuma)Native American tribe who requested the establishment of a mission. On August 24, 1777, theViceroy of New Spain appointed Anza as theGovernor of theProvince of Nuevo México, the present-day U.S. state ofNew Mexico.
Governor Anza led apunitive expedition against theComanche group of Native Americans, who had been repeatedly raidingTaos during 1779. With hisUte andApache Native American allies, and around 800 Spanish soldiers, Anza went north through theSan Luis Valley, entering theGreat Plains at what is nowManitou Springs, Colorado. Circling "El Capitan" (current day Pikes Peak), he surprised a small force of the Comanche near present-dayColorado Springs. Pursuing them south downFountain Creek, he crossed theArkansas River near present-dayPueblo, Colorado. He found the main body of the Comanche on Greenhorn Creek, returning from a raid in Nuevo México, and won a decisive victory. ChiefCuerno Verde, for whom Greenhorn Creek is named, and many other leaders of the Comanche were killed.[9]
In late 1779, Anza and his party found a route fromSanta Fe to Sonora, west of theEl Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. His various local military expeditions against tribes defending their homelands were often successful, but the Quechan (Yuma) Native American tribe which he had established peace with earlier rebelled, and he fell out of favor with the military commander of the Northern Frontier, the frontier-general. In 1783 Anza led a campaign against theComanche on theeastern plains and by 1784 they were suing for peace. The last of the Comanche chiefs eventually acceded and a formal treaty was concluded on 28 February 1786 atPecos Pueblo.[10] This paved the way for traders and the development of theComanchero trade.
Juan Bautista de Anza remained as governor of Nuevo Mexico (New Mexico) until 1787 when he returned toSonora. He was appointed commander of thePresidio of Tucson in 1788 but died before he could depart and take office. He was 52 years old. Anza was survived by his wife.
Juan Bautista de Anza died in Arizpe, in what is now the State of Sonora, Mexico, and was buried in theChurch of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Arizpe. In 1963, with the participation of delegations from theUniversity of California, Berkeley andSan Francisco, he was disinterred and reburied in a new marble memorial mausoleum at the same Church.
The primary legacy is theJuan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail in California and Arizona, administered by the USNational Park Service, for hiking and driving the route of his expedition exploringLas Californias[11] In theSan Fernando Valley the trail crosses theUpper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve, and in theSan Gabriel Valley the trail is in the Puente Hills just north ofWhittier, California.[12][13]
Also named for Anza isAnza-Borrego Desert State Park, located mostly in easternSan Diego County, California. The park contains a long and difficult stretch of the Anza trail, traveling west from theImperial Valley to the coastal mountain passes northeast ofSan Diego.[14] The de Anza Country Club and its 18-hole championshipGolf course is located within the village ofBorrego Springs, California, which is entirely surrounded by the park.
A building named theJuan de Anza House inSan Juan Bautista, California is aNational Historic Landmark. However, it was constructed c. 1830 with its connection unclear. The Juan Bautista de Anza Community Park is inCalabasas, California, and De Anza Park and the De Anza Community and Teen Center are inOntario, California.
A 20-foot (6.1 m) statue of Anza, sculpted in 1939, is located inRiverside, California at the corner of Magnolia Ave. and 14th Street,[15] and another statue stands in Lake Merced park,San Francisco.[16] A 10-foot-high (3 m) portrait of de Anza byAlbert Herter in 1929 hangs in the History Room of theLos Angeles Central Library.[17][18]
The de Anza and De Anza spellings are also the namesake of streets, schools, and buildings in his honor including: De Anza Boulevards inSan Mateo andCupertino, De Anza Park inSunnyvale,De Anza College in Cupertino,De Anza High School inRichmond, Juan Bautista De Anza elementary school in San Jacinto, Juan De Anza K-5 in the Wiseburn Elementary School District ofHawthorne, De Anza Middle School inOntario, De Anza Middle School inVentura, De Anza Elementary School inEl Centro, and the De Anza School in Baldwin Park, the landmarkDe Anza Hotel inSan Jose, and the historic De Anza Hotel inCalexico—all inCalifornia. Also named in his honor is Juan Bautista Circle in theParkmerced development in San Francisco.
Other places using just the name Anza in his honor include: Anza Vista Avenue within theAnza Vista neighborhood of San Francisco, Anza Street in that city'sRichmond District,Lake Anza inTilden Regional Park aboveBerkeley in theBerkeley Hills, Anza Avenue and Anza Elementary School inTorrance, and De Anza Way inPalm Desert.
The town ofAnza, California is a mountainous town with around 7,000 people in Riverside County alongState Route 371 betweenAguanga and theSanta Rosa Mountains south ofPalm Springs. The town is located on the historic route of de Anza's 1774 expedition.
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| Preceded by Francisco Trevre acting | Governor of New Mexico 1778–1788 | Succeeded by |
