| Juan "Flaco" Brown Grave site | |
|---|---|
_grave_2337_02.JPG) Juan "Flaco" Brown Grave | |
| Location | 1100 E Weber Street,Stockton, California |
| Coordinates | 37°57′18″N121°16′37″W / 37.955°N 121.2769°W /37.955; -121.2769 |
| Designated | November 25, 1953 |
| Reference no. | 513 |
  Location of Juan "Flaco" Brown Grave site in California Show map of California Juan Flaco (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
Juan Brown (1799–1859), nicknameJuan Flaco, known as thePaul Revere of California, rode fromLos Angeles toSan FranciscoCalifornia in four days, 52 hours, in 1846, during theMexican–American War.Juan "Flaco" Brown was sent by CaptainArchibald H. Gillespie atFort Hill to due theSiege of Los Angeles, started on September 22, 1846.United States Army Troops were trapped inPueblo de Los Ángeles,Alta California byJosé María Flores men. Juan "Flaco" Brown took word toCommodoreRobert F. Stockton inSan Francisco of the serious trouble the Gillespie's troops in Los Angeles were in.[1]
Flaco departed Los Angeles at 8 PM with a note with Gillespie's seal, from Gillespie to Stockton hidden in his hair. He departed by pretending to be a deserter. Tom Lewis joined Flaco, they stopped inMission Santa Barbara late at night and rented freshhorses and bought food from Lieutenant Talbolt. The next day atMission San Luis Rey, Tom Lewis departed and Flaco rode on toMonterey where he was given a fresh horse. AtSan Jose, he got fresh horse and shortly talked withThomas O. Larkin, the first and only American consul ever stationed on American soil. Flaco arrived at San Francisco in the evening at 8 PM after a six hundred miles ride with only 3 hours of rest in Monterey, through land filled with unfriendly natives and MexicanCalifornios. Commodore Stockton ordered CaptainWilliam Mervine to sail to Los Angeles with 350 men to help the Troops under siege there. Mervine arrived too late. After one week of siege, Gillespie Troops were out of food andgunpowder and surrendered. As part of the surrender Gillespie's Troops marched to the Port of San Pedro and departed Los Angeles on September 30, 1846, on the American merchant shipVandalia.[1][2][3]
On January 8, 1847, Los Angeles was taken in the last battle of the Mexican–American War,Battle of La Mesa. GeneralStephen W. Kearny (1794–1848) and his troops came to Los Angeles marching in fromSanta Fe, New Mexico by way of San Diego and theBattle of San Pasqual. Stockton and his men sailed in from San Francisco by way of San Diego. Kearny and Stockton's 607 Troops found Flores' 300 men near theSan Gabriel River about 6 miles south of Pueblo de Los Ángeles. Flores lost the last battle of the Mexican–American War. There were few casualties and Flores retreated to Monterey and later to Mexico. On January 10 Kearny and Stockton's Troops Marched into theLos Angeles Plaza and Captain Gillespie raised theFlag of the United States.
The United States acquired Alta California and Los Angeles through the Mexican–American War and theTreaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.[4] The State of California wasadmitted to the Union onSeptember 9, 1850.[5][6]
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