Although the Spanish government placed a ban on trading with foreign ships, American vessels began arriving in the early s, and the first English-speaking inhabitant settled in the area in California was ruled by Spain until , when Mexico assumed jurisdiction. As a result, trade with the United States became more frequent.
The ocean waters off the coast of California were important for whaling and seal hunting, and a number of trading ships docked at nearby San Pedro to buy cattle hides and tallow. By the s, Los Angeles was the largest town in Southern California.
After a two-year period of hostilities with Mexico beginning in , the area came under U. The Treaty of Cahuenga, signed in , ended the war in California, followed by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in adding Los Angeles and the rest of California to American territory.
A subsequent gold strike in the mountains to the north of Los Angeles provided the town with a booming market for its beef, and many prospectors settled in the area after the Gold Rush. After the Civil War ended, there was a large immigration into the Los Angeles area. Several large Mexican ranches were divided into many small farms, and such places as Compton, Downey, Norwalk, San Fernando, Santa Monica and Pasadena sprang into existence. During its history, the size of the County has changed substantially.
Originally it was 4, square miles along the coast between Santa Barbara and San Diego, but grew to 34, square miles, sprawling east to the Colorado River. Today, with 4, square miles, it is slightly smaller than its original size. The County was divided up three times: Kern County received a large slice in ; San Bernardino County split off in ; and Orange County was established in On Feb.
The people of Los Angeles County on April 1, asserted their newly won right of self-government and elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their first governing body. A total of votes were cast in this election. In the Legislature dissolved the Court of Sessions and created a five-member Board of Supervisors. In the citizens of Los Angeles County approved a charter recommended by a board of freeholders which gave the County greater freedom to govern itself within the framework of state law.
Los Angeles had a reputation as one of the toughest towns in the West. Lawlessness reached a peak in , when, after a Chinese immigrant accidentally killed a white man, an angry mob stormed into the Chinatown district, murdering 16 people.
After that, civic leaders and concerned citizens began a successful campaign to bring law and order to the town. Los Angeles and its surrounding territories were built by immigrants. The village of Los Angeles was a fairly cosmopolitan place early on. During the late s and early 20th Century, foreign immigration to Los Angeles County was varied but continued to be steady.
Distinctive ethnic communities of Japanese, Chinese, Russians, and East European Jews had developed throughout the county by the s. When the Immigration Act of opened the door to new immigrants, it initiated dramatic changes in the area. According to the U. Census, by The census showed the area was home to 4. A survey taken by the Los Angeles Unified School District that year counted more than different languages represented among school-age children.
People of African descent were prominent in the first Spanish settlement of Los Angeles in Twenty-six of the 44 original settlers pobladores were black or mixed ancestry mulattos. Most came from Sinaloa, Mexico, where two-thirds of the residents were people of mixed African and Spanish heritage. The number of blacks was eclipsed by new immigrants in the early American years. Photo by Charles C. Although we cannot know specifically what they looked like, we do have a record of their names, origin, age, sex, and racial make-up see table below.
We matched their demographics with images of similar contemporary Mexicans. Here, there are 22 adults and 22 children. Two are white and two are black. Eleven are indigenous to Mexico. The rest are multiracial combinations of white, black and indigenous.
Half are of African descent. We cannot help but point out that many, living in Los Angeles today, look much like the founders of the city. The faces pictured above represent L. Some of the settlers later added more children. Villavicencio was Criollo - Spaniard born in Americas. A 12th settler, a Filipino, was meant to help found Los Angeles in She died in , having lived almost years. This prevented Catalina from acting as heir to Pico's estate.
Francisco and his family accompanied Rivera on his long journey to San Gabriel in and continued to serve in the military for several more years. Nieto came to California in the s as a soldier in the service of Spain. Sometime around , he was assigned as a soldier at the San Gabriel Mission, where served up until Manuel requested and received a land grant of about , acres in the vicinity of East Los Angeles.
By the time he died in , he was probably the wealthiest man in California. His four sons inherited his large landholdings, which included the ranchos of Los Alamitos and Los Coyotes. In , Governor Fages appointed Feliz as Comisionado of the Los Angeles Pueblo, giving him the powers of community arbitrator, presiding judge, and the head of labor relations. In effect, he was like a Mayor.
At a young age, Juan joined the Spanish military. He eventually retired to Los Angeles, where he was listed as a year-old Spanish white vaquero in the census. In , Juan was granted 74, acres of land south of Los Angeles.
Mariano de la Luz Verdugo. His father had been born in El Fuerte, Sinaloa, but wandered far from home as a Spanish soldier. Mariano retired to Los Angeles around and served as Alcalde of the Pueblo from until Francisco Salvador Lugo came to California as a soldier in He served at several California presidios, but was later assigned to stand guard at the Los Angeles Pueblo during its early years.
The Lugo family is one of the most famous first families of Los Angeles. Machado continued to serve as a soldier in different locations until he retired to the pueblo of Los Angeles in Much of present-day Marina del Rey and Culver City stand on this former rancho. Jose Sinova. By the time of the census, Jose and Gertrudis were raising a family of four children in the Los Angeles.
Although he was a blacksmith by trade, Jose Sinova became active in politics and served as Alcalde of Los Angeles from to Juan Francisco Reyes.
He was listed as a farmworker and became the original owner of the San Fernando Rancho, where he raised his cattle. He served as Alcalde of Los Angeles from to All Rights Reserved.
Bibliography Geiger, Maynard.
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