José Figueroa
José María Figueroa | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| 6th Governor of Alta California | |
| In office 14 January 1833 – 29 September 1835 | |
| Preceded by | José María de Echeandía |
| Succeeded by | José Castro |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1792 |
| Died | 29 September 1835 (aged 42–43) |
| Occupation |
|
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Mexican Insurgency Army of the Three Guarantees Mexico |
| Branch/service | Mexican Army |
Years of service | 1811–1835 |
| Rank |  Brigadier General |
| Battles/wars | |
José María Figueroa (Spanish pronunciation: [/xoˈze ˈmaɾiə fiˈɣeɾa/] ⓘ;1792 – 29 September 1835) was a Mexican politician and military officer. A veteran of the Mexican War of Independence, he played a key role in formalizing the alliance between Vicente Guerrero and Agustín de Iturbide which ended the war and secured Mexican independence. In the decade after he held senior commands in northern Mexico, notably as comandante general of the Estado de Occidente, before being appointented governor of Alta California where he served from 1833 until his death in 1835.[1]
During his tenure, Figueroa unified a politically divided provincional government, oversaw the initial implementation of mission secularization in a manner relatively protective of indigenous interests, issued dozens of land grants, and authored the Manifiesto a la República Mexicana (1835), the first book-length work printed in California.
Early life and Mexican War of Independence
Born in 1792 in Jonacatepec in the modern day state of Morelos, Mexico, Figueroa was of short stature and dark complexion. He came from a family of predominantly indigenous ancestry and openly expressed pride in his heritage.[2][3]In 1811, amidst the Mexican War of Independence, he joined the insurgent forces of Jose Maria Morelos. Serving directly under Morelos' second-in-command; Mariano Matamoros he participated in key insurgent victories such as the Capture of Oaxaca and the Battle of La Chincúa.[2] by 1815 with the executions of Matamoros and Morelos, Vicente Guerrero emerged as the most important leader of the insurgency. From 1815 to 1821, when most of the fighting for independence was reduce to guerrilla warfare in the tierra caliente of southern Mexico, he served as the treasurer of the insurgents forces while remaining an active combatant engaging royalist forces in the Battle of El Tamo for which he earned high praise from Guerrero and his fellow insurgents.[2]
His most pivotal contribution came at the end of the war. In early 1821, when royalist commander Agustin de Iturbide, tasked with suppressing the southern insurgency began conspiring with Guerrero's forces to achieve independence from Spain.
Not having been able to inspire the necessary confidence in that caudillo to answer with me, we managed to get the individual who deserves all his trust, namely Don José Figueroa, to come.[4]
— Letter from Iturbide to Viceroy Juan Ruiz de Apodaca
As Guerrero's emissary, Figueroa served as an intermediary between both commanders arranging their famed meeting in Acatempan and directly facilitating the proclamation of the Plan of Ayala by which the opposition faction under the newly formed Army of the Three Guarantees ended the long standing stalemate of the war. Figueroa, now holding the rank of brigadier general was amongst those that march into Mexico City alongside Guerrero and Iturbide, ultimately achieving Mexico's independence.[2]
Career in Mexico
Upon Mexico's independence and after the fall of the short-lived Mexican Empire, Figueroa served as constituent of the newly form congress of the State of Mexico. During this time he presented and ambitious colonization scheme known as the Commissioned on the Development of the Californias, although his plans never came to fruition.[2] in 1824, while engaged in his congressional duties, newly elected president Guadalupe Victoria appointed him Comandant General Inspector of the Estado de Occidente.
His duty included, suppressing rebellions, building new presidios and developing routes to Alta California. By 1826, Yaqui, Mayo and Opata natives under Juan Banderas rebelled against the government of Occidente. Figueroa engaged and soundly defeated Banderas in a two day battle in Pitic.[2] After this defeat and faced with reinforcement from neighboring states and a increasing number of Pima joining the Mexican forces, rebels began to bid for peace and in spite of local opposition, Figueroa was willing to make concessions.
His peaceful policies were successful as on April 13, 1827 Banderas and two hundred of his men surrendered their weapons vowing to respect the government's authority. Figueroa addresses his men by telling them to "treat our unfortunate compatriots with love and consideration.... let us treat the Yaquis and the Mayans as our beloved president has ordered: like friends in peacetime and enemies in war."[2] Banderas was granted pardon, recognized as a captain-general of the Yaqui, and was given a salary[5]
Alta California governorship
Figueroa was appointed governor of Alta California in 1832, and arrived for duty in January 1833.[3] Due to political turbulence, Alta California had two rival acting governors at that time. Agustín V. Zamorano held office in Monterey in the north, while José María de Echeandía ruled Southern California from Los Angeles and San Diego. Both men deferred to Figueroa, and the government of Alta California was united.[3]
Figueroa oversaw the initial secularization of the missions of Alta (upper) California, which included the expulsion of the Spanish Franciscan mission officials. His government issued many Mexican land grants for former mission lands, although these had originally been intended to be held in trust for Mission Indians. He also had to deal with the Híjar-Padrés Colony in Los Angeles, which briefly rebelled against his rule.
Many of the communities that had developed around the twenty-one missions became secular pueblos (towns). Most of the towns kept their previous mission names. In the case of Mission Santa Cruz, Figueroa considered changing the town name to Villa Figueroa, but the change was never put into effect.[6]
Híjar-Padrés colony
In 1833, the Mexican Congress passed legislation to secularize the California missions. Acting Mexican president Valentín Gómez Farías, a liberal reformer, appointed José María de Híjar and D. José María Padrés to lead a group of 239 colonists to establish secular control of Alta California. Híjar, a wealthy landowner, was appointed governor to replace Figueroa, and Padrés, an army officer, was appointed military commander. The colonists were farmers and artisans, and were volunteers carefully selected by Farías. His objective was to modernize and strengthen Mexican rule over California, as a bulwark against the growing influence of Russia and the United States.[7]
While the colonists were traveling north to Alta California on two ships, president Antonio López de Santa Anna took full power, and revoked Híjar's appointment as governor, thereby allowing Figueroa to continue in that post. A horseman traveled for 40 days from Mexico City to Monterey to bring the news to Figueroa.[3] The Morelos arrived in San Diego on 1 September 1833, and La Natalie in Monterey on 25 September. As the horseback courier had preceded them, Híjar learned to his consternation that he had no official powers.[3] Figueroa objected to the colonization plan since he believed that at least half of the mission lands should be turned over to California natives, as had been the Crown's stated intention. The Franciscan missionaries had been charged with administering the missions in trust for the original inhabitants of the region. On 4 August 1834, Figueroa issued a 180-page proclamation setting out a plan for secularization of the missions, which was far more favorable to the native peoples than was the Híjar-Padrés plan.[7]
On 7 March 1835, a small group of the Híjar-Padrés colonists launched a brief rebellion against Figueroa in Los Angeles. Although the rebels took control of the town hall, the revolt promptly collapsed. Its leaders were arrested.[3]
When word of the failed coup reached Figueroa, he had Híjar and Padrés arrested.[3] Híjar and his closest associates were ousted from California, although many of the colonists stayed and became productive citizens there.[7]
Figueroa's manifesto
In 1835, Figueroa published in Monterey, California his manifesto defending his administration and explaining his opposition to the Híjar-Padrés colonization plan. This was the first book published in California.[8]
Illness, death and burial
Francisco García Diego y Moreno, who later became California's first bishop, reported that Figueroa was "greatly agitated on account of the disturbances that the colonists caused",[9] and set out on a strenuous voyage in 1835 to calm the political turmoil. He sailed from Monterey to San Francisco, and with very little rest, on to San Diego and then he returned to Monterey in June, 1835, and was "already ailing".[9] Although he was initially able to continue his work, he felt weak and did not recover. He participated in the session of the territorial assembly that convened on 25 August, but informed that body on 27 August that he needed to take a leave of absence for health reasons, appointing José Castro as interim governor.[9]
Beginning 6 September, he was confined to his bed and on 22 September, he resigned, appointing José Castro as his successor. On 27 September, he wrote his last will, asking that his body be preserved and buried at Mission Santa Barbara.[9]
Figueroa died in Monterey on the afternoon of 29 September 1835.[9] As he had requested, his body was preserved, and sent to Santa Barbara by ship where it arrived on 27 October.[9] He was buried in a crypt beneath Mission Santa Barbara.[10]
Rumors circulated after his death that he had been poisoned. The following year, Diego reported to the Mexican government that Figueroa had shown symptoms of apoplexy in his final months, and that blood clots had been discovered in his brain when his body was preserved after his death.[9]
There were also persistent rumors that his body was not buried in Santa Barbara. In 1912, his casket was opened, and the body was consistent in that it was in a Mexican military uniform. The size of the skeleton matched Figueroa's small stature, no more than five feet, two inches tall.[9]
Legacy
Early 20th-century historian J. M. Guinn wrote that "He [Figueroa] is generally regarded as the best of the Mexican governors sent to California".[3] Historian Kevin Starr wrote that Figueroa was "the most competent governor of California during the Mexican era".[7]
Landmarks named after General José Figueroa include:
- Altar, Sonora was named Altar de Villa de Figueroa in 1828 in recognition of his role as Commandante General del Estado de Ocidente[2]
- Figueroa Mountain, in the San Rafael Mountains, Los Padres National Forest, Santa Barbara County, California
- Figueroa Street and Figueroa Avenue, in Los Angeles, California
Figueroa rancho land grants
- Mexican land grants in Alta California issued by Governor José Figueroa:
References
- ↑ Weber, Francis J. (1991). Prominent Visitors to the California Missions, 1786–1842.
Jose Figueroa (1792–1835), an Aztecan mestigo, was a veteran of the Sonora frontier. He was Governor of California between 1833 and 1835
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hutchinson, C. Alan (1973). "General José Figueroa's Career in Mexico, 1792–1832". New Mexico Historical Review. XLVIII (4): 267–296.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Guinn, James Miller (1902). Historical and Biographical Record of Southern California (Containing a History of Southern California from Its Earliest Settlement to the Opening Year of the Twentieth Century). Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company. pp. 72–73.
- ↑ "Memoria Política de México".
- ↑ Spicer, Edward H. (1962). Cycles of Conquest. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. pp. 60–61.
- ↑ Rowland, Leon (1980). Santa Cruz, The Early Years: The collected historical writings of Leon Rowland. Santa Cruz, Calif: Paper Vision Press. p. 16.
- 1 2 3 4 Starr, Kevin (2005). California: A History. New York: Modern Library. pp. 47–49. ISBN 978-0-8129-7753-0.
- ↑ Johnson, David (1979). Scharf, Thomas L. (ed.). "Book Review: Manifesto to the Mexican Republic, which Brigadier General José Figueroa, Commandant and Political Chief of Upper California Presents on his Conduct and on that of José María de Híjar and José María Padrés as Directors of Colonization in 1834 and 1835". The Journal of San Diego History Center. 25 (1). SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
In this handsomely designed and intelligently conceived volume, C. Alan Hutchinson has made available an important document concerning California's Mexican period. Governor José Figueroa's Manifesto to the Mexican Republic was the first book length imprint published in California (1835).
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Engelhardt, Zephyrin (1913). The Missions and Missionaries of California. San Francisco: The James H. Barry Company. pp. 597–605.
jose figueroa california cause of death.
- ↑ Bush, Sara (1 April 2013). "Santa Barbara Mission crypt undergoes retrofitting". KEYT-TV. Santa Barbara, California. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
