Los Pobladores

Los Pobladores. The Founders of the City of Los Angeles. El Pueblo de la Reina de los Ángeles sobre el Río de la Porcíuncula was founded near this site on or about September 4, 1781, as the first Spanish civilian settlement in Southern California. Eleven families, including twenty-two adults and twenty-two children, were recruited from the Province of Sinaloa and Sonora in New Spain, now called Mexico, by Captain Fernando de Rivera y Moncada, emissary of the Governor of California Felipe de Neve. Their task was to provide food for the soldiers of the presidios and to help secure Spain’s hold on this region. They included farmers, artisans, and stock raisers necessary for the survival of the settlement. Escorted by soldiers they departed Los Alamos, Sonora, on February 2, 1781 and arrived in several groups during the summer of 1781. The following list of the forty-four pobladores was taken from the official Spanish census of 1781 which recorded their names, race, sex, and age. , CAMERO, Manuel – MULATO, HOMBRE, 30 . María Tomasa – MULATA, MUJER, 24, LARA, José Fernando – ESPAÑOL, HOMBRE, 50 . María Antonia – INDIA, MUJER, 23 . María Juana – NIÑA, 6 . José Julián – NIÑO, 4 . María Faustina – NIÑA, 2, MESA, Antonio – NEGRO, HOMBRE, 38 . María Ana – MULATA, MUJER, 27 . María Paula – NIÑA, 10 . Antonio María – NIÑO, 8, MORENO, José – MULATO, HOMBRE, 22 . María Guadalupe – MULATA, MUJER, 19, NAVARRO, José Antonio – MESTIZO, HOMBRE, 42 . Maria Regina – MULATA, MUJER, 47 . José Eduardo – NIÑO, 10 . José Clemente – NIÑO, 9 . Mariana – NIÑA, 4, RODRÍGUEZ, Pablo – INDIO, HOMBRE, 25 . María Rosalía – INDIA, MUJER, 26 . María Antonia – Niña, 1, QUINTERO, Luis – NEGRO, HOMBRE, 55 . María Petra, – MULATA, MUJER,40 . María Gertrudis – NIÑA, 16 . María Concepcíon, – GIRL, 9 . María Tomasa, – GIRL, 7 . María Rafaela, – GIRL, 6 . José Clemente, – BOY, 3, ROSAS, Basilio – INDIO, HOMBRE, 67 . María Manuela, – MULATA, MUJER, 43 . José Máximo, – NIÑO, 15 . José Carlos, – NIÑO, 12 . María Josefa, – NIÑA, 8 . Antonio Rosalino, – NIÑO, 7 . José Marcelino, – NIÑO, 4 . José Esteban, – NIÑO, 2, ROSAS, Alejandro – INDIO, HOMBRE, 19 . Juana María, – INDIA, MUJER, 20, VANEGAS, José – INDIO, HOMBRE, 28 . María Bonificia, – INDIA, MUJER, 20 . Cosme Damien, – NIÑO, 1, VILLAVICENCIO, Antonio Clemente – ESPAÑOL, HOMBRE, 30 . María Seferina, – INDIA, MUJER, 26 . María Antonia, – NIÑA, 8 , The pobladores ranged in age from one to sixty-seven, and reflected the cultural heritage and racial diversity that link this city’s past to the present. , (small plaque, lower left) , This plaque honoring the forty-four founders of the City of Los Angeles was proposed by Miriam Matthews, member of the Los Angeles 200 Committee, who chaired a special history task force which completed this project for the celebration of the city’s bicentennial. , (small plaque below, center) , Soldados de España. The 1781 escolta that accompanied the pobladores from Mission San Gabriel to the Pueblo de Los Angeles on 4 September, 1781. Jose Vicente Feliz, español, aged 40; Roque Jacinto Cota, español, aged 57; Antonio Cota, español, aged 49; Francisco Salvador Lugo, español, aged 41. , Dedicated on September 4, 1990 by Los Pobladores 200, Descendants of the pobladores and soldados. , (small plaque, lower right) , Donated to the City of Los Angeles on its 200th birthday by UFCW Local 770 United Food and Commercial Workers International Union . AFL . CIO . CLC