Josefa Segovia

Josefa Segovia. . , Also known as Juanita or Josefa Loaiza, was a Mexican-American woman who was executed by hanging in Downieville, California, on July 5, 1851. She was found guilty of murdering a local miner, Frederick Cannon. She is known to be the first and only woman to be hanged in California., Not much is known about the early life of Josefa Segovia. The date of her birth is unknown. Josefa's actual name has been a topic of debate among historians and scholars. Before the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, most scholars stated that Josefa had no recorded last name. In Gordon Young's Days of 49, he says that her name was "Juanita". Hubert Bancroft, in his account of the events at Downieville, refers to Segovia as either "The Mexican" or "the little woman" but used "Juanita" during his description of her trial. Historian Rodolpho F. Acuna stated her name was Juana Loaiza citing an 1877 Schedule of Mexican Claims Against the United States that listed a Jose Maria Loiza as claiming damages for the lynching of his wife. However, the name does not show up in the 1850 census, which suggests that the claim may have been fraudulent. In 1976, Martha Cotera, an influential activist of both the Chicano Movement and Chicana Feminist Movement, informed Chicano scholars that her last name was Segovia., Dedicated on August 24, 2024 (CY6028) , By Major William Downie 1849 , Outpost Pio Pico 1801 , E Clampus Vitus ,