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Joseph Manuel María Joaquin Micheltorena y Llano (8 June 1804 – 7 September 1853) was a
brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...
of the Mexican Army, adjutant-general of the same, governor, commandant-general and inspector of the department of
Las Californias The Californias (Spanish: ''Las Californias''), occasionally known as The Three Californias or Two Californias, are a region of North America spanning the United States and Mexico, consisting of the U.S. state of California and the Mexica ...
, then within
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
. Micheltorena was the last non-Californian Mexican governor before Californian native son Pío Pico took office.


Personal life

Micheltorena was born in 1804 in Oaxaca de Juárez,
Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the Federative Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 570 municipaliti ...
, Mexico, into a prominent Basque family. His parents were Army Captain Joseph Eusebio Micheltorena (who in 1819 was included among a list of notable foreigners in Mexico), and Catarina Gertrudis Llano. He was baptized at five days old at Oaxaca Cathedral. His grandparents were Joseph de Micheltorena (Mitxeltorena) and María Encarnación de Herrera (paternal), and Joseph Augustín de Llano and María Romero (maternal).


Career

Micheltorena was appointed governor of California by Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna and served from 30 December 1842, until his ouster in 1845. In 1844, while he was governor, he granted Rafael Cacho the 8,701-acre land of Rancho San Geronimo. In 1846, Cacho sold the land to Joseph Warren Revere, who used it as a plantation wherein he enslaved Coast Miwok people of Marin County, California.San Geronimo Valley Historical Society
"A brief history of potato farming in the #sangeronimovalley
, May 1 2020.
Micheltorena continued previous governors' policy of large land grants ("ranchos"). He faced criticism, opposition, and eventually rebellion by the Californios who wanted local-born governors. Micheltorena brought with him from Mexico a group of soldiers that included criminals, and who were derisively referred to by some as '' cholos'', to enforce his policies. Micheltorena was defeated at the 1845
Battle of Providencia Battle of Providencia (also called the "Second Battle of Cahuenga Pass") took place in Cahuenga Pass in 1845 on Rancho Providencia in the San Fernando Valley, north of Los Angeles, California. Native ''Californios'' successfully challenged Me ...
, left California, and was succeeded by Pío Pico as governor.


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Micheltorena, Manuel 1804 births 1853 deaths People from Oaxaca City Mexican people of Basque descent Californios Governors of Mexican California Mexican generals Mexican people of the Bear Flag Revolt People of the Conquest of California 19th-century American politicians