José Antonio Castro (1808 – February 1860) was a

Californio Californios (singular Californio) are Californians of Spaniards, Spanish descent, especially those descended from settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries before California was annexed by the United States. California's Spanish language in C ...

politician, statesman, and general who served as interim Governor of Alta California and later

Governor of Baja California The governor of Baja California represents the executive branch of the government of the state of Baja California, Mexico, per the state's constitution. The official title is "Free and Sovereign State of Baja California" (''Estado Libre y Soberan ...

. During the

Bear Flag Revolt The California Republic, or Bear Flag Republic, was an List of historical unrecognized states#Americas, unrecognized breakaway state from Second Federal Republic of Mexico, Mexico, that existed from June 14, 1846 to July 9, 1846. It milita ...

and the American

Conquest of California The Conquest of California, also known as the Conquest of Alta California or the California Campaign, was a military campaign during the Mexican–American War carried out by the United States in Alta California (modern-day California), then part ...

, Castro led Mexican forces as the Commandante General of

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

Biography

José Castro was a ''

'', born in

Monterey, California Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a popu ...

, when it was under

Spanish colonial The Spanish Colonial Revival architecture (), often known simply as Spanish Revival, is a term used to encompass a number of revivalist architectural styles based in both Spanish colonial architecture and Spanish architecture in general. These ...

rule. His father José Tiburcio Castro was a soldier, member of the ''Diputación'' (territorial legislature), mayordomo (administrator) of

Mission San Juan Bautista Mission San Juan Bautista is a Spanish mission in San Juan Bautista, San Benito County, California. Founded on June 24, 1797, by Fermín de Lasuén of the Franciscan order, the mission was the fifteenth of the Spanish missions established in ...

after it was secularized, and grantee of Rancho Sausal. As a young man, Castro was a vocal and active supporter of Californian self-rule and full independence from Mexico. His first public office was as secretary to the Monterey ''ayuntamiento'' (town council). In 1830, Castro was arrested for his opposition to the Mexican governor of

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

. By 1835 he was ''Vocal Primero'' (First Member) of the legislature and acting governor. Along with his brother-in-law

Juan Bautista Alvarado Juan Bautista Valentín Alvarado y Vallejo (February 14, 1809 – July 13, 1882) usually known as Juan Bautista Alvarado, was a Californio politician that served as governor of Alta California from 1837 to 1842. Prior to his term as governor, Al ...

, he was a vocal proponent of California-born governors and sought a semi-independent status for Alta California.

Rebellions against Gutiérrez and Micheltorena

A long period in which far-away Mexico City neglected California and sent up scandalous and incompetent governors culminated with six chief executives taking office in Monterey in 1836 alone. In November 1836, Castro helped lead the overthrow of newly appointed Mexican Governor

Nicolás Gutiérrez Lieutenant Colonel Nicolás Gutiérrez was twice acting governor of the northern part of ''Las Californias'' (what had previously been Alta California) in 1836, from January to May and July to November. Gutiérrez served two short terms as ...

. An end to the rebellion was negotiated, and Alvarado became the legitimate governor from 1837 to 1842. Castro served under Alvarado as Lieutenant-Colonel of militia. Once again, he was appointed First Member of the Diputación as well as Prefect of the District of Monterey. In 1839, Governor Alvarado granted him Rancho San Justo, which included the settlement surrounding Mission San Juan Bautista. The grant followed the

secularization In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

of the mission by the Mexican government in 1833, which privatized former mission lands. Castro built an adobe house on San Juan Bautista Plaza in 1841. He used the house as an administrative base for his military operations, and as a residence for his secretary. Back in 1840, Alvarado had arrested about one hundred Americans in California and transported them to San Blas, an action that sparked an international diplomatic incident known as the " Graham Affair". By 1844–45, Castro was a leader of the new revolt against Governor

Manuel Micheltorena Joseph Manuel María Joaquin Micheltorena y Llano (8 June 1804 – 7 September 1853) was a brigadier general and adjutant-general of the Mexican Army, List_of_governors_of_California_before_1850#Mexican_governors_of_California_(1837–47), gover ...

, once again becoming Commandante General under new governor Pio Pico.

Conquest of California

During the

of 1846 and the American

that followed, Castro was the commanding general of Alta California's forces during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

. When California joined the United States in August 1846, Castro left for Baja California, taking up residence in

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...

. Castro returned to Alta California in 1848.

Post-Conquest and later life

In February 1848, after the Mexican–American War ended, José Castro opened his adobe

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

in San Juan Bautista to an Irish settler, Patrick Breen. Breen and his family were surviving members of the

Donner Party The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California interim government, 1846-1850, California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent ...

. They arrived at San Juan Bautista nearly a year after surviving their arduous journey over the Sierra Nevada. The Breens were the first English-speaking Americans to live in the town. Castro allowed them to live at the house until one of Patrick Breen's teenage sons made a fortune as a gold miner and purchased the house from Castro in 1854. Castro left California for

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

in 1853 where he was appointed governor and military commander. Castro never surrendered his Mexican citizenship nor military rank. In February 1860, Castro was killed by Manuel Márquez, in an incident variously described as an assassination or a barroom brawl.

Legacy

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

's Castro Street, and the

Castro District The Castro District, commonly referred to as the Castro, is a neighborhood in Eureka Valley in San Francisco. The Castro was one of the first gay neighborhoods in the United States. Having transformed from a working-class neighborhood throug ...

are named after him. The José Castro House in San Juan Bautista is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

. The town of San Juan Bautista was briefly known as San Juan de Castro in the 1830s, owing to the prominence of Castro's family in that town.

References

''This article incorporates content in the public domain from the U.S
National Park Service
an

''

External links

Bancroft, Hubert Howe, History of California Vol. 4 (1840-1845), A. L. Bancroft & Company, San Francisco, 1886. p.751 Pioneer Register and Index: Castro (Jos‚)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro, Jose Governors of Alta California Governors of Baja California Mexican generals Mexican military personnel of the Mexican–American War People of Alta California Ranchers from California 1808 births 1860 deaths People of the Conquest of California Mexican people of the Mexican–American War Castro District, San Francisco History of Baja California 19th-century American politicians People from Monterey, California People from San Juan Bautista, California San Juan Bautista, California