Settler of Alta California
In this
Spanish name
, the first or paternal
surname
is
Feliz
and the second or maternal family name is
Esquer
.
Jose Vicente Tomas Feliz y Esquer
(
c.
1741 ? 1822) was a Spanish soldier and settler who was a member of the 1775?76
Anza
expedition that brought the first settlers to California. In 1781, he was one of four soldiers which guarded the settlers which founded the settlement of
El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles
(the Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels), which would become
Los Angeles
. He took on a leadership role in the founding and governance of that pueblo, in essence becoming the city's first mayor, and was rewarded for his efforts with a Spanish
land grant
in the hills above Los Angeles, in the area of what today still bears his name:
Los Feliz
.
Early life and immigration to California
[
edit
]
Feliz was born Alamos, Sonora, Mexico in approximately 1741.
[1]
In 1775 he joined the expedition of
Juan Bautista de Anza
, to bring colonists from Mexico into California. Along with his pregnant wife, Maria Ygnacia Manuela Pinuelas, and their eight children, Feliz began the trek in October 1775, departing from
Tubac, Arizona
. Tragedy befell the Feliz' along the way, when Maria went into labor as the group was on the outskirts of what is today
Tucson, Arizona
. While the delivery was successful, Maria died during childbirth, and was buried at the
Mission San Xavier del Bac
.
[2]
Padre Pedro Font
, in his diary, described the event: "We set out from Tubac at eleven in the morning, and, at half-past three in the afternoon, halted at the place called La Canoa, having traveled some five leagues to the north-northeast. This night the wife of a soldier was delivered; she died in childbed, and the next day was taken to the mission of San Xavier de Bac for burial."
[3]
The group continued on to arriving at the
Mission San Gabriel Arcangel
arriving there in January, 1776.
By 1781, Feliz was still stationed at the San Gabriel mission when a group of 44 settlers arrived, on their way to found a new city further south, what would become known as Los Angeles. Some of the settlers had contracted
smallpox
, and so were
quarantined
for a short time, during which another group of settlers arrived. Feliz was selected as one of four soldiers to accompany the now total of 44 settlers, the
pobladores
to their new pueblo.
[4]
[5]
On September 4, 1781, Feliz led the
pobladores
the eight miles from San Gabriel to the town site on the bank of the
Rio Porciuncula
, where they founded the city of Los Angeles on a site chosen by
Felipe de Neve
, governor of California.
[2]
The name first given to the settlement is debated. Historian Doyce B. Nunis has said that the Spanish named it "El Pueblo de la Reyna de los Angeles" ("The Town of the Queen of the Angels"). For proof, he pointed to a map dated 1785, where that phrase was used. Frank Weber, the
diocesan
archivist, replied, however, that the name given by the founders was "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles de
Porciuncula
", or "the town of
Our Lady of the Angels
of Porciuncula." and that the map was in error.
[5]
Feliz was appointed the settlement's first
comisionado
, literally the first mayor.
[6]
Rancho Los Feliz
[
edit
]
Some time between 1796 and 1802, Feliz was awarded a land grant to the east of the Pueblo de Los Angeles. One of the first land grants in California, it consisted of 6,647 acres (26.90 km
2
).
[1]
[7]
Bounded on the east by the Los Angeles River, the land, known as
El Rancho de Nuestra Senora de Refugio de Los Feliz
(Ranch of Our Lady of Refuge of the Feliz Family) Felipe de Goycoechea reported five ranchos in private possession in 1795, none of them the Feliz rancho. An 1802 letter from Goycoechea, on the other hand, assumed Borica or some other governor granted Vicente the rancho. The grant comprised what is today
Los Feliz
,
Griffith Park
,
East Hollywood
, and
Silver Lake
.
[8]
[9]
The rancho remained in the Feliz family until 1863.
[10]
The area's boundaries were the Los Angeles River to the north and east, and the Santa Monica Mountains to the west.
[11]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Schmal, John P. (April 17, 2004).
"The Mayors of Los Angeles"
. LatinoLA. Archived from
the original
on March 9, 2016
. Retrieved
March 8,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
"Rancho Los Feliz: An Anza Expedition Legacy"
(PDF)
. National Park Service. September 1997
. Retrieved
March 8,
2016
.
- ^
"Expanded Diary of Pedro Font"
. Center for Advanced Technology in Education, University of Oregon. October 23, 1775
. Retrieved
March 8,
2016
.
- ^
Kelsey, Harry. 1976. "A New Look at the Founding of Los Angeles."
Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly
. 55:4, Winter. pp. 326?339.
- ^
a
b
Bob Pool, "City of Angels' First Name Still Bedevils Historians."
Los Angeles Times
(March 26, 2005).
- ^
"Los Angeles Department of City Planning, Recommendation Report"
(PDF)
. City of Los Angeles. August 21, 2008
. Retrieved
March 9,
2016
.
- ^
Felchlin, Marva (May 29, 2012).
"It's in the Cards!"
. Autry Museum of the American West
. Retrieved
March 8,
2015
.
- ^
"Feature Detail Report for: Los Felis"
. U.S. Geological Survey, Geographic Names Information System
. Retrieved
March 8,
2016
.
- ^
Gerber, Marisa (May 7, 2013).
"
'Los Feliz': How you say it tells about you and L.A."
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
March 8,
2016
.
- ^
"Curse of the Felizes"
. Griffith Park History Project
. Retrieved
March 8,
2016
.
- ^
Masters, Nathan (August 22, 2012).
"How L.A. Got One of the Country's Largest Urban Parks"
. KCETLink
. Retrieved
March 9,
2015
.