Pio Pico

Pio de Jesus Pico (1801-1894), the last Mexican governor of Alta California, the region above what is now Mexico , was born in the San Gabriel Mission, the son of a soldier, Jose Maria Pico. His father had come from Mexico with the famous Anza expedition of 1801. The fourth of ten children, Pico's heritage was a mix of African, Native American, Hispanic and European roots. A revolutionary in his youth, he became governor in 1845 following a revolt that ended with a bloodless artillery duel near Cahuenga Pass that forced out Governor Manuel Micheltorena. The historic site, Campo de Cahuenga, opposite Universal Studios, marks the spot today.

During his brief tenure as the last Mexican governor, Pico completed the secularization of the missions. He was also accused of recklessly redistributing mission property to friends and allies as the American takeover of California neared.

Pico greatly feared the growing American migration to California . "They are cultivating farms, establishing vineyards, erecting mills, sawing up lumber, building workshops, and doing a thousand other things which seem natural to them, but which Californians neglect or despise," he said in a speech. Pico favored annexation with France or England , believing that the European powers would be more tolerant of the slower Californio way of life.

In 1846, with American troops occupying Los Angeles (which Pico had had made the state capital) and San Diego , Pico bowed to the inevitable and escaped to Mexico . Two years later, with California a territory of the United States , he returned home as a private citizen, businessman and early member of the Los Angeles City Council.

Over the years, gambling losses took a heavy toll on Pico’s fortune. He eventually sold his last major holding, a ranch in the San Fernando Valley , and built Pico House, a deluxe downtown hotel that was the largest of its day. He eventually lost the hotel, too. Living off the charity of friends, he died in poverty in Los Angeles at the home of his daughter, Joaquina Pico Moreno, and was buried in a pauper’s grave.

(Pico House, located on the Plaza across from Olvera Street , has been restored and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Pico Boulevard , a major L.A. thoroughfare, bears the governor’s name.) The Pio Pico home he called El Ranchito still stands in Whittier .

-- Contributed by Albert Greenstein, 1999

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