José Darío Argüello

José Darío Argüello (1753–1828) was a Spanish soldier, California pioneer, founder of Los Angeles, twice a Spanish colonial governor—eleventh of Alta California and then of the Baja California Peninsula—and father of a later California governor under the Mexican military.

Biography

José Darío Argüello (1753-1828) was born in Santiago de Querétaro, New Spain (present day Mexico).

Argüello enlisted in the Mexico regiment of dragoons, serving as a private, and later sergeant of the presidial company of Altar, Sonora. In 1781 he was promoted to alférez (sub-lieutenant) and commandant for what was to become the Presidio of Santa Barbara in Alta California.

Under orders from Governor Felipe de Neve, Argüello led the first ten Los Angeles Pobladores families and their livestock overland to settle. Military commander Fernando Rivera y Moncada led the guard, until killed during a civil resistance uprising by Quechan Indians near Yuma Crossing.

Argüello and the settlers continued onward to Mission San Gabriel in today's San Gabriel Valley. They founded the Pueblo de Los Angeles beside the Los Angeles River on September 4, 1781. This became present day Los Angeles, California.