Did you know that… Of the forty-four pobladores or settlers of Los Angeles (or El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula) on September 4, 1781--twenty-six were of African descent.? The Spanish Governor Felipe de Neve recruited the new Angelenos from several states in Mexico including Sonora and Sinaloa where a majority of the residents were of mixed Indian, African and European ancestry. Indeed this was typical of not only these states but the entire northwestern region of Mexico. The settlers left their homeland with the promise of free land. Los Angeles was intended as an agricultural colony by the Crown which would supply the northern establishments. Descendants of these early settlers- the families of Camero, Mesas, Quintero, Reyes, Rosas and others - would go on to contribute much to the civic life of the fledgling city:
· Juan Francisco Reyes served as the first Black mayor of Los Angeles from 1793-1795. He was the original owner of the San Fernando Valley Rancho and the first grantee of the San Fernando Valley proper.
· Manuel Camero, of African descent and a native of Acaponeta, Nayarit, was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 1788.
· Tiburcio Tápia, grandson of Felipe Tápia (of African descent) served as mayor of Los Angeles from 1830-31 and later a judge in the years following 1833. In 1839 Governor Juan Alvarado granted the 13,000 acre Cucamonga tract to Tapía
· Maria Rita Valdez, granddaughter of Luis Quintero (one of original Black founders of Los Angeles in 1781) inherited the 4,500 acre rancho Rio Rodeo de las Aguas or El Rodeo de las Aguas upon the death of her husband (Spanish soldier Vicente Ferrer Valdez) in 1828. Due to repeated raids upon her herds of cattle, she sold the property in 1854. The adobe was built at what is today the northwest corner of Sunset Boulevard and Alpine Drive. Today this area is known as Beverly Hills.
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