This is a
list of governors of California prior to admission as a US state in 1850. From 1769 to 1822, the area was a
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
province in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Upon Mexico's
independenceThe Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
from Spain in 1822 until the US annexation in 1848, it was a federal territory of
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. It was then briefly an
unorganized territoryAn unorganized territory is a region of land without a "normally" constituted system of government. This does not mean that the territory has no government at all or that it is unclaimed territory...
of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
until statehood was approved by Congress on September 9, 1850 . For governors of the state, see
List of Governors of California.
Spanish Military Lt. Governors of California Nueva, 1769-1777
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- 1769-1770: Gaspar de Portolà
Gaspar de Portolà i Rovira was a soldier, governor of Baja and Alta California , explorer and founder of San Diego and Monterey. He was born in Os de Balaguer, province of Lleida, in Catalonia, Spain, of Catalan nobility. Don Gaspar served as a soldier in the Spanish army in Italy and Portugal...
- 1770-1774: Pedro Fages
Pere Fages Beleta , nicknamed L'Ós , was a soldier, explorer, and the second Spanish military Governor of Las Californias Province of New Spain from 1770 to 1774, and the Governor of Las Californias from 1782 to 1791.-Life:...
- 1774-1777: Fernando Rivera y Moncada
Fernando Javier Rivera y Moncada was a soldier from New Spain who served in the Baja California peninsula and upper Las Californias, participating in several early overland explorations. Fernando Rivera y Moncada served as a Spanish Miilitary Governor from 1774-1777. -Biography:Rivera was born...
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Spanish Governors of Las CaliforniasThe Californias, or in — - was the name given by the Spanish to their northwestern territory of New Spain, comprising the present day states of Baja California and Baja California Sur on the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico; and the present day U.S. state of California in the United States of...
, 1777-1804
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- 1777-1782: Felipe de Neve
Felipe de Neve was a Spanish governor of Las Californias, an area that included present-day California , Baja California and Baja California Sur . His tenure as governor was from 1775 to 1782...
- 1782-1791: Pedro Fages
Pere Fages Beleta , nicknamed L'Ós , was a soldier, explorer, and the second Spanish military Governor of Las Californias Province of New Spain from 1770 to 1774, and the Governor of Las Californias from 1782 to 1791.-Life:...
- 1791-1792: José Antonio Roméu
José Antonio Roméu was governor of Las Californias from 1791 to 1792.In 1782, José Antonio Roméu led a retailatory mission after the Quechan Yuma Massacre of 1781.-See also:* New Spain* Las Californias* History of California to 1899...
- 1792-1794: José Joaquín de Arrillaga
José Joaquín de Arrillaga was interim governor of Las Californias from 1792 to 1794, governor of Las Californias from 1800 to 1804 and governor of Alta California from 1804 to 1814.-Death:...
(acting)
- 1794-1800: Diego de Borica
Diego de Borica was a Spanish explorer and the seventh Governor of Las Californias from 1794 to 1800, and is credited with defining Alta- and Baja-California's official borders.-Biography:...
- 1800: Pedro de Alberni (acting)
- 1800-1804: José Joaquín de Arrillaga
José Joaquín de Arrillaga was interim governor of Las Californias from 1792 to 1794, governor of Las Californias from 1800 to 1804 and governor of Alta California from 1804 to 1814.-Death:...
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Spanish Governors of Alta CaliforniaAlta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
, 1804-1822
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- 1804-1814: José Joaquín de Arrillaga
José Joaquín de Arrillaga was interim governor of Las Californias from 1792 to 1794, governor of Las Californias from 1800 to 1804 and governor of Alta California from 1804 to 1814.-Death:...
- 1814-1815: José Darío Argüello
José Darío Argüello was a Spanish soldier and California pioneer, and twice governor of California.-Biography:José Darío Argüello was born in Santiago de Querétaro, New Spain ....
(acting)
- 1815-1822: Pablo Vicente de Solá
Pablo Vicente de Solá , the last Spanish governor of Alta California from 1815-1822....
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Mexican Governors of Alta CaliforniaAlta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
, 1822-1847
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- 1822-1825: Luis Antonio Argüello
Luis Antonio Argüello was the first native governor of Alta California from 1822 to 1825, during the period California was under Mexican rule, twelfth overall. He was the only governor to serve under the Mexican empire, and the first native Californian to hold that office...
(born in San Francisco, he was the first native-born Californian to govern Alta California)
- 1825-1831: José María de Echeandía
- 1831-1832: Manuel Victoria
Manuel Victoria was Governor of the Mexican territory of Alta California from January 1831 to 6 December 1831.The revolt leading to his twelve month abbreviated tenure and subsequent exile were due to his nullifying the order of his predecessor, José María de Echeandía, to secularize the missions...
- 1832: Pío Pico
Pío de Jesús Pico was the last Governor of Alta California under Mexican rule.-Origins:...
- 1832-1833: Agustín V. Zamorano (north) and José María de Echeandía (south)
- 1833-1835: José Figueroa
General José Figueroa , was a General and the Mexican territorial Governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835.Figueroa oversaw the initial secularization of the missions of upper California, which included the expulsion of the Spanish Franciscan mission officials.This also involved the issuing of...
- 1835: José Castro (acting)
- 1836: Nicolás Gutiérrez
Lieutenant Colonel Nicolás Gutiérrez was a twice acting governor of Alta California in 1836 from January to May and July to November.Gutierrez served two abbreviated terms in less than a year as acting governor of Alta California in 1836...
(acting)
- 1836: Mariano Chico
Colonel Mariano Chico served one of the briefest terms as Alta California governor from April 1836 to July 1836. He was both preceded and succeeded by the equally unpopular Lieutenant Colonel Nicolas Gutierrez, who joined him in exile in Mexico on November 5, 1836, by a northern...
- 1836: Nicolás Gutiérrez
Lieutenant Colonel Nicolás Gutiérrez was a twice acting governor of Alta California in 1836 from January to May and July to November.Gutierrez served two abbreviated terms in less than a year as acting governor of Alta California in 1836...
(acting)
- 1836-1837: Juan Bautista Alvarado
Juan Bautista Valentín Alvarado y Vallejo was a Californio and twice Governor of Alta California from 1836 to 1837, and 1838 to 1842.-Early years:...
- 1837-1838: Carlos Antonio Carrillo
Carlos Antonio Carrillo , Governor of Alta California from 1837 to 1838. He took his oath as governon in Pueblo de Los Angeles, present day Los Angeles, on December 6, 1836. aCarlos Antonio Carrillo was the son of a prominent California family...
- 1838-1842: Juan Bautista Alvarado
Juan Bautista Valentín Alvarado y Vallejo was a Californio and twice Governor of Alta California from 1836 to 1837, and 1838 to 1842.-Early years:...
- 1842-1845: Manuel Micheltorena
Manuel Micheltorena was a Brigadier General of the Mexican Army, Adjutant-General of the same, Governor, Commandant-General and Inspector of the Department of the California...
- 1845-1846: Pío Pico
Pío de Jesús Pico was the last Governor of Alta California under Mexican rule.-Origins:...
- 1846-1847: José Mariá Flores
General José María Flores was an officer in the Mexican Army and was a member of la otra banda. He was appointed Governor and Comandante General pro tem of Alta California from 1846 to 1847.-Mexican-America War:...
(in opposition to the United States in Los Angeles)
- 1847: Andrés Pico
Andrés Pico was a Californio who became a successful rancher, served as a military commander during the Mexican-American War; and was elected to the state assembly and senate after California became a state, when he was also commissioned as a brigadier general in the state militia.-Early...
(in opposition to the United States in Los Angeles)
- 1848: Pío Pico
Pío de Jesús Pico was the last Governor of Alta California under Mexican rule.-Origins:...
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(see also
Governor of Baja CaliforniaThe 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" , and the position is democratically elected for a period of 6 years, and is...
and
Governor of Baja California SurList of governors of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur-External links:*...
for the Mexican States of
Baja CaliforniaBaja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
and
Baja California SurBaja California Sur , is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state on October 8, 1974, the area was known as the South Territory of Baja California. It has an area of , or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico and comprises...
)
President of the California RepublicThe California Republic, also called the Bear Flag Republic, is the name used for a period of revolt against Mexico initially proclaimed by a handful of American settlers in Mexican California on June 14, 1846, in Sonoma. This was shortly before news of the Mexican–American War had reached the area...
, June-July 1846
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- 1846: William B. Ide
William Brown Ide was a California pioneer and Commander of the short-lived California Republic.-Life:...
(in Sonoma) |
American Military Governors of California, 1846-1849
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- 1846: John Drake Sloat
- 1846-1847: Robert Field Stockton
- 1847: John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
- 1847: Stephen W. Kearny
Stephen Watts Kearny surname also appears as Kearney in some historic sources; August 30, 1794 October 31, 1848), was one of the foremost antebellum frontier officers of the United States Army. He is remembered for his significant contributions in the Mexican-American War, especially the conquest...
- 1847-1849: Richard Barnes Mason
Richard Barnes Mason was a career general officer in the United States Army and the fifth military governor of California before it became a U.S. state.-Early life:...
(acting)
- 1849: Persifor Frazer Smith
- 1849: Bennett C. Riley
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See also
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