AlferezAlférez is a junior officer rank also used in Spain, Argentina and Chile. The variant Alferes was formerly used in both Portugal and Brazil. A naval variant, Frigate Alférez, is used in Spain,Dominican Republic and Peru.Alférez is often translated as ensign...
José Joaquín de la Santísima Trinidad Moraga (usually known as
José Joaquín Moraga) was an early explorer to
Alta CaliforniaAlta California was formed when Spain separated the Dominican Missions from the Franciscan Missions in approximately 1769 with the founding of the first Alta California mission in San Diego...
, now known as
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
. Moraga is also known as the founder of El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, later known as
San JoséSan Jose or San José is the third-largest city in California and the tenth-largest in the United States. The county seat of Santa Clara County, it is located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region commonly referred to as Silicon Valley...
, California.
José Joaquín Moraga was born on August 22, 1745 in
Mission Los Santos Ángeles de GuevaviMission Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi was founded by Jesuit missionary Fathers Kino and Salvatierra in 1691 as La Misión de San Gabriel de Guevavi, a district headquarters in what is now Arizona, near Tumacácori. Subsequent missionaries called it San Rafael and San Miguel, resulting in the common...
, Arizona, in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. He is credited with building the
Presidio of San FranciscoThe Presidio of San Francisco is a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It has been a fortified location since 1776 when the Spanish made it the military center of their expansion in the area...
after the site was selected by
Juan Bautista de AnzaJuan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto was a Novo-Spanish explorer and Governor of New Mexico for the Spanish Empire.-Life:...
in 1776.
Moraga founded San José on orders from
Antonio María de Bucareli y UrsúaAntonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, marqués de Valleheroso y conde de Jerena was a Spanish military officer, governor of Cuba, and viceroy of New Spain .-Early career:Bucareli y Ursúa was born in Seville of a noble family...
, Spanish
Viceroy of New Spain.
AlferezAlférez is a junior officer rank also used in Spain, Argentina and Chile. The variant Alferes was formerly used in both Portugal and Brazil. A naval variant, Frigate Alférez, is used in Spain,Dominican Republic and Peru.Alférez is often translated as ensign...
José Joaquín de la Santísima Trinidad Moraga (usually known as
José Joaquín Moraga) was an early explorer to
Alta CaliforniaAlta California was formed when Spain separated the Dominican Missions from the Franciscan Missions in approximately 1769 with the founding of the first Alta California mission in San Diego...
, now known as
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
. Moraga is also known as the founder of El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, later known as
San JoséSan Jose or San José is the third-largest city in California and the tenth-largest in the United States. The county seat of Santa Clara County, it is located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region commonly referred to as Silicon Valley...
, California.
Life
José Joaquín Moraga was born on August 22, 1745 in
Mission Los Santos Ángeles de GuevaviMission Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi was founded by Jesuit missionary Fathers Kino and Salvatierra in 1691 as La Misión de San Gabriel de Guevavi, a district headquarters in what is now Arizona, near Tumacácori. Subsequent missionaries called it San Rafael and San Miguel, resulting in the common...
, Arizona, in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. He is credited with building the
Presidio of San FranciscoThe Presidio of San Francisco is a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It has been a fortified location since 1776 when the Spanish made it the military center of their expansion in the area...
after the site was selected by
Juan Bautista de AnzaJuan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto was a Novo-Spanish explorer and Governor of New Mexico for the Spanish Empire.-Life:...
in 1776.
Moraga founded San José on orders from
Antonio María de Bucareli y UrsúaAntonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, marqués de Valleheroso y conde de Jerena was a Spanish military officer, governor of Cuba, and viceroy of New Spain .-Early career:Bucareli y Ursúa was born in Seville of a noble family...
, Spanish
Viceroy of New Spain. The city was founded in honor of
Saint JosephSaint Joseph is known from the New Testament as the husband of Mary, mother of Jesus...
on November 29, 1777 as the first town in the Spanish colony of Nueva California, which later became
Alta CaliforniaAlta California was formed when Spain separated the Dominican Missions from the Franciscan Missions in approximately 1769 with the founding of the first Alta California mission in San Diego...
. The city served as a farming community to support the Presidio of San Francisco and the
Presidio of MontereyThe Presidio of Monterey, located in Monterey, California, is an active US Army installation. Currently it is the home of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center .-Spanish fort:...
.
Legacy
The town of Moraga,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
is named in honor of Joaquin Moraga, the grandson of José Joaquín Moraga.