Editing Juan Bautista de Anza

{{short description|18th-century Basque explorer and governor within the Spanish Empire}}
{{family name hatnote|Anza|Bezerra Nieto|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Juan Bautista de Anza
|image = Portrait of Juan Bautista de Anza (Painted by Fray Orci; 1774, Mexico City).jpg
|caption = Portrait by Fray Orcí, 1774
|order = 55th [[List of Spanish governors of New Mexico|Governor of Province of New Mexico]]
|office =
|term_start = 1778
|term_end = 1788
|lieutenant =
|predecessor = [[Francisco Trevre]]
|successor = [[Fernando de la Concha]]
|birth_name = Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto
|birth_date = July 6 or 7, 1736
|birth_place = [[Fronteras]], [[New Navarre]], [[New Spain]]<br/>{{small|(now [[Sonora]], Mexico)}}
|death_date = {{death-date and age|December 19, 1788|July 6, 1736}}
|death_place = [[Arizpe]], New Navarre, New Spain
|party =
|spouse =
|profession = Explorer and Governor of New Mexico
|religion = 
| signature = Anza Signature.jpg
}}

'''Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto''' (July 6 or 7, 1736<ref>{{cite book |last=Garate |first=Donald T. |date=2003 |title=Juan Bautista de Anza: Basque Explorer in the New World, 1693–1740 |url=https://archive.org/details/juanbautistadean00gara |url-access=limited |location=Reno, Nevada |publisher=University of Nevada Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/juanbautistadean00gara/page/n179 155] |isbn=0-87417-626-3}}</ref> – December 19, 1788) was a Novohispanic/Mexican expeditionary leader, military officer, and politician primarily in [[Alta California|California]] and [[Santa Fe de Nuevo México|New Mexico]] under the [[Spanish Empire]]. He is credited as one of the founding fathers of [[Spanish California]] and served as an official within New Spain as [[List of Spanish governors of New Mexico|Governor of the province of New Mexico]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Douglass|first1=William A.|last2=Douglass|first2=Bilbao, J.|orig-year=1975|year=2005|title=Amerikanuak: Basques in the New World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8KzfK1QwxDIC|location=Reno, NV|publisher=University of Nevada Press|isbn=0-87417-625-5|access-date=16 February 2014|page=190}}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Early life==
[[File:Lake Merced 71 (8375417014).jpg|thumb|left|[[Equestrian statue]] of Anza at [[Lake Merced]], [[San Francisco]], [[California]]]]
Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto was born in [[Fronteras]], [[New Navarre]], [[New Spain]] (today [[Sonora]], [[Mexico]]) in 1736 (near [[Arizpe]]), most probably at Cuquiarachi, Sonora,<ref>{{cite book |last=Kessell |first=John L. |date=2013 |title=Miera y Pacheco: A Renaissance Spaniard in Eighteenth-Century New Mexico |location=Norman, Oklahoma |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |page=155 |isbn=978-0-8061-4377-4}}</ref> but possibly at the Presidio of Fronteras.

His family was a part of the military leadership in [[New Spain|New Spain (''Nueva España'')]], as his father and maternal grandfather, Captain Antonio Bezerra Nieto, had both served Spain, their families living on the frontier of Nueva Navarra. He was the son of [[Juan Bautista de Anza&nbsp;I]]. It is traditionally thought that he may have been educated at the College of San Ildefonso in [[Mexico City]], and later at the military academy there.<ref>{{cite book |last=Garate |first=Donald T. |date=2003 |title=Juan Bautista de Anza: Basque Explorer in the New World, 1693–1740 |url=https://archive.org/details/juanbautistadean00gara |url-access=limited |page=[https://archive.org/details/juanbautistadean00gara/page/n253 229]|publisher=University of Nevada Press |isbn=9780874175059 }}</ref> In 1752 he enlisted in the army at the Presidio of Fronteras. He advanced rapidly and had become a [[Captain (OF-2)|captain]] by 1760. He married in 1761. His wife was Ana María Pérez Serrano (b. January 1744/45, d. date unknown), the daughter of Spanish mine owner Francisco Pérez Serrano. They had no children. His military duties mainly consisted of hostile forays against [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], such as the [[Apache]], during the course of which he explored much of what is now [[Arizona]].

==California expeditions==
{{more citations needed|section|date=March 2019}}
[[File:Juba deanza 02.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Juan Bautista de Anza, from a portrait in oil by Fray Orsi in 1774]]
[[File:Juba map.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Map of the route that Juan Bautista de Anza traveled in 1775–76 from Mexico to today's San Francisco]]
The Spanish began colonizing [[Alta California]] with the [[Portolá expedition]] of 1769–1770. The two-pronged Portolá effort involved both a long sea voyage against prevailing winds and the [[California Current]], and a difficult land route from Baja California. Colonies were established at [[San Diego, California|San Diego]] and [[Monterey, California|Monterey]], with a [[presidio]] and Franciscan [[Spanish missions of California|mission]] at each location. A more direct land route and further colonization were desired, especially at present-day [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]], which Portolá saw but was not able to colonize. By the time of Juan Bautista de Anza's expedition, three more missions had been established, including [[Mission San Antonio de Padua]] in the [[Salinas Valley]].

In 1772, Anza<ref>[http://anza.uoregon.edu/people/name.html Web de Anza. The Basque surname was simply Anza, without "de"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160320051555/http://anza.uoregon.edu/people/name.html |date=2016-03-20 }}</ref> proposed an expedition to Alta California to the [[Viceroy]] of New Spain. This was approved by the [[Spanish monarchy|King of Spain]] and on January 8, 1774, with 3 padres, 20 soldiers, 11 servants, 35 mules, 65 cattle, and 140 horses, Anza set forth from [[Tubac Presidio]], south of present-day [[Tucson, Arizona]]. Anza heard of a California Native American called Sebastian Tarabal who had fled from [[Mission San Gabriel]] to Sonora, and took him as guide. The expedition took a southern route along the [[Altar River|Rio Altar]] ([[Sonora y Sinaloa]], New Spain), then paralleled the present-day Mexico–California border, crossing the [[Colorado River (U.S.)|Colorado River]] at its confluence with the [[Gila River]]. This was in the domain of the [[Quechan|Yuma]] tribe, with which he established good relations.

Anza reached [[Mission San Gabriel Arcángel]], near the California coast, on March 22, 1774, and [[Monterey, California]], Alta California's future capital (Alta California split from Las Californias 1804, creating Baja and Alta), on April 19. He returned to Tubac by late May 1774. This expedition was closely watched by [[Viceroy]] and King, and on October 2, 1774, Anza was promoted to the rank of [[lieutenant-colonel]], and ordered to lead a group of colonists to Alta California. The Spanish were desirous of reinforcing their presence in Alta California as a buffer against [[Russian colonization of the Americas]] advancing from the north, and possibly establish a harbor that would give shelter to Spanish ships. The expedition got under way on October 23, 1775, and arrived at [[Mission San Gabriel Arcángel]] in January 1776, the colonists having suffered greatly from the winter weather en route.

The expedition continued on to Monterey with the colonists. Having fulfilled his mission from the Viceroy, he continued north with the priest [[Pedro Font]] and a party of twelve others, following an inland route to the [[San Francisco Bay]] established in 1770 by [[Pedro Fages#Expeditions to San Francisco Bay|Pedro Fages]].{{cn|date=February 2024}} On the way, he led a raid on Apache settlements near [[Presidio San Ignacio de Tubac]], capturing forty Apaches. The soldiers divided the captives among them as slaves; Anza kept the fifteen female captives and their newborns as his share.<ref name="stockel">{{cite book |last1=Stockel |first1=Henrietta |title=Salvation Through Slavery: Chiricahua Apaches and Priests on the Spanish Colonial Frontier |date=15 September 2022 |publisher=University of New Mexico Press |isbn=978-0-8263-4327-7 |language=en}}</ref>

In Anza's diary on March 25, 1776, he states that he "arrived at the arroyo of [[Saint Joseph of Cupertino Parish|San Joseph Cupertino]] (now [[Stevens Creek (California)|Stevens Creek]]), which is useful only for travelers. Here we halted for the night, having come eight leagues in seven and a half hours. From this place we have seen at our right the estuary which runs from the port of San Francisco."<ref>de Anza, Juan Bautista (1776). ''Diary of Juan Bautista de Anza October 23, 1775 – June 1, 1776''. {{cite web |title=Anza 1776 Colonizing Diary |url=http://anza.uoregon.edu/anza76.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091125111001/http://anza.uoregon.edu/anza76.html |archive-date=2009-11-25 |access-date=2009-12-14}} Accessed September 8, 2009 [[University of Oregon]] [[Web de Anza]] pages</ref> Pressing on, Anza located the sites for the [[Presidio of San Francisco]] and [[Mission San Francisco de Asis]] in present-day [[San Francisco, California]] on March 28, 1776. He did not establish the settlement; it was established later by [[José Joaquín Moraga]]. While returning to Monterey, he located the original sites for [[Mission Santa Clara de Asis]] and the town of San José de Guadalupe (present-day [[San Jose, California]]), but again did not establish either settlement.<ref name="DeAnza-Moraga-Palou">{{cite web
 |author=Edward F. O'Day 
 |title=The Founding of San Francisco 
 |date=October 1926 
 |url=http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist6/founding.html 
 |access-date=February 7, 2013 
 |publisher=Spring Valley Water Authority 
 |work=San Francisco Water 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727190828/http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist6/founding.html 
 |archive-date=July 27, 2010 
}}</ref> Today this route is marked as the [[Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail]].

Despite DeAnza's successes, Spanish ambitions to establish a permanent overland route from Sonora to Alta California were thwarted in 1781, when a revolt of the [[Fort Romualdo Pacheco#Yuma Massacre|Yumas tribe]] closed the trail at the [[Yuma Crossing]] of the Colorado River. The route was not reopened until the late 1820s, and the only regular travel to Alta California during the intervening years was by sea.

==Governor of New Mexico==
[[File:'Portrait of Juan Bautista de Anza' by Ira Diamond Gerald Cassidy, El Paso Museum of Art.JPG|thumb|left|Portrait by [[Gerald Cassidy (artist)|Gerald Cassidy]]]]
On his return from this successful expedition in 1777 he journeyed to [[Mexico City]] with the chief of the lower [[Colorado River]] area [[Quechan]] (Yuma) [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribe who requested the establishment of a mission. On August 24, 1777, the [[List of viceroys of New Spain|Viceroy of New Spain]] appointed Anza as the [[Spanish governors of New Mexico|Governor]] of the [[Santa Fe de Nuevo México|Province of Nuevo México]], the present-day U.S. state of [[New Mexico]].

Governor Anza led a [[punitive expedition]] against the [[Comanche]] group of Native Americans, who had been repeatedly raiding [[Taos, New Mexico|Taos]] during 1779. With his  [[Ute Tribe|Ute]] and [[Apache]] Native American allies, and around 800 Spanish soldiers, Anza went north through the [[San Luis Valley]], entering the [[Great Plains]] at what is now [[Manitou Springs, Colorado]]. Circling "El Capitan" (current day Pikes Peak), he surprised a small force of the Comanche near present-day [[Colorado Springs, Colorado|Colorado Springs]]. Pursuing them south down [[Fountain Creek]], he crossed the [[Arkansas River]] near present-day [[Pueblo, Colorado]]. He found the main body of the Comanche on Greenhorn Creek, returning from a raid in Nuevo México, and won a decisive victory. Chief [[Cuerno Verde]], for whom Greenhorn Creek is named, and many other leaders of the Comanche were killed.<ref name="Thomas-1">Thomas, Alfred Barnaby (ed.) (1932) "Governor Anza's Expedition against the Comanche 1779" ''Forgotten Frontiers: A Study of the Spanish Indian Policy of Don Juan Bautista de Anza, Governor of New Mexico, 1777–1787'' University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, pp. 66–71 {{OCLC|68116825}}</ref>

In late 1779, Anza and his party found a route from [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]] to Sonora, west of the [[El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro]]. His various local military expeditions against tribes defending their homelands were often successful, but the Quechan (Yuma) Native American tribe which he had established peace with earlier rebelled, and he fell out of favor with the military commander of the Northern Frontier, the frontier-general. In 1783 Anza led a campaign against the [[Comanche]] on the [[Llano Estacado|eastern plains]] and by 1784 they were suing for peace. The last of the Comanche chiefs eventually acceded and a formal treaty was concluded on 28 February 1786 at [[Pecos Pueblo]].<ref>A full translation of the treaty is set out at Thomas, Alfred Barnaby (ed.) (1932) "The Spanish-Comanche Peace Treaty of 1786" ''Forgotten Frontiers: A Study of the Spanish Indian Policy of Don Juan Bautista de Anza, Governor of New Mexico, 1777–1787'' University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, pp. 329–332 {{OCLC|68116825}}</ref> This paved the way for traders and the development of the [[Comanchero]] trade.

Juan Bautista de Anza remained as governor of Nuevo Mexico (New Mexico) until 1787 when he returned to [[Sonora, Mexico|Sonora]]. He was appointed commander of the [[Spanish period of Arizona|Presidio of Tucson]] in 1788 but died before he could depart and take office. He was 52 years old.  Anza was survived by his wife.

Juan Bautista de Anza died in Arizpe, in what is now the State of Sonora, Mexico, and was buried in the ''Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Arizpe''. In 1963, with the participation of delegations from the [[University of California, Berkeley]] and [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]], he was disinterred and reburied in a new marble memorial mausoleum at the same Church.

==Legacy==
[[File:DeAnza-Statue.jpg|left|160px|thumb|Statue by [[Dorr Bothwell]] in [[Riverside, California]]]]
[[File:Iglesia de nuestra señora de la asunción, arizpe, sonora.jpg|thumb|right|Juan Bautista de Anza's burial site in Arizpe, Sonora]]
The primary legacy is the [[Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail]] in California and Arizona, administered by the US [[National Park Service]], for hiking and driving the route of his expedition exploring [[Las Californias]]<ref>[http://www.nps.gov/juba/ National Park Service: Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail]</ref> In the [[San Fernando Valley]] the trail crosses the [[Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve]], and in the [[San Gabriel Valley]] the trail is in the Puente Hills just north of [[Whittier, California]].<ref>[http://venturacountytrails.org/TrailMaps/AhmansonRanch/AreaHome.html Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space: de Anza Trail]</ref><ref>[http://www.habitatauthority.org/pdf/HabAuthV2.pdf Puente Hills Habitat Authority] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304063036/http://www.habitatauthority.org/pdf/HabAuthV2.pdf |date=2009-03-04 }}</ref>

Also named for Anza is [[Anza-Borrego Desert State Park]], located mostly in eastern [[San Diego County]], California. The park contains a long and difficult stretch of the Anza trail, traveling west from the [[Imperial Valley]] to the coastal mountain passes northeast of [[San Diego, California|San Diego]].<ref name="CRL2015A">{{cite web|url=http://www.californiaresortlife.com/imperialvalley/anzaborrego_desert.htm|title=Tour Anza Borrego Desert|work=CaliforniaResortLife|access-date=2015-12-15|archive-date=2015-12-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222155408/http://www.californiaresortlife.com/imperialvalley/anzaborrego_desert.htm|url-status=usurped}}</ref> The de Anza Country Club and its 18-hole championship [[Golf course]] is located within the village of [[Borrego Springs, California]], which is entirely surrounded by the park.

A building named the [[Juan de Anza House]] in [[San Juan Bautista, California]] is a [[National Historic Landmark]]. However, it was constructed c. 1830 with its connection unclear. The Juan Bautista de Anza Community Park is in [[Calabasas, California]], and De Anza Park and the De Anza Community and Teen Center are in [[Ontario, California|Ontario]], California.

A {{convert|20|ft|m|adj=on}} statue of Anza, sculpted in 1939, is located in [[Riverside, California]] at the corner of Magnolia Ave. and 14th Street,<ref>Patterson, Tom. ''Landmarks of Riverside, and the Stories Behind Them''. The Press Enterprise Company, Riverside, CA, 1964. pp. 174–175.</ref> and another statue stands in Lake Merced park, [[San Francisco]].<ref>[http://www.nps.gov/juba/planyourvisit/californiatrailheads.htm Statue in Lake Merced]</ref>  A {{Convert|10|ft|m|-high|adj=mid|sigfig=1}} portrait of de Anza by [[Albert Herter]] in 1929 hangs in the History Room of the [[Richard J. Riordan Central Library|Los Angeles Central Library.]]<ref name="LAPL">{{cite web |title=Painted Decoration: Goodhue Building |url=https://www.lapl.org/branches/central-library/art-architecture/painting |website=Los Angeles Public Library |access-date=1 October 2023}}</ref><ref name="LADM">{{cite news |last1=Imharnish |title=Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – Central Library Murals |url=https://ladailymirror.com/2022/06/13/mary-mallory-hollywood-heights-central-library-murals-2/ |access-date=1 October 2023 |publisher=L.A. Daily Mirror |date=13 June 2022}}</ref>

The de Anza and De Anza spellings are also the namesake of streets, schools, and buildings in his honor including: De Anza Boulevards in [[San Mateo, California|San Mateo]] and [[Cupertino, California|Cupertino]], De Anza Park in [[Sunnyvale, California|Sunnyvale]], [[De Anza College]] in Cupertino, [[De Anza High School]] in [[Richmond, California|Richmond]], Juan Bautista De Anza elementary school in San Jacinto, Juan De Anza K-5 in the Wiseburn Elementary School District of [[Hawthorne, California|Hawthorne]], De Anza Middle School in [[Ontario, California|Ontario]], De Anza Middle School in [[Ventura, California|Ventura]], De Anza Elementary School in [[El Centro, California|El Centro]], and the De Anza School in Baldwin Park, the landmark [[De Anza Hotel]] in [[San Jose, California|San Jose]], and the historic De Anza Hotel in [[Calexico, California|Calexico]]—all in [[California]]. Also named in his honor is Juan Bautista Circle in the [[Parkmerced]] development in San Francisco.

Other places using just the name Anza in his honor include: Anza Vista Avenue within the [[Anza Vista, San Francisco|Anza Vista]] neighborhood of San Francisco, Anza Street in that city's [[Richmond District (San Francisco)|Richmond District]], [[Lake Anza]] in [[Tilden Regional Park]] above [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]] in the [[Berkeley Hills]], Anza Avenue and Anza Elementary School in [[Torrance, California|Torrance]], and De Anza Way in [[Palm Desert, California|Palm Desert]]. 

The town of [[Anza, California]] is a mountainous town with around 7,000 people in Riverside County along [[California State Route 371|State Route 371]] between [[Aguanga, California|Aguanga]] and the [[Santa Rosa Mountains (California)|Santa Rosa Mountains]] south of [[Palm Springs]]. The town is located on the historic route of de Anza's 1774 expedition.

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* J. N. Bowman and R. F. Heizer, "Anza and the Northwest Frontier of New Spain," ''Southwest Museum Papers: No. 20.'' Los Angeles, CA: 1967.
* Carlos R. Herrera, ''Juan Bautista de Anza: The King's Governor in New Mexico.'' Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2015.
* Wilfred Martinez, ''Anza and Cuerno Verde, Decisive Battle.''

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
{{Commons category|Juan Bautista de Anza}}
* [http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=638 Anza-Borrego Desert State Park]
* [http://www.nps.gov/juba/ ''Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail''] – Official U.S. National Park Service website.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090903021858/http://anza.uoregon.edu/default.html U.of Oregon: "Diary of Juan Bautista de Anza"] – de Anza online resources.
* [http://anza.uoregon.edu/ An Interactive Study Environment on Spanish Exploration and Colonization of "Alta California" 1774–1776]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20021216121516/http://anza.uoregon.edu/TeachersWWW/Cibola%20High%20Schoolwww/Welcome.HSProj.html Ninth Grade Social Studies Students HyperStudio Projects Using Web de Anza Resources] – an interesting high school project

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{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Francisco Trevre]] acting}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Spanish governors of New Mexico|Governor of New Mexico]]|years=1778–1788}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Fernando de la Concha]]}}
{{s-end}}
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{{Spanish governors of New Mexico}}
{{Spanish America}}
{{California history}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anza, Juan Bautista De}}
[[Category:Explorers of California]]
[[Category:Mexican people of Basque descent]]
[[Category:Colonial governors of Santa Fe de Nuevo México]]

[[Category:1736 births]]
[[Category:1788 deaths]]
[[Category:Pre-statehood history of New Mexico]]
[[Category:Spanish colonization of the Americas]]
[[Category:People of the Californias]]
[[Category:1774 in The Californias]]
[[Category:1775 in The Californias]]
[[Category:1776 in The Californias]]
[[Category:People from Sonora]]
[[Category:San Juan Bautista, California]]