18th Century caste portrayal of a man of Filipino heritage from the Spanish colonial period. Image from Museo Nacional del Virreinato.
In addition to the eleven settler (pobladores) families who founded Los Angeles in 1781, a twelfth settler family, headed by Antonio Miranda Rodriguez, a 50-year-old "chino" (reportedly born in Manila and likely Filipino) and widower, was also recruited to settle the new pueblo. Accounts differ as to whether Rodriguez had either one or two daughters. In the case of two daughters, one may have died during the journey to Alta California. In 1781, the settler party, making their way to Alta California, stopped in Loreto in Baja California. There, Rodriguez’s 11-year-old daughter, Juana Maria, fell ill to smallpox. He elected to remain behind in Loreto so that she could recuperate. Accounts further differ as to whether the daughter survived the illness or died in Loreto. Whatever occurred, Rodriguez remained in Loreto for two years, working there as a gunsmith. In 1783, two years after Los Angeles had been settled, rather than continuing to the new pueblo as originally planned, Rodriguez was reassigned to settle at the presidio (military fort) in Santa Barbara. There he worked his skills as a gunsmith, serving as the presidio's armorer and, possibly, as a soldier.
Spanish light musket used to arm Spanish colonial soldiers in the Americas during the 18th century. It may have been among the type of firearms maintained and repaired by Antonio Rodriguez. Courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society and Missouri History Museum, St. Louis, via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources:
-- Historical Lecture by Eloisa Gomez Borah, Santa Barbara, 2004;
-- The Los Angeles Plaza - Sacred and Contested Space by William David Estrada, 2009;
-- Los Angeles Under The Spanish Flag - Spain’s New World by William M. Mason, 2004.
