Agustín V. Zamorano
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Agustín Vicente Zamorano | |
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| Comandante General of Alta California (north) | |
| In office 1832–1833 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1798 printer, soldier |
| Military service | |
| Rank | Captain |
| Commands | Presidio of San Diego |
Agustín Vicente Zamorano (1798–1842), was a
History
Agustín Zamorano was born in
Alta California
He moved north in 1825 to the Mexican territory of Alta California, appointed as Secretary of State to
In February 1827 Zamorano married María Luisa Argüello, daughter of
Zamorano became allied with a faction in northern California, participating in the 1831 Mexican Revolution, heading a group of rebels in Monterey, as Captain of the Monterey Company. The troops included a number of foreign residents, chiefly from the United States.
Governor
Governor Manuel Victoria decision to stop the Mexican government's secularization of the Alta California missions and redistribution of the land holdings as land grant ranchos because he believed the government should stand by the original commitment to hold that land in trust for Mission Indians. Victoria faced strong opposition from residents, particularly foreigners from the United States and Europe who wanted to acquire large landholdings. He was forced into exile from California in January 1832. Encheandía remained acting governor until an assembly met in Pueblo de Los Angeles. It chose Pío Pico as governor according to the Plan of San Diego, but officials in Los Angeles refused to recognize him.
At that time, Zamorano proceeded to lead a rebellion in northern Alta California,
The federal Mexican government appointed José Figueroa as governor in late 1832; he arrived in January 1833, and Zamorano returned to his former duties as commandant.
Printer
Zamorano is most noted for being the first person to bring a
Zamorano published the first books in California. The first book he printed was Manifiesto a la Republica Mejicana in 1835. The Manifesto granted amnesty to the people of Alta California after the recent rebellion.
He offered to provide "equitable prices with gentlemen who may wish to establish any periodical," but nobody took up his offer. In total, he printed eleven broadsides, six books, six miscellaneous works, and numerous letterheads.
The first newspaper was not printed until 1840. That year U.S. Commodore Robert F. Stockton found Zamorano's old press and Walter Colton, chaplain of the U.S. frigate Congress and former editor of the Philadelphia North American, started the Monterey Californian.
Later years
Capt. Zamorano was the last appointed
Agustín Zamorano left Alta California in 1838 for Mexico. He later returned to San Diego in 1842, where he died that year.
Legacy
The Zamorano Club was formed in 1928 by a group of California book collectors, printers and librarians in honor of Agustín Zamorano.
In 1986, Zamorano Fine Arts Academy, an elementary school in southeastern San Diego, was named in his honor.
In 2012, Celeste Montalvo, a descendant of Agustin Vicente Zamorano, created a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AgustinVicenteZamarano and a group so that 'Descendants of Agustin Vicente Zamorano' could post family pictures and share their history.
One of his descendants is the well-known singer Linda Ronstadt.
See also
- List of pre-statehood governors of California
- List of Ranchos of California
References
- ^ Hubert Howe Bancroft (1886). History of California: 1825-1840. The History Company. p. 220.
General references
- Smythe, William E. (1907–1909). "part II, chapter VI". History of San Diego, 1542-1908. Los Angeles: Reprinted 2003 by Arthur H. Clark Co. Retrieved 2006-12-31.
- Harding, George L. (1934). Don Agustín V. Zamorano: Statesman, Soldier, Craftsman, and California's 1st Printer. Los Angeles: Reprinted 2003 by Arthur H. Clark Co. ISBN 978-0-87062-325-7.
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