Pío Pico

American entrepreneur and politician

• Born: May 5, 1801
• Birthplace: Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, Alta California (now in California)
• Died: September 11, 1894
• Place of death: Los Angeles, California

One of early California’s most colorful historical characters, Pico was born into poverty but rose to become a wealthy and influential landowner and rancher. Despite a disease that disfigured him for more than a decade in his middle age, he served in a variety of political offices, culminating in a term as California’s last governor under Mexican rule.

Early Life

Pío de Jesús Pico IV (PEE-oh PEE-koh) was born at Mission San Gabriel Arcángel in Alta California, one of the original Spanish missions, in what is now San Gabriel, California. Pico grew up in a shack next to the mission. He was of mixed Spanish, Italian, African, and Native American heritage, the grandson of Santiago de la Cruz Pico, a solder who served under the Spanish Alta (Upper) California explorer Juan Bautista de Anza. His Mexican-born parents were José María Pico, a soldier and colonist, and María Eustaquia Gutiérrez. He was one of nine children (out of twelve born) who survived to adulthood, the second oldest son, and the fourth member of the Pico family since the early 1600’s to be called Pío. The family moved to San Diego in 1805. Little is known about Pico’s early life or education, beyond the fact that he never learned to speak, read, or write English.

In 1819, Pico’s father died. Since his older brother José was away in military service, eighteen-year-old Pico took responsibility for the welfare of his family. He began several lucrative enterprises, possibly using the proceeds from various wagers (he was known all his adult life as an enthusiastic gambler at cards and horseracing). These included a hide tanning operation, a saloon—where he was alleged to have inserted false bottoms into ox-horn drinking vessels to reduce drink quantities and increase profits—and a store where he sold shoes, chairs, foodstuffs, and other basic provisions. By the early 1820’s, after Mexico won independence from Spain, Pico had begun investing his profits in land and cattle. By the middle of the decade, he had become well known and had grown prosperous enough to enter politics.

Life’s Work

In 1826, Pico became a member of the provincial governor’s advisory council, and he served in that capacity periodically until the early 1840’s. Within three years, Pico had acquired a nearly 9,000-acre ranch near San Diego, the first piece of what would become vast land holdings. By 1831, Pico had relocated to the village of Los Angeles. That same year, as president of the local assembly, he fomented a revolt against the dictatorial rule of Governor Manuel Victoria. Threatened with exile to Mexico, Pico and several fellow revolutionaries raised a small army that clashed with Victoria’s troops at the Cahuenga Pass. The governor was wounded and relinquished his position. Pico was named interim governor and served a few weeks before he was replaced.

In 1834, Pico married María Ignacia Alvarado, niece of Juan Bautista Alvarado, a prominent citizen who served as governor from 1836 to 1842. That same year, Pico was appointed administrator of newly secularized San Luis Rey Mission (still standing in present-day Oceanside), where he served for six years, meanwhile operating a profitable cattle-slaughtering business. In 1836, he campaigned to become mayor of Los Angeles but had to settle for the role of Southern California’s elector for Mexican elections. In 1838, Pico again revolted, this time against the rule of Governor Alvarado. He was briefly imprisoned but, as a relative by marriage, was quickly forgiven for his disloyalty. In the early 1840’s, Alvarado granted huge tracts of land (Rancho Temecula and Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores—later the site of Camp Pendleton) to Pico and his brother Andres.

Another rebellion broke out in 1844, this time between the forces of sitting governor Manuel Micheltorena and ex-governor Alvarado; the Pico brothers supported Alvarado. After bloodless skirmishes, Micheltorena relinquished power. Pico, as senior member of the assembly, was named governor in 1845. When the Mexican-American War broke out the following year, Pico initially worked to raise forces to defend California but received little support. When American forces invaded, Pico, fearing execution, fled to Sonora, Mexico. After the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in which California and other Mexican territories were ceded to the United States, Pico returned to Los Angeles—no longer governor, but as a private American citizen.

After the war, Pico engaged in the life of a wealthy rancher. He became one of California’s largest and richest landowners, built a large adobe mansion, El Ranchito— where he lived for most of his remaining years—and bred racehorses. He gambled freely and fell in and out of debt.

Pico cut a dashing, if grotesque figure. From the late 1840’s until at least the late 1850’s, as contemporary photographs show, he was afflicted with a usually fatal disease of the pituitary gland, later termed acromegaly. The disease caused his features to swell, his eyes to become asymmetric, his hands to become enlarged, and his facial hair to disappear. He also was probably rendered infertile: his wife died childless in 1860. During the worst of the disease, Pico was subjected to great cruelty for his appearance, called “monster” and other unflattering names in print. He compensated by dressing flamboyantly, wearing jewelry and other decorations, sporting a top hat, and carrying a cane that resembled a woman’s leg. At some point, the disease went into full remission, and in later images Pico appears normal, with a full beard. Although he never remarried, he took a common-law wife and reputedly fathered five children, whom he adopted.

Late in life, Pico suffered a series of setbacks. In 1870, he built Pico House, a luxury hotel with gas lighting and indoor plumbing (now a state historical landmark), but lost it ten years later because of financial difficulties. His mansion was severely damaged in several floods and earthquakes, and he had to sell some of his lands to raise money for repairs. Gambling losses depleted his fortune. As a final insult, he was defrauded: thinking he was signing a loan, he actually signed away ownership of El Ranchito. Subsequent unsuccessful lawsuits to regain his property exhausted his remaining funds. Ill, aging, and as poor as he had been at birth, Pico spent his last days living in the home of a daughter, Joaquina Pico Moreno. He died on September 11, 1894.

Following the migration of significant numbers of Americans to California in the early 1840’s, Pico foresaw the inevitability of U.S. invasion. During his tenure as governor, he worked covertly to persuade the British or the French to conquer the territory but was unsuccessful. As governor, he moved the territorial capital from Monterey to Los Angeles, establishing the latter’s predominance in the state. Although laws were in place providing for deportation of immigrants who refused to take Mexican citizenship and convert to Catholicism, Pico did not enforce them as governor. An important role Pico did fulfill was completion of the secularization of the missions, whose lands were sold and whose power was greatly diminished. Perhaps the most lasting legacy of his brief term in office was the unlearned Pico’s belief in the power of education: he proposed a tax to fund education, advocated mandatory attendance for schoolchildren, and earmarked public funds for teachers’ salaries.

Significance

A key figure in California history, Pico spanned the dominions of Spain, Mexico, and the United States during almost a century of life. A shrewd investor, he negotiated the acquisition of large parcels of prime land totaling more than a half-million acres that incorporated the modern communities of Whittier, Encino, Canoga Park, North Hollywood, Reseda, Van Nuys, and other areas of Southern California. Several structures he erected, including El Ranchito and the Pico House, still exist. Numerous schools and other landmarks, such as the city of Pico Rivera and Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles, were named in his memory.

Bibliography

Hackel, Steven W., ed. Alta California: Peoples in Motion, Identities in Formation. San Marino, Calif.: Huntington Library Press, 2010. A collection of essays that explores the complex relationships among the various peoples and cultures that clashed during California’s settlement.

Salomon, Carlos Manuel. Pio Pico: The Last Governor of Mexican California. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2010. The first full-length biography of Pico, this well-researched work vividly depicts his rise and fall, complete with photographs.

Yenne, Bill. The Missions of California. San Diego, Calif.: Thunder Bay Press, 2004. A history of California’s original missions, around which the state’s major cities grew, this contains historic and contemporary photographs of the structures, all of which still exist.