The Birth of Los Angeles 1767-1824 - and the Genocide of the Tongva

In the early 1500's, the Bourbon Empire reached an agreement with the Vatican to thoroughly colonize the New World. In 1542 Juan Cabrillo set the flag of Spain on a beach near what was to become the Pueblo de Los Angeles while Natives crowded and watched as he named it the "Bay of the Smokes." An early smog indicator. They wondered why he spoke loudly to the winds, but not to them, as if they didn't exist. In 1767 Gaspar de Portola led the expulsion of the Jesuits in Baja California and was assigned to lead the Spanish invasion forces into Alta California. The Franciscan replacements were now under Padre Junipero Serra. Riding with Padre Juan Crespi. Portola and Crespi picked out the locations for Mission San Gabriel and the site for Pueblo de Los Angeles. The Mission began life in 1769. The first dozen families arrived for the Founding in 1781. The plan was to expand to the sea as The Cattle Capitol of the West and to keep the West Coast in isolation from the feared invasion of the British and Russians. The effects on the Tongva (later "Gabrielino") Native Americans of the area are a major part of the story. All as seen through the eyes of the conflicted and ambitious Indian who was the first baptized as a Neophyte and named - Nicolas Jose. He was adept at learning language and skills and became the main translator, organizer and spokesman for the Spanish. He became a powerbroker, womanizer and first "Alcalde" or mayor of the native population. He became divided with power and shame. He searched for the person he had been as the conflict grew.