This is a list of Hispanos, both settlers and their descendants (either fully or partially of such origin), who were born or settled, between the early 16th century and 1850, in what is now the southwestern United States (including California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, southwestern Colorado, Utah and Nevada), as well as Florida, Louisiana (1763–1800) and other Spanish colonies in what is now the United States. Governors and explorers, who spent time in these places serving the Spanish crown but never settled in them as colonists, are not included, although they also helped shape the history of the present United States. This list shows notable people of Spanish and Mexican origin who lived in the Hispanic colonies now part of the United States, as well as their descendants.
Spanish and Mexican era These are persons who were born and/or lived, and died, in the Spanish or Mexican territories that later were incorporated in the United States. They were never Americans in the sense of persons born, raised or naturalized in the modern United States. Santiago Abreú (died 8 August 1837) governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo México from 1832 to 1833 Nicolás de Aguilar (1627–c. 1666) Spanish official in New Mexico. Rosario E. Aguilar (c. 1792–1847) Early settler in San Diego, California. Andrés Almonaster y Rojas (1724 Mairena del Alcor, Spain – 1798 New Orleans) A Spanish civil servant of New Orleans, today chiefly remembered for his numerous charitable benefactions to the city. Pedro de Alberni (born Tortosa, Spain, January 30, 1747–died Monterrey, New Spain, March 11, 1802) Spanish soldier and Governor of Alta California. José Darío Argüello (1753–1828), Spanish soldier, California pioneer, founder of Los Angeles and twice a Spanish colonial governor. Luis Antonio Argüello (1784-1830) Governor of Alta California Gaspar Flores de Abrego (1781–1836) Tejano who served five terms as the mayor of San Antonio, Texas. He was also a land commissioner and associate of Austin's early colonists. Martín de Argüelles (born 1566) First white child (criollo) known to have been born in what is now the United States. His birthplace was St. Augustine, Florida. Ignacio Lorenzo de Armas (1706–after 1764) Spanish politician who served as mayor of San Antonio, Texas, in 1738 and 1764. Simón de Arocha (1731–1796) Judge presiding over the distribution of public lands and mayor of San Antonio de Béjar (1770 and 1787). Bartolomé Baca (c. 1767 – 1834) Governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo México Rosa María Hinojosa de Ballí (1752–1803) was a rancher known as the first "cattle queen" of Texas Diego de Borica, a Basque Spanish explorer and the seventh governor of Las Californias from 1794 to 1800. Francisco Bouligny (1736–1800) A Spanish high-ranking military and civilian officer in Spanish Louisiana; he served as lieutenant governor under Bernardo de Gálvez and as acting military governor in 1799. Founded the city of New Iberia in 1779. María Ygnacia López de Carrillo (1793-1849) Californio ranchera and founder of Santa Rosa. José Raimundo Carrillo (1749–1809) Early Hispanic settler of San Diego, California and founder of the Carrillo family in Spanish California. Guillermo Castro (soldier) (b. 1810 d. ?) Californio soldier and rancher Francisco Xavier Chávez - (1768-1838) Governor of Mexican New Mexico in 1822. Antonio Valverde y Cosío (1670–1728) was a prominent entrepreneur and Spanish soldier who served as acting governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo México in 1716 and as interim governor of this territory from 1718 to 1721. Juan Curbelo (Tejano settler) (1680–1760) Spanish politician who served as mayor of San Antonio, Texas, in 1737 and 1739. Narciso Durán (December 16, 1776, Empúries, Catalonia, Spain–June 4, 1846, Santa Barbara, Alta California, Mexico) Franciscan friar and missionary. Juan José Elguézabal (1781–1840) Military personnel and Presidios attached inspector who served as interim governor of Texas between 1834 and 1835. José María Estudillo (died April 8, 1830) Early settler of San Diego, California and a governing official during San Diego's Mexican period. Blas María de la Garza Falcón (1712–1767) Spanish settler of Tamaulipas and South Texas. José Vicente Féliz (1741–1822), member of the 1775-76 Anza expedition that brought the first settlers to California. José Figueroa (179?–September 1835) General and the Mexican territorial governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835.
Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda (c. 1536 – after 1575) Spanish shipwreck survivor who lived among the Indians of Florida for 17 years. Francisco de Haro (1792–November 28, 1849) First Alcalde (Mayor) of Yerba Buena (later named San Francisco) in 1834. Pedro Benedit Horruytiner (1613–November 20, 1684) Spanish soldier and settler resident in St. Augustine, Florida, who served as the Acting Governor and accountant of Florida between 1646 and 1648. Juan Páez Hurtado (1668 – 1742) Spanish official who served as Captain General, Governor and Mayor of Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico. Damacio Jiménez Tejano soldier who served in the Mexican army during the Battle of the Alamo Fermín Lasuén (June 7, 1736, Vitoria, Spain–June 26, 1803, Mission San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo) Basque Spanish missionary to Alta California, the second president and founder of the California Franciscan mission chain. Juan Leal (1676–1742 or 1743) First Mayor of San Antonio, Texas Nicolás Ponce de León II Acting governor of Spanish Florida from 1663 to 1664, and from 1673 to 1675. He was born in Saint Augustine, Florida. Juan Domínguez de Mendoza (1631 - ?) - Spanish soldier and member of the Novomexicana elite. Gabriel Moraga (1765–June 14, 1823) Spanish army officer in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, an explorer of Alta California. Antonio Rodríguez Medero (1712–April 10, 1760) Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, in 1741. He was one of the first settlers of San Antonio and laid the foundation for the creation of the first inheritable water supply sources (a concept perhaps first developed in the Canary Islands) in America. He was also the architect of the Espada Acequia, consisting of an aqueduct and seven gravity-flow canals to irrigate the lands of the Canarian settlers in San Antonio. Manuel Nieto (1734–1804) Soldier from the Presidio of San Diego. Antonio de Olivares (1630–1722) a Spanish Franciscan known for officiating at the first Mass celebrated in Texas, and for his exploration of the area where the city was founded. Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco (born August 4, 1713 or 1714–died April 11, 1785) Cartographer, as well as an artist, particularly as a Santero (wood-carver of religious images). José María Pico (1764, San Xavier de Cavazan, Sonora, México–1819, San Gabriel, California) Established the prominent Pico family of Southern California. Luis Manuel Quintero (c. 1725–1810) African-Mexican tailor from Guadalajara, Jalisco; who later became one of the 44 original settlers of the Pueblo de Los Angeles (present-day Los Angeles, California) on September 4, 1781. Juan Francisco Reyes (soldier) (1749–1809) Soldado de cuero ("leather-jacketed soldier") on the 1769 Portola expedition, alcalde (municipal magistrate) of the Pueblo de Los Angeles for three terms, and recipient of the Spanish land grant for Rancho Los Encinos and later Lompoc. Salvador Rodríguez (1688–after 1796) Spanish politician who served as mayor of San Antonio, Texas, in 1785 and 1796, as well as regidor (councilor) of the city.
Andrés Almonaster y Rojas (born Mairena del Alcor, June 19, 1728–died New Orleans, April 25, 1798) Spanish civil servant in New Orleans. José Antonio Roméu (c. 1742–1792) Governor of Alta California and Baja California from 1791 to 1792. Francisco María Ruiz (1754–1839) Early settler of San Diego, California José Francisco Ruiz (c. January 28, 1783 – January 19, 1840) Soldier, revolutionary, educator, politician, and Texas Senator.
Don Tomás Sánchez (June 4, 1709 – January 21, 1796) Veteran Spanish captain who founded Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo in Mexico, at the time the only town in the Nuevo Santander Province. Vicente Francisco de Sarría (1767 Etxebarri–1835 Soledad) Basque Spanish missionary to the Americas. Manuel de Sandoval - (18th century) New Mexican prominent military and the governor of Coahuila (1729–1733 ) and Texas (1734–1736) Vicente de Santa Maria (1742–July 16, 1806) Spanish Franciscan priest who accompanied explorer Juan de Ayala on the first Spanish naval entry aboard the San Carlos into the San Francisco Bay. José Francisco de Paula Señan (March 3, 1760 – August 24, 1823) Spanish missionary to the Americas. Juan José Sepúlveda (1764–1808) Landowner. Manuel Antonio Santiago Tarín (1811–1849) Tejano soldier and recruiter and participant in the Texas Revolution on the Texian side. His father was a Spanish military officer. Vicente Álvarez Travieso (1705–1779) Spanish judge and politician who served as first alguacil mayor (high sheriff) (1731–79) of San Antonio, Texas. José de Urrutia (c. 1678–1741) Spanish explorer and settler of Texas who became captain of San Antonio de Béjar Presidio and lived for many years with the Native Americans of East Texas. Juan Martín de Veramendi (December 17, 1778 – 1833) Spanish (1778–1821) and after Mexican independence a Mexican (1821–33) politician who served as governor of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas from 1832 until 1833. José María Verdugo (1751–1831) Recipient of the Rancho San Rafael land grant, San Diego. Manuel Victoria (died 1833) Governor of the Mexican territory of Alta California from January 1831 to December 6, 1831. Tomás Felipe de Winthuisen Governor of Texas from 1741 to 1743. Antonio Gil Ybarbo (1729–1809), pioneering settler of Nacogdoches, Texas. José Antonio Yorba (July 20, 1743 – January 16, 1825) Spanish soldier and early settler of Spanish California.
Naturalized Americans of colonial origin When the Spanish and Mexican territories were incorporated as part of the United States, their inhabitants automatically acquired American citizenship. Louisiana (which was Spanish between 1762 and 1800, when Spain gave back the territory to France) was ceded to the US by France in 1803, Florida was sold by Spain in 1819 and the Southwest passed to the US after the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) by the terms of the Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty, while Texas separated from Mexico in 1836 and was annexed by the United States on December 29, 1845.
Cristobal Aguilar Pioneer of 19th-century Los Angeles, California, politics in the early days of American rule. He was the last Hispanic mayor of the city until 2005. José Antonio Aguirre (early Californian) (1799–1860) Merchant and rancher in Alta California.Jose Antonio Aguirre (1799-1860) Juan Bautista Vigil y Alarid - (1792–1866) Governor of New Mexico in 1846 Diego Archuleta (1814 – 1884), member of the Mexican Congress, soldier in the Mexican Army during the Mexican–American War, Indian agent appointed by President Abraham Lincoln, and member of the Union Army (US Army) during the American Civil War. He was the first Hispanic Brigadier General. Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba (1795 - 1874) was a wealthy New Orleans-born aristocrat, businesswoman, and real estate developer, and one of the most dynamic personalities of that city's history. She was daughter of Andres Almonester y Rojas, and aristocrat Cajun Louise Denis de la Ronde.Arthur, Stanley C., Arthur, Stanley Clisby & de Kernion, George Campbell Huchet (1998). Old Families of Louisiana. Pelican Publishing. p.399 Juan Bautista Alvarado, February 14, 1809 – July 13, 1882) Californio and twice governor of Alta California, from 1836 to 1837 and 1838 to 1842 José María Alviso (November 19, 1798 – June 18, 1853) Grantee of Rancho Milpitas, Alcalde (mayor) of San José.