The Pico family is a prominent Californio family of Southern California.JSTOR - The Family of PicoPio Pico State Historic Park - The Family Genealogy of Pio Pico Members of the family held extensive rancho grants and numerous important positions, including Governor of Alta California, signer of the Constitution of California, and California State Senator, among numerous others. Numerous locations are named after the family across California.
Notable members
Pío Pico III Pío de Jesús Pico III was born in Spain, and became the first member of the family believed to reside in the Americas. He likely came to what was then New Spain in the first or second decade of the 18th century.
Santiago Pico The family was founded by Santiago Pico, who came to California in 1775 as a member of the de Anza expedition.Lost LA - From Pío Pico to #Calexit: California's Tortured Road from Diversity to Equality He was born in 1733 in Sonora. He served at the Presidio of San Francisco until he was appointed to the Presidio of San Diego in 1777. He married María Jacinta Bastida and had seven children, from which members of the Pico family all descend. He was granted Rancho Simi in 1795. He died 1815 in San Buenaventura.
José María Pico José María Pico was born in 1764, as son of Santiago Pico. He was one of the first settlers of San Diego. In 1782, he became a soldier, joining the company at the Presidio of San Diego. He later served as corporal and then sergeant of the guard at Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, until his retirement in 1818.San Diego History Center - José María Pico In 1789, he married María Estaquia López. He died in San Gabriel in 1819.
Pío Pico Pío de Jesús Pico IV Open Access; https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs11102-008-0127-1 was born in 1801 in San Gabriel, and died in Los Angeles in 1894. He served as the last Governor of Alta California prior to the Conquest of California. He was one of the wealthiest men in California during his lifetime, acquiring numerous important ranchos, including Rancho Paso de Bartolo, Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores, and Rancho Jamul, among numerous others. He also served as a member of the Los Angeles Common Council.
Andrés Pico
Andrés Pico was born in 1810 in San Diego. He served as a member of the California Senate (1860 to 1876) and the California State Assembly (1851 to 1860)."Andreas Pico Adobe" , The Branding Iron, December 1976, Number 124; reprinted by the San Fernando Valley Historical Society, 1977; accessed 11 October 2011 During the Conquest of California, he led Californio forces in the Battle of San Pasqual in 1846. He was one of the two principal signers of the Treaty of Cahuenga in 1847, which ended the Mexican–American War in California. He was the owner of Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando. He was also commissioned as Brigadier General of the California National Guard.
Antonio María Pico Antonio María Pico was born in 1808 in Monterey. He was elected as a delegate for Santa Clara County to the Monterey Constitutional Convention of 1849 and was a signer of the Californian Constitution.Online Archive of California - Antonio Maria Pico correspondence : San Jose, California, 1853-1854 He also served as Alcalde of San José (mayor) in 1835.History of California: 1825-1840Oscar T. Shuck,1870, “Representative & Leading Men of the Pacific”, Bacon & Co., Printers & Publishers, San Francisco, Pages 631-634
Salomón Pico Salomón Pico was born in 1821 in Salinas. He participated in the California Gold Rush, but his property rights to land where gold was discovered were disregarded by American squatters. Salomon subsequently vowed revenge against the eastern settlers coming to California and became a notorious outlaw. He was hailed as a hero and vigilante by Californios and decried as a bandit by government authorities. He is considered to be one of the inspirations for El Zorro, the fictional Californio hero.Magill, Frank N. "Magill's Survey of Cinema: Silent Films". Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Salem Press, 1982. and Tompkins, Walker. Decade of the Desperado. Santa Barbara Magazine Vol. 8 No. 4, Santa Barbara. 1982. The Solomon Hills in Santa Barbara County are named after him.
Aaron Pico
Aaron Pico was born in 1996 in Whittier. He is the great-great-great-great-grandson of Pío Pico. He is a mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler, currently signed to UFC. As a wrestler, he was a Cadet World Champion and placed second at the 2016 US Olympic Team Trials. Pico made his professional MMA debut at Bellator NYC on June 24, 2017, at Madison Square Garden.
Other members José de Jesús Pico, a ranchero and soldier who served as Administrator of Mission San Miguel Arcángel Rómulo Pico, a prominent ranchero in the San Fernando Valley and builder of the Rómulo Pico Adobe, a National Historic Landmark José Antonio Pico, a noted ranchero who once owned Rancho Ex-Mission San Luis Rey de FranciaSan Diego County - Cultural Resources Report for the Newland Sierra Project
Legacy Numerous locations in California are named after members of the Pico family, including: City of Pico Rivera Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles Pio Pico State Historic Park in Whittier Pico-Union neighborhood in Los Angeles Pico-Robertson neighborhood in Los Angeles Pico/Rimpau neighborhood in Los Angeles Pío Pico Elementary School in Santa Ana Pío Pico Elementary School in Pico Rivera Pío Pico Elementary School in Los Angeles
See also List of Californios people
Notes
References
Bibliography The Last of the Californios: The Pico Family, 1775-1894 by Howard Holter, 2019.