Alferez José Joaquín de la Santísima Trinidad Moraga (usually known as José Joaquín Moraga) was an early explorer to Alta California, now known as California. Moraga is also known as the founder of El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, later known as San José, California.

[edit] Life

José Joaquín Moraga was born on August 22, 1745 in Mission Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi, Arizona, in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. He is credited with building the Presidio of San Francisco after the site was selected by Juan Bautista de Anza in 1776. Moraga founded San José on orders from Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, Spanish Viceroy of New Spain. The city was founded in honor of Saint Joseph on November 29, 1777 as the first town in the Spanish colony of Nueva California, which later became Alta California. The city served as a farming community to support the Presidio of San Francisco and the Presidio of Monterey.

[edit] Legacy

The town of Moraga, California is named in honor of Joaquin Moraga, the grandson of José Joaquín Moraga.^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ Clyde Arbuckle (1986). Clyde Arbuckle's History of San Jose. Smith McKay Printing. ISBN 978-9996625220.