During L.A.’s first period of expansion, post-California statehood, city leaders named several new streets after old Mexican governors of Alta California. Juan Bautista Alvarado (1809-1882) was one such governor, ruling from 1836 to 1842 albeit not continuously. Born in Monterey, Alvarado entered politics at an unstable time – earlier governor Manuel Victoria even tried to have him arrested for his attempts to secularize the missions. (Victoria was forced out and secularization proceeded under Pico and Figueroa.) Alvarado led a coup in 1836 and took the governorship at the tender age of 27. Not everyone was happy with this Monterey upstart forcing his way into office: tensions were already hot between NorCal and SoCal, and Alvarado’s era was marked by armed skirmishes and political betrayals. This rendered California vulnerable to a U.S. takeover, which is exactly what happened in 1846. Alvarado survived the whole mess and quit politics in 1848. When he died, it barely made the news.
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