Pío Pico, the last Mexican governor of California, has the fifteen-mile-long Pico Boulevard named for him. John Drake Sloat (1781-1867), Pico’s successor, only gets three blocks. Fair enough, since he only ran the territory for three weeks in 1846. Sloat, a career Navy man born in Sloatsburg(!), New York, was a key figure in the Mexican–American War and the first of six military governors of California before 1850 statehood. As such, his name adorns roads in San Francisco, Sacramento, and Monterey. L.A.’s Commodore Sloat Drive was laid out in 1922 on the Carthay Center subdivision, its streets honoring various figures in California history. “Commodore” was likely added to the name to avoid postal confusion with Sloat Street in Boyle Heights.
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