Gaspar de Portola (1716-1786) was the Governor of Alta California from 30 November 1767 to 9 July 1770, preceding Pedro Fages. He was the commander of the expedition that established San Diego and Monterey.
Biography[]
Gaspar de Portola was born in Os de Balaguer, Catalonia, Spain in 1716 to a family of Catalan nobility. He served in the Spanish Army in Italy and Portugal, and he became an ensign in 1734 and a lieutenant in 1743. In 1767, Portola and some Spanish soldiers were sent to California to expel the Jesuit missionaries from the region, and he became the first governor of Alta California in 1767. He led the first land expedition from San Diego to Monterey, and he named many geographic features on the way, many of which were still in use as of the 21st century. After founding the Presidio of Monterey in 1770, he returned to New Spain to become Governor of Puebla, and he later served as a dragoon commander and King's Lieutenant for the strongholds and castles of Lleida. He died in Lleida in 1786, and Portola Drive in Los Angeles is named for him.