Luis Antonio Argüello

Luis Antonio Argüello (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈlwis anˈtonjo aɾˈɣweʎo]; June 21, 1784 – March 27, 1830) was the first Californio (native-born) governor of Alta California, and the first to take office under Mexican rule.

His sister Concepción Argüello (1791–1857) was noted for her romance with Nikolai Rezanov (1764–1807), a Russian promoter of the colonization of Alaska and California.

Argüello and his second wife Maria Soledad Ortega de Argüello inherited his parents 35,240-acre (142.6 km2) Spanish Rancho land grant of 1795 named Rancho de las Pulgas, encompassing present day San Mateo, Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City, Atherton, and Menlo Park.

In 1822, William Edward Petty Hartnell persuaded Argüello to grant him the right to do business in any port in Alta California, whereas other foreigners were restricted to Monterey and San Diego.

Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo was served as the personal secretary to the new Governor Luis Argüello, when news of Mexico's independence reached Monterey.

Nearly a month after the initial revolt on February 21, 1824, a company of 100 Mexican soldiers, cavalrymen and priests, as well as a four-pound cannon, arrived at La Purisima Mission in the morning, intent on violently crushing the rebellion.

[8][9] In 1824, Rancho Bolsa de San Cayetano was a 8,896-acre (36.00 km2) land granted in present-day Monterey County, California near Monterey Bay by Argüello to Ygnacio Ferrer Vallejo[5][10][11] Rancho Bolsa de San Cayetano was an 8,896-acre (36.00 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Monterey County, California given in 1824 by Governor Luís Antonio Argüello to Ygnacio Ferrer Vallejo, and confirmed to his eldest son, José de Jesús Vallejo, by Governor José Figueroa in 1834.

[citation needed] General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo later closed the mission in 1834–1835, he took the roof titles for his own home, others joined in taking parts of the buildings and it turned to ruins, later being completely torn down.

In World War II, the United States liberty ship SS Luis Argüello was named in his honor.