Vicente Sebastián Pintado
He is known for conducting surveys of lands for settlers who had requested grants in Louisiana and Florida, as well as the so-called "Pintado plan", a street map of Pensacola drawn in 1812 which included the position and size of the solares designated for construction of the city's church and other public buildings.
[2] In 1794-1795, Pintado served under baron Francisco Luis Héctor de Carondelet, the governor of Louisiana and West Florida, headquartered at New Orleans.
In 1796 Carondelet commissioned Pintado to conduct a survey of lands granted to Ambrosio Longue-Épée in Iberville County on the west bank of the Mississippi River opposite Baton Rouge.
On April 1, 1800, Pintado was appointed mayor and commandant of the militia in Bayou Sara, near the modern city of St. Francisville on the Mississippi River, replacing the late Captain Anselmo Blanchard.
In 1804, three brothers, Samuel, Nathan and Reuben Kemper, wanting to separate this region from Spanish control and deliver it to the United States, attempted to foment a rebellion.
Pintado managed to escape and led a detachment of troops to harass those Americans who supported Kemper, forcing the insurgents to withdraw above the 31st parallel of latitude north, into the Territory of Mississippi.
Recognized by the Spanish authorities for his ability in this office, Pintado was named surveyor general of West Florida on October 9, 1805, his appointment being confirmed on December 13.
Cádiz issued a royal order on October 28, 1812, awarding Pintado the title of Captain of Infantry, which made him a full army officer.
[2] Pintado continued serving as surveyor general until 1817, at which time he was transferred to Havana, Cuba,[10] where he pursued his career as a military engineer, and he and his bride began their married life.
He also drew a map of the territory stretching from Mobile, Alabama to the Mississippi River, showing British naval landing operations from 1814 to 1815 during the battle of New Orleans.
In 1822, the Captain General of Cuba, Nicolas Mahy, ordered Pintado to prepare a file containing descriptions of all distributions of land, including solares and water rights, made in both the Floridas under the administration of the Spanish government from 1801 - 1818.
In April 1828, the American minister in Madrid, Alexander Hill Everett, asked Spanish Secretary of State Manuel González Salmón for a copy of Pintado's work.
The assemblage consists of about 1,500 items, including "correspondence, bills of sale, court transcripts, testimonies, surveys, notebooks, plats, land grants, maps, petitions, and other papers relating principally to Pintado's duties as mayor, commandant, and surveyor general.
Most of the papers are dated between 1799–1817, the period in which Pintado served as mayor and commander of New Feliciana near Baton Rouge, and later as Surveyor General of West Florida.
