Of course trying to name the beginning of a city is a pretty hard thing.
And for Los Angeles, it really is pick your preference.
Humans appear to have been in the area for the last eleven thousand years. The Chumash were principally in the Santa Barbara area ranging down to modern day Ventura, but well may have had an outpost or two within the bounds of what we call Los Angeles. The Tongva peoples lived directly in the basin, although they also ranged out to the Chanel Islands. They probably have been in LA for the past thirty-five hundred years.
The Europeans arrived in 1542 when Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo landed a Spanish flag, and as happened in many other places, just declared they owned the land. And were quite happy to kill anyone annoying enough to disagree. Under Spanish rule Junipero Serra and the friars started their missions, including El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles da Porciunula, the “town of our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula.”
On September 4th, 1781 forty-four settlers arrived. I find it more than interesting that of these folk fully two thirds were of a mixture to one degree or another of African, native American, and European descent. Me, I personally prefer this as the beginning.
But.
From Spain, the area passed into Mexican hands in 1821. And one of the truly wonderful personalities comes along then. Everyone should know a little about the magnificent Pio Pico.
And then as part of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, the area became part of the United States. And two years later, a couple of months before California became a state the City was legally incorporated on this day, April the 4th, 1850.
Of course the immigrants continued. Tongva and Chumash folk had already been joined by people of African and European descent, as well as other indigenous peoples. Then Chinese immigrants. (Actually there is some evidence the Chinese had visited long before, but left no settlements, so…) And from that the whole of Asia, indeed, pretty much the whole of the world has found some form of connection to LA. And today Los Angeles is the second largest city in the country, by population, and, wildly, the most diverse.
One may say a lot about Los Angeles, good and ill, beautiful and ugly, and no doubt its all true.
And, here’s the deal. If you want to know the future of the American nation, all you have to do is visit LA. From where I’m standing, taking it full, it looks pretty good…
And of course, of course, one song won’t do. Here you go, a small bouquet by and about Los Angelenos…
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