Govenor Pio Pico
Govenor Pio Pico
Pio Pico, shown here with his wife, was the Governor of the Mexican state of California when the United States invaded. Pico organized the defense against the U.S. invaders, and histories of the conflict credit Pio Pico and his brother Andres with great determination in this unsuccessful effort to keep California part of Mexico. The Pico family was among the first settlers of the little town that today is the metropolis of Los Angeles. The those original settlers came from central Mexico and Sonora, and the majority of them had African heritage, according to 1790s census reports.