Post by RayAdillO on Jun 12, 2007 2:50:07 GMT -5
Antonio Miranda is perhaps the very first Filipino resident of California known by name and profession. He was described as a "malay" from the Philippines who came to California via one of the bi-annual voyages of the Manila-Acapulco Galleons.
His profession was that of a Spanish Royal Army colonial soldier called "soldado de cuera" (soldier of leather) named after the protective leather "cuiriass" or jerkin used by typical soldiers who guarded the string of presidios which ran across the coastal settlements of California.
"Antonio Miranda, along with his daughter, were among those chosen to be the original settlers of the City of Los Angeles in 1781. He did start the expedition with the other pobladores, but his daughter got sick with small pox along the way, causing his delay in order to take care of her lingering illness. Antonio Miranda Rodriguez's name does appear in the first census for Los Angeles, and the next as well, however, in the census of 1783 his name was dropped and his allotment was re-assigned to someone else. His daughter eventually died of her illness, and he did subsequently arrive in Los Angeles, despite some stories to the contrary. Upon arriving in Los Angeles, Miranda found that his allotment had already been assigned to another, but that the presidio in Santa Barbara wanted him.
Miranda's highly valued skill as a gunsmith was desired for the Presidio of Santa Barbara. The Presidio in Santa Barbara was in charge of protecting the area missions and settlements, including San Gabriel and Los Angeles, as the closest other presidio was in San Diego. Miranda settled in Santa Barbara in 1783 and lived there until his death. He was buried in the chapel of this Presidio in Santa Barbara. Presidio life is an interetsing study of the soldiers in these garrisons.
When in Southern California, go to the Presidio in downtown Santa Barbara and see the wall plaque listing him (Antonio Miranda) among those buried in the Presidio Chapel. Another thing to see is the commemorative tile at the foot of the altar, which was placed there by the Filipino Community of Santa Barbara.
According to the research of William Mason, former curator of the History Division of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Antonio Miranda Rodriguez was not just a settler but also a soldier, a soldado de cuera, and was literate (unusual for that time), as at least one report has been found that was written by him.
We owe a lot of what we know about Antonio Miranda Rodriguez, beyond Los Angeles, to William Mason, who had been doing this research until his untimely death in late 2000. Mason, who wrote an article about the Chinese in Mexico, found "chinos" (not Chinese, but Filipinos from the nao de china, or Manila Galleons) mentioned in church records of marriages in Mexico."
All this information is courtesy of our friend Eloisa Borah of the UCLA Library whom we had the priviledge of getting to know during last year's Festival of Philippine Arts and Crafts at Point Fermin in San Pedro, near Fort MacArthur; and we got the chance to be reaquainted with Eloisa again last Saturday during the Kalayaan 2007 event in Long Beach.
for more on the Antonio Miranda story see:
biographical background on Antonio Miranda
personal.anderson.ucla.edu/eloisa.borah/Miranda.pdf
additional links on the Miranda story
personal.anderson.ucla.edu/eloisa.borah/filfaqs.htm#miranda
What is a "soldado de cuera"?
www.loscalifornianos.org/los_soldados.htm
Uniforms of "soldado de cuera" (see their links)
www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/adp/history/hispanic_period/cuera.html
As an added extra feature here is a site about Filipinos in early American military history, including Augustin Feliciano in the War of 1812, courtesy of Alex Fabros, former trustee of the Filipino American National Historical Society.
members.tripod.com/philusnavy/fabros.htm
His profession was that of a Spanish Royal Army colonial soldier called "soldado de cuera" (soldier of leather) named after the protective leather "cuiriass" or jerkin used by typical soldiers who guarded the string of presidios which ran across the coastal settlements of California.
"Antonio Miranda, along with his daughter, were among those chosen to be the original settlers of the City of Los Angeles in 1781. He did start the expedition with the other pobladores, but his daughter got sick with small pox along the way, causing his delay in order to take care of her lingering illness. Antonio Miranda Rodriguez's name does appear in the first census for Los Angeles, and the next as well, however, in the census of 1783 his name was dropped and his allotment was re-assigned to someone else. His daughter eventually died of her illness, and he did subsequently arrive in Los Angeles, despite some stories to the contrary. Upon arriving in Los Angeles, Miranda found that his allotment had already been assigned to another, but that the presidio in Santa Barbara wanted him.
Miranda's highly valued skill as a gunsmith was desired for the Presidio of Santa Barbara. The Presidio in Santa Barbara was in charge of protecting the area missions and settlements, including San Gabriel and Los Angeles, as the closest other presidio was in San Diego. Miranda settled in Santa Barbara in 1783 and lived there until his death. He was buried in the chapel of this Presidio in Santa Barbara. Presidio life is an interetsing study of the soldiers in these garrisons.
When in Southern California, go to the Presidio in downtown Santa Barbara and see the wall plaque listing him (Antonio Miranda) among those buried in the Presidio Chapel. Another thing to see is the commemorative tile at the foot of the altar, which was placed there by the Filipino Community of Santa Barbara.
According to the research of William Mason, former curator of the History Division of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Antonio Miranda Rodriguez was not just a settler but also a soldier, a soldado de cuera, and was literate (unusual for that time), as at least one report has been found that was written by him.
We owe a lot of what we know about Antonio Miranda Rodriguez, beyond Los Angeles, to William Mason, who had been doing this research until his untimely death in late 2000. Mason, who wrote an article about the Chinese in Mexico, found "chinos" (not Chinese, but Filipinos from the nao de china, or Manila Galleons) mentioned in church records of marriages in Mexico."
All this information is courtesy of our friend Eloisa Borah of the UCLA Library whom we had the priviledge of getting to know during last year's Festival of Philippine Arts and Crafts at Point Fermin in San Pedro, near Fort MacArthur; and we got the chance to be reaquainted with Eloisa again last Saturday during the Kalayaan 2007 event in Long Beach.
for more on the Antonio Miranda story see:
biographical background on Antonio Miranda
personal.anderson.ucla.edu/eloisa.borah/Miranda.pdf
additional links on the Miranda story
personal.anderson.ucla.edu/eloisa.borah/filfaqs.htm#miranda
What is a "soldado de cuera"?
www.loscalifornianos.org/los_soldados.htm
Uniforms of "soldado de cuera" (see their links)
www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/adp/history/hispanic_period/cuera.html
As an added extra feature here is a site about Filipinos in early American military history, including Augustin Feliciano in the War of 1812, courtesy of Alex Fabros, former trustee of the Filipino American National Historical Society.
members.tripod.com/philusnavy/fabros.htm
