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Juan Bautista de Anza

Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto (July 1736 - December 19, 1788) was a Novo-Spanish explorer for the Spanish Empire.

Juan Bautista de Anza was born in Fronteras, Sonora (near Arizpe) into a military family on the northern frontier of New Spain. He was the son of Juan Bautista de Anza I. In 1752 he enlisted in the army at the Presidio of Fronteras. He advanced rapidly and was a captain by 1760. He married in 1761. His wife was the daughter of Spanish mine owner Perez de Serrano. They had no children. His military duties mainly consisted of forays against hostile Native Americans such as the Apache during the course of which he explored much of what is now Arizona.

Dorr Bothwell's statue of Juan de Anza in Riverside, California

In 1772 he proposed an expedition to Alta California to the Viceroy of New Spain. This was approved by the King of Spain and on January 8, 1774 with 3 padres, 20 soldiers, 11 servants, 35 mules, 65 cattle, and 140 horses he set forth from Tubac south of present day Tucson, Arizona. The expedition took a southern route along the Rio Altar (Sonora y Sinaloa, New Spain) then paralleled the modern Mexico/California border and crossed the Colorado River at its confluence with the Gila River in the domain of the Yuma tribe with which he established good relations. He reached Mission San Gabriel Arcangel near the California coast on March 22, 1774 and Monterey, California, Alta California's Capital April 19th. He returned to Tubac by late May, 1774. This expedition was closely watched by Viceroy and King and on October 2, 1774 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and ordered to lead a group of colonists to Alta California. The Spanish were desirous of reinforcing their presence in Northern California, partly as a buffer against Russian advances from the north and partly in order to possibly establish a harbor that would give shelter to Spanish ships. The expedition got under way in October, 1775 and arrived at Mission San Gabriel in January, 1776 the colonists having suffered greatly from the winter weather en route.

He continued on to Monterey, California with the colonists; then fulfilling his mission from the Viceroy he continued on with a small party exploring north and located the sites for the Presidio of San Francisco and Mission San Francisco de Asis in present day San Francisco, California on March 28, 1776. He did not establish the settlement; it was established later by others. While returning to Monterey, he located the original sites for Mission Santa Clara de Asis and the town of San José de Guadalupe (modern day San Jose, CA), but again did not establish either settlement.

Reenactment of the arrival of Juan de Anza at Tubac, Arizona.

On his return from this successful expedition he journeyed to Mexico City with the chief of the Quechan (Yuma) tribe who requested the establishment of a mission. Shortly thereafter, on August 24, 1777, Anza was appointed Governor of the Province of New Mexico.

He led a punitive expedition against the Comanche who had been repeatedly raiding Taos in 1779. With his Ute and Apache allies and about 800 soldiers he went north through the San Luis Valley, entering the plains at what is now Manitou Springs, Colorado. He surprised a small force of Comanche near present day Colorado Springs. Chasing them south down Fountain Creek, he crossed the Arkansas River near present day Pueblo, Colorado. He found the main body of Comanche, returning from a raid on New Mexico, on Greenhorn Creek and inflicted a decisive defeat, killing Cuerno Verde, the chief (for whom Greenhorn Creek is named) and many other leaders of the Comanche. Severely weakened, the Commanche ceased their raids and moved to the southeast into what is now Oklahoma and Texas.

In late 1779, Anza and his party found a route from Santa Fe to Sonora. His various local military expeditions against hostile tribes were successful, but the Yuma tribe which he had establish peace with rebelled and he fell out of favor with the military commander of the northern frontier, the frontier-general. In 1783 Anza lead a campaign against the Comanche on the eastern plains and by 1784 they were suing for peace. The last Comanche chiefs acceded and a formal treaty was concluded in 1786. This paved the way for traders and the development of the Comanchero trade.

Anza stayed on as governor of New Mexico until 1787 when he returned to Sonora. He was appointed commander of the Presidio of Tucson in 1788 but died before he could take office. He died and was buried in Arizpe, Sonora and was survived by his wife.

Anza was buried in the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Arispe. In 1963 he was disinterred and reburied in a marble mausoleum with the participation of delegations from the University of California and San Francisco.

The town of Anza, California is named after Juan Bautista de Anza. The small town of roughly 7,000 people lies on highway 371 in the mountains above Palm Springs. The Juan de Anza House in San Juan Bautista, California is a National Historic Landmark. De Anza is also the namesake of several streets, schools, and organizations in California, including De Anza Boulevards in San Mateo and Cupertino respectively, De Anza College in Cupertino, De Anza High School in Richmond, Juan De Anza K-5 in the Wiseburn Elementary School District, Hawthorne, De Anza Middle School in Ventura, De Anza Hotel in San Jose, and Juan Bautista De Anza Community Park in Calabasas.

• Anza and the Northwest Frontier of New Spain, J. N. Bowman and R. F. Heizer, Southwest Museum Papers Number Twenty, Highland Park, Los Angeles, California, 1967, Hardback, 182 pages.
• Anza and Cuerno Verde, Decisive Battle, Wilfred Martinez

• Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail – designated a National Historic Trail on August 15, 1990 and a National Millennium Trail on June 26, 1999.

• An Interactive Study Environment on Spanish Exploration and Colonization of "Alta California" 1774-1776
• Ninth Grade Social Studies Students HyperStudio Projects Using Web de Anza Resources - an interesting high school project
• Juan Bautista de Anza Hational Historic Trail - U.S. National Park Service website