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Pedro de Alberní y Teixidor

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In thisSpanish name,the first or paternalsurnameisAlberniand the second or maternal family name isTeixidor.
Pedro de Alberni
9thGovernor of Alta California
In office
1800–1800
Preceded byDiego de Borica
Succeeded byJosé Joaquín de Arrillaga
Personal details
BornJanuary 30, 1747
Tortosa,Catalonia,Spain
DiedMarch 11, 1802(1802-03-11)(aged 55)
Monterey,Las Californias,Viceroyalty of New Spain
(nowCalifornia,U.S.)
SpouseJuana Vélez
ProfessionExplorer,soldier

Pedro de Alberní y Teixidor;Tortosa,January 30, 1747 –Monterrey,New Spain, March 11, 1802) was aSpanishsoldier who served theSpanish Crownfor almost all his life. He spent most of his military career in colonial Mexico. He is notable for his role in the exploration of thePacific Northwestin the 1790s, and his later term as ninth Spanish governor ofAlta Californiain 1800.

Biography[edit]

Early life[edit]

Pedro de Alberni was born on January 30, 1747, to anobleandwealthyfamily ofTortosa,Catalonia,Spain.His father, Jaume d'Alberní i Antolí, wasnotary publicand HonourableCitizenofBarcelonawho had married Maria Inés Teixidor on June 24, 1728. The couple had five sons and two daughters. In accordance toCatalancivil law,the oldest brother, Josep Antoni, was named heir to the Alberni estate, including the right to use the title ofnotary public.The remaining siblings received a small amount of money. For this reason, the rest of the brothers joined the military service. One brother, Gerònim, went to the Regiment ofCórdoba;the other two, Joan Bautista and Jaume Pascual, joined the Foreign Volunteer Regiment. One of the sisters became a nun. Pedro joined Spain's Second Regiment of theLight Infantryon July 17, 1762 to fight as a cadet in thecampaign of Portugalduring theSeven Years' Warwhen he was only fifteen years old. He remained with this regiment for five years, after which he joined theFree Company of Volunteers of Catalonia(Compañía Franca de Voluntarios de Cataluña), an independent military unit composed ofMiquelets(Catalanirregular troops).

From Cádiz to New Spain[edit]

In 1767, the Company was sent on a transatlantic journey to thecolonyofNew Spain.The objective of the mission was to defend theInner Northern ProvincesofNew Spain(Provincias Internas del Norte de Nueva España) from the natives' insurgences. These provinces ran from modern dayGuanajuatotoNew Mexicoand fromSonoratoTexas.

On May 2, 1767, the Company sailed fromCádiz,Spain,toCuba,and then toVeracruz,New Spain.Composed of 98 soldiers under the command of Captain Agustí Callis and three other officials:Pere Fages,Estevan de Vilaseca and the Alberni, they arrived at their destination on August of that same year. AfterVeracruz,the Company moved toGuaymas,Sonora,where they arrived in April 1768, after having crossedMexico City,TepicandSan Blas.The trip took almost one year fromBarcelona,where they had departed, toGuaymas.

In Sonora and California[edit]

Shortly after their arriving inGuaymas,the company, under the command of ColonelDomingo Elizondowere sent to fight against the rebel natives ofPimaandSeri,and participate in a campaign inCerro Prieto.After successfully finishing this campaign, Alberni and the rest of the company were sent toMexico CityandGuadalajara.After that, Alberni was commander in the province ofNayaritfor seven years.

In 1772, the company was divided between the First Free Company of Volunteers of Catalonia, which remained under the command of Captain Callis, and the Second, which was under the command ofPedro Fages.Fages and a detachment of 25 traveled toAlta Californiain 1769 as part of thePortola expedition,under the command ofGaspar de Portola.The detachment remained in Alta California, stationed at thePresidio of Monterey,and Fages was appointed to succeed Portola as military governor in 1770. When Callis died in 1782, Alberni was named Captain of the First Company.

Way to the Pacific Northwest[edit]

Nootka Soundmarked inVancouver Island.
Reconstruction ofFort San Miguel.
A view of the Habitations inNootka Sound.In: "A Collection of Voyages round te World... Captain Cook's First, Second, Third and Last Voyages...." Volume V,London,1790, page 1767.
Friendly Cove,Nootka Sound.Volume I, plate VII from: "A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round the World" by CaptainGeorge Vancouver.

In 1789, theViceroyof New SpainManuel Antonio Flórez,ordered the First Company of theFirst Free Company of Volunteers of Catalonia,under Alberni, to prepare to move to San Blas for onward transportation toNootka Sound,onVancouver Island,to reinforce the fortified post that had been established byEsteban José Martínezin May 1789. Martínez had sent a request for two hundred infantry, but before any reinforcements could be sent Martínez abandoned Nootka Sound, in October 1789, due to the crisis that arose after Martínez seized some British and American ships that were trading in the region and, some time later, killed Callicum, a close relative of theNuu-chah-nulthchieftainMaquinna.Before the abandonment of Nootka was known, the King of Spain issued the Royal Order of April 14, 1789, requiring the establishment at Nootka to be maintained. In 1790, therefore, Nootka was reoccupied by an expedition under the command ofFrancisco de Eliza.Alberni's soldiers sailed with Eliza. At Nootka, they rebuilt and enlarged theartillery batterycalledFort San Miguel.[1]

The seizure of the English ships sparked theNootka Controversy,which almost led to a war between Spain and England over the issue of sovereignty in thePacific Northwest.Spain had senta number of expeditions to the region,starting with the 1774 voyage ofJuan Pérez,in order to reinforce the Spanish claim to the entire west coast of North America.

In October 1789Juan Vicente de Güemes, 2nd Count of Revillagigedoreplaced Flores as the Viceroy of New Spain andJuan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadrabecame commandant of theSan Blasnaval department, responsible for all naval operations north of Mexico. Together they organized the expedition to reoccupy Nootka Sound. On 7 December 1789 Revillagigedo ordered the First Company of the Catalan Volunteers to move to San Blas. The company consisted of about 80 soldiers when at full strength and was under the command of Captain Pedro de Alberni, who had just been appointed inGuadalajara.The soldiers began their march from Guadalajara on 1 January 1790. They sailed from San Blas with the Eliza expedition. The squadron was made up of three ships: theConcepción,under the command of Eliza, theSan Carlos,under the command ofSalvador Fidalgo,andPrincesa Real,under the command ofManuel Quimper.They left San Blas on February 3, 1790, and arrived at Nootka Sound on April 5.[1]

During the trip to Nootka Sound, Alberni was confined to his cabin on theConcepciónfor 70 days as a result of a dispute with a high ranking Spanish officer. In the course of this disagreement, he defended the rights of his men, demanding they be adequately clothed and armed, as well as to be paid all of the back-pay owed them. Probably for that reason, he would not be appointed asGovernor of Californialater on.

When Alberni arrived at Nootka he had to rebuild the artillery battery fortification that had been dismantled after Martínez left. The reconstruction of the battery was difficult. It was built on top of a rocky island—tall but small.Embrasureshad to be built to support the guns. It then took four days to emplace eight large cannons. Later, six smaller cannons were also emplaced. The battery did not have enough space for the remaining eight large cannon Eliza had brought, so they were stored ashore.[2]

Alberni builtbarracks,a house for the commanding officers, a house for the captain, ovens, furnaces, aninfirmary,and cultivated various fruits and vegetables to provide food supplies for the garrison. He was the first European to cultivate avegetable gardenin the modern-day British Columbia. He also made a registry of recorded temperatures, created a dictionary of 630 native words with their equivalents inSpanish,and brewed beer usingconiferbark in an attempt to prevent scurvy. In short, he built, organized, and administrated the fort and land defenses of the Nootka settlement for the well-being of its inhabitants and the travelers that arrived at its port. Many of his men from the Catalan Company participated in exploration expeditions in Alaska andJuan de Fuca Strait,along with Spanish explorers from other companies.

All the data that Alberni compiled was later used byJosé Mariano Mociño,a New Spain-bornnaturalist,and the author ofNoticias de Nootka(Spanish for "News from Nootka" ), who was in the Bodega-Quadra expedition of 1792 and withAlessandro Malaspinain 1791 on his grand scientific voyage. According to Mociño, Alberni gained the esteem and respect of those around him, including the natives, whom he flattered with a poem, dedicated to their chief, Maquinna, with music of theMambrú,a Spanish song, adapted from theFrenchsongMarlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre,originally from theWar of the Spanish Succession.The lyrics of the song go:

Macuina, Macuina, Macuina,
He's a great prince, friend of us
Spain, Spain, Spain
Is friend of Macuina and Nootka

This song became so popular in the region, thatJosé María Narváezheard it from the natives in the other side ofNootka Islandand nearPoint Grey(Narváez arrived at what today is the city ofVancouver,one year before the English captainGeorge Vancouver). Alberni's sojourn at Nootka coincided with a period of major activity of Spanish explorers and travelers from other nations in the region.

Return to Mexico[edit]

Once Alberni had accomplished his task, and after having been in thefortfor two years, he received the order to return with his company to the Maritime Department ofSan Blas.He was given, by royal order through theViceroy of New SpainRevillagigedo,the title of Governor and Commander of Arms of Fort San Miguel in Nootka Island.

In July 1792 he was named lieutenant-colonel, and after his assignment in Nootka, he was sent to theCastle of San Juan de Ulúafor eight months, inVeracruz,as commander of the fort and as Lieutenant-Colonel of the King for the Plaza de Veracruz. After that, Alberni was sent toGuadalajarafor two years.

To California[edit]

In April 1796, by order of theViceroy of New SpainMiguel de la Grúa Talamanca y Branciforte, marqués de Branciforte,he and his company of 72 men returned toCaliforniato take care of the Spanish military garrisons ofMonterey,Santa Bárbara,San DiegoandSan Francisco.In 1800 he was appointed theInterim Governor of Californiaand commander of the four military garrisons that Spain had inCalifornia(Monterey,Santa Bárbara,San DiegoandSan Francisco), until a new governor was assigned. He remained in California until his death.

Death[edit]

Alberni died ofdropsyat the age of 55 inMonterey,Alta California,on March 11, 1802. He was buried at the Royal Chapel of San Carlos inMonterey, California.Today, his remains probably lie under the highway that was built nearby, because his tomb was never found. Alberni's will, dated December 16, 1801, leaves everything to his wife, Juana Vélez, a native ofTepic,México.The only daughter they had predeceased him. Sergeant Joaquín Tico from the Volunteers of Catalonia was executor of his will.

Legacy[edit]

Alberni was a person with a strong, courageous, diplomatic character, who knew how to manage problems, even in difficult times. There are numerous places named after him in bothCanadaandSpain:

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abTovell, Freeman M. (2008).At the Far Reaches of Empire: The Life of Juan Francisco De La Bodega Y Quadra.University of British Columbia Press. pp. 130–137, 148.ISBN978-0-7748-1367-9.
  2. ^At the Far Reaches of Empire,pp. 144, 150-151

Further reading[edit]

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