Fort Romualdo Pacheco facts for kids

Map of the route, Juan Bautista de Anza travelled in 1775-76 from Mexico to today's San Francisco via the Gila River corridor and the Yuma Crossing of the Colorado River.

Fort Romualdo Pacheco, also called Fuerte de Laguna Chapala, was a small fort built in 1825. It was part of New Spain, which was a large area in the Americas controlled by Spain. The fort was built with thick stone and adobe walls and was about 100 feet square. It was abandoned just one year later, in 1826.

The fort was built by Lieutenant Alfrez Jose Antonio Romualdo Pacheco Sr. He built it to protect people traveling on a route that Juan Bautista de Anza had explored in 1774. This route went from Sonora (in modern-day Mexico) to Alta California (part of modern-day California).

The fort became necessary after a big attack in 1781. Many people, including Fernando Rivera y Moncada, soldiers, and missionaries like Francisco Garcés, were killed. This event, known as the Yuma Revolt or Yuma Massacre, happened at Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer. The Apache Quechan Indians carried out the attack. This attack made it unsafe to travel overland between northern Mexico and Alta California for 50 years. This stopped many Mexicans from moving to Alta California.

Lieutenant Pacheco, along with soldiers and cavalry from the Presidio of San Diego, built the fort in late 1825 and early 1826. It was located near the New River in what is now Imperial, California.

The fort was only used for a few months in 1826. Pacheco returned to San Diego, leaving Ignacio Delgado in charge. On April 26, 1826, the San Sebastian Kumeyaay Indians attacked the fort. Pacheco had heard rumors of the attack and arrived with help from San Diego. Pacheco and his 25 lancers (soldiers with spears) fought back. Three soldiers were killed and three were injured in the battle. Twenty-eight Indians were also killed. However, the fort was surrounded by many Kumeyaay and Quechan warriors. Because they were greatly outnumbered, the soldiers abandoned the fort and returned to San Diego.

Archeologists studied the site in 1958 before the Imperial Valley College Museum removed the remaining parts of the fort.

California Historical Landmark

The place where Fort Romualdo Pacheco once stood is now a California Historical Landmark. It is landmark number 944.

The sign at the California Historical Landmark says:

NO. 944 SITE OF FORT ROMUALDO PACHECO - In 1774, Spain opened an overland route from Sonora to California but it was closed by Yuma Indians in 1781. In 1822, Mexico attempted to reopen this route. Lt. Romualdo Pacheco and soldiers built an adobe fort at this site in 1825-26, the only Mexican fort in Alta California. On April 26, 1826, Kumeyaay Indians attacked the fort, killing three soldiers and wounding three others. Pacheco abandoned the fort, removing soldiers to San Diego.

The Yuma Massacre

The Yuma Massacre and Yuma Revolt were a series of attacks by Yuma Indians against New Spain in 1781. The trail explored by Juan Bautista de Anza in 1774 was called the El Camino del Diablo, or the Road of the Devil. It was a very hard journey through the Sonoran Desert.

At first, the Spanish had peaceful relationships with the Quechans, also known as Yumas. However, in 1781, the Yumas revolted. Francisco Garcés, a priest, had good connections with the Yumas and their leader, Salvador Palma. But General Teodoro de Croix upset this peace. He built two towns on Yuma land without working with Garcés or building any forts to protect them.

The uprising on July 18, 1781, at Yuma Crossing on the Colorado River, badly damaged the Spanish mission settlements. These included Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer and Mission Puerto de Purísima Concepción. During these attacks, about 100 Spanish people died. This included Lieutenant Governor Fernando Rivera y Moncada, Father Francisco Garcés, and many others. Among those killed were four priests, 36 soldiers, and 20 civilians. The Yumas also took 74 people captive. Later, under the leadership of Pedro Fages, 72 of these captives were released in 1781.

Captain José Antonio Roméu was put in charge of a force to get revenge on the Yumas. He and Governor Felipe de Neve led attacks from September to October in 1782. Their force killed 108 Yumas, took 85 prisoners, and got back 1,048 stolen horses. However, they could not fully defeat the Yumas, and the Anza Trail remained closed.

Years later, in December 1851, US Major Samuel P. Heintzelman and sixty US troops arrived at the Yuma Crossing from San Diego. They built Fort Yuma. By 1852, Major Heintzelman was able to end the fighting with the Yumas and stop the Yuma War.

José Antonio Romualdo Pacheco Sr.

José Antonio Romualdo Pacheco Sr. was born in 1795 in Guanajuato, Mexico. He was also known as Lieutenant Alfrez Jose Antonio Romualdo Pacheco and Captain José Antonio Romualdo Pacheco. His parents were Mariano Pacheco and Maria Gertrudis Pacheco.

Pacheco was an engineer and a soldier for New Spain. He helped repair and build several forts in Alta California. He built Fort Fuerte de Laguna Chapala in 1825. He had first planned to build the fort at Banning, California, but he chose the New River area instead because of the water there. He called the small lake near the river Laguna Chapala. He hired local Indians to help build the fort.

He married Maria Ramona de la Luz Pacheco (Wilson). They had two children: Juan Mariano Martin Pacheco y Carrillo and José Antonio Romualdo Pacheco Jr.. His son, José Antonio Romualdo Pacheco Jr., later became the 12th Governor of California in 1875.

José Antonio Romualdo Pacheco Sr. was killed on December 6, 1831. This happened at the Battle of Cahuenga Pass in Los Angeles, California. Pacheco shot Jose Maria Avila, who had attacked Alta California Governor Manuel Victoria with a spear. But Pacheco died when Avila's spear hit him. His wife, Maria, later married John Wilson of San Francisco.