Don Pedro Fages
| Pedro Fages (Pere Fages i Beleta) | |
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-Variant.svg){kind=small} 2nd Governor of Alta California
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In office July 9, 1770 – 1774 |
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| Preceded by | Gaspar de Portolá |
| Succeeded by | Fernando Rivera y Moncada |
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5th Governor of Alta California
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In office July 12, 1782 – April 16, 1791 |
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| Preceded by | Felipe de Neve |
| Succeeded by | José Antonio Roméu |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1734 Guissona, Lérida/Lleida province, Catalonia, Spain |
| Died | 1794 (aged 64) Mexico City |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Spouse(s) | Eulalia Callis |
| Profession | soldier, explorer, and military Governor of Las Californias |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Spain |
| Service/branch |
 Army of Spain
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| Rank |
 Colonel
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Pedro Fages (1734–1794), original name Pere Fages i Beleta, nicknamed L'Ós ("The Bear", in Catalan) was a Spanish soldier, explorer, first Lieutenant Governor of the Californias under Gaspar de Portolá, and second (1770–74) and fifth (1782–91) Governor of Alta California.
Fages was born in Guissona, Lérida/Lleida province, Catalonia, Spain. In 1762 he entered the light infantry in Catalonia in 1762 and joined Spain's invasion of Portugal during the Seven Years' War. In May 1767 Fages, commissioned as a lieutenant in the newly formed Free Company of Volunteers of Catalonia, set sail from Cádiz along with a company of light infantry, voyaging to New Spain (Mexico). He and his men served under Domingo Elizondo in Sonora.
In 1769, Fages was selected by visitador (Inspector general) José de Gálvez to lead the ship-borne portion of the Gaspar de Portolá-led expedition to found San Diego, California. Lieutenant Fages sailed from Guaymas to the Baja California port of La Paz. Then on January 9, 1769, he boarded the galleon San Carlos, captained by Vicente Vila and bound for San Diego. Also on board were Franciscan friar Fernando Parrón, engineer and cartographer Miguel Costansó, surgeon Pedro Prat, and 25 soldiers under Fages' command along with a crew of sailors. After sailing nearly 200 miles (320 kilometers) beyond San Diego due to cartography errors, the San Carlos doubled back south. It finally arrived in San Diego Bay on April 29, with scurvy-ridden troops and crewmen.
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Wikipedia