Juan Francisco Reyes 1747

​Francisco Reyes who accompanied the Portola party to discover Monterey, Alta California was born in 1747 in a small village called Zapotlan el Grande in the State of Jalisco, Mexico. (Today it is a city named Cuidad Guzman) His father was Juan Jose Dias and his mother was Gertrudis Reyes. It is unclear to us why he used the Reyes name when he journeyed to Alta California.

We have Reyes marriage investigation, signed by Padre Serra. After serving as a soldier protecting Serra in Carmel, Reyes was assigned to the SB Presidio to fulfill his period of enlistment. He retired to Pueblo de Los Angeles where he served twice as Alcade. Reyes was the recipient of a Spanish Land Grant called Encino. It encompassed today's Encino, but also contained the entire San Fernando Valley. As with all European land grants, when the Crown wanted his Rancho back to be given for a Mission at San Fernando, the land was.....reluctantly.....returned. Reyes was given a substitute land grant rancho called Lompoc.

As part of La Senora's Rancho Descendants outreach, we have traced his descendants through five generations. We are now seeking information on his ancestors and on his activities in Mexico---most likely in the shipyards -- during the period in which the Alta California exploration ships were being readied for the journey. La Senora is devoted to research and education on the Cultural Heritage of these individuals so it's not just genealogical information we seek.

After Independence, Reyes grandson Ysidro Reyes (a young vintner in the Pueblo) and a friend Francisco Marquez (operator of the large blacksmith shop in the Pueblo) moved to Rancho Boca de Santa Monica in 1839 when they received that Mexican Land Grant. We will post DNA info from Francisco Reyes great, great, great grandson (the Historian for La Senora Research Institute and Rancho Boca de Santa Monica) and will be delighted if someone can help us to understand what these tests mean. Ernest Marquez is the great grandson of both Ysidro Reyes and Francisco Marquez as the two land grant families intermarried.