22 Facts About Jose Galvez

1. Jose Galvez was buried next to his father in the church of San Fernando in the city proper.

2. Jose Galvez helped advance science in the colony by sponsoring the Royal Botanical Expedition to New Spain, led by Martin Sesse y Lacasta.

3. Jose Galvez carried out a masterful military campaign and defeated the British colonial forces at Fort Bute, Baton Rouge, and Natchez in 1779.

4. Jose Galvez practiced an anti-British policy as governor, taking measures against British smuggling and promoting trade with France.

5. Jose Galvez is one of only eight people to have been awarded honorary United States citizenship.

6. Jose Galvez aided France and the newly formed nation the United States of America in the international war against Britain, defeating the British at the Siege of Pensacola and conquering West Florida.

7. Jose Galvez had his first war campaign with Portugal in the Seven Years' War.

8. Jose Galvez promoted the organization of a tobacco monopoly, which proved to be very lucrative.

9. At the outbreak of the American Revolution, Jose Galvez was assigned the post of commandant of the Spanish troops stationed in Louisiana, with the rank of colonel.

10. Jose Galvez was a 10-year-old shoe-shine boy when he first stepped foot in the newsroom of the Arizona Daily Star.

11. Jose Galvez established the Real Compania de Filipinas and in 1778 founded the Archivo General de Indias, bringing together documents about the Indies from Simancas, Seville and Cadiz.

12. Jose Galvez had ordered captain Rivera to requisition horses and mules from local Baja California missions without endangering their survival, giving the missionaries receipts for the exact number of animals taken.

13. Jose Galvez wanted the expedition members to demonstrate to the Indians the advantages they would gain by living under the sovereign protection of the Spanish king.

14. The third ship, the San Jose Galvez, disappeared at sea on the way to San Diego.

15. Jose Galvez issued further instructions for building a proper fortification at Monterey; reconnoitering the ports of Monterey and San Francisco; and preparing detailed accounts destined for top officials in Mexico and Spain.

16. Jose Galvez assigned Junipero Serra to head the missionary team in the Alta California expedition—without bothering to ask padre Serra if he agreed to his new mission.

17. Jose Galvez had some young Indian orphans sent to Loreto for training in handling coastal boats and ships.

18. Jose Galvez ordered Indians moved from one mission to another—despite the Indians' reluctance to leave their home villages—to correct such imbalances.

19. Jose Galvez suppressed these by summary trials and sentences of life imprisonment, mainly in San Luis Potosi, Guanajuato and parts of Michoacan.

20. Jose Galvez took measures to combat contraband and reformed the system of customs collection in Veracruz and Acapulco.

21. Jose Galvez belonged to an important political family that included his brother Matias de Galvez and nephew Bernardo de Galvez.

22. Jose Galvez was one of the prime figures behind the Bourbon Reforms.