BERNARDA RUIZ DE RODRIGUEZ

Bernarda Ruiz de Rodriguez was a Californio (a Spanish-speaking resident of Alta California) who is believed to have had a major influence in brokering the end of Mexican-American War.

She was born in the early 1800s in Santa Barbara (part of Alta California), which was held by Spain at the time. After Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821, the town came under Mexican rule.

In the late 1840s, when the U.S. and Mexico were at war, she was a respected, educated and wealthy town leader. Her four sons had joined the fighting against the Americans in Los Angeles.

In late 1846, Lt. Col. John C. Fremont and his men took over Santa Barbara and moved into a hotel next to her home while they planned an imminent attack on Los Angeles. Believing that Fremont was likely to be successful, and fearful that her sons were in danger, she requested a meeting with Fremont, at which she proposed a truce.

It included a pardon for Pio Pico, the last governor of Alta California, the release of prisoners, and an opportunity for Californios to return to Mexico if they wanted. It also gave Californios who remained in the U.S. the same rights and privileges as American citizens.

Fremont accepted, and he and Pio signed the Treaty at Campo de Cahuenga, although it was an unofficial document with no participation from the U.S. or Mexican governments.

The pact halted hostilities in Los Angeles and was the precursor to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which formally ended the war and ceded the Southwest to America.