Why isn Antonio Miranda on the Founders Plaque?
Antonio Miranda y Rodriguez, along with his daughter, were among those chosen to be the original settlers of the City of Los Angeles in 1781. He did start the expedition with the other pobladores, but while en route his daughter got sick with small pox causing him to stop and delay to take care of her lingering illness. Miranda’s name appears in the 1781 first census for Los Angeles, and in the 1782 census as well, however, in the census of 1783 his name was dropped and his allotment was re-assigned to someone else. His daughter eventually died of her illness, and Miranda subsequently arrived in Los Angeles, even though some stories erroneously say that he never arrived. Upon arriving in Los Angeles, Miranda found that his allotment had already been assigned to another, but that the presidio in Santa Barbara wanted him. Miranda’s highly valued skill as a gunsmith or armorer was desired for the Presidio of Santa Barbara. The Presidio in Santa Barbara was in charge of protecting the area
