Los Angeles – or, to be more precise, El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles – was founded by the Spanish in much the same fashion and for much the same reason as San Francisco. A mission supplying a presidio, creating a bulwark against Russian encroachment from the north. It was left mostly undefended, however, during the Mexican-American war, and minus a few small skirmishes was occupied by the U.S. without bloodshed.

On this day, April 4, in 1850, Los Angeles became a municipality, six weeks after the County of Los Angeles was established and just five months before the entire state of California joined the Union.

Los Angeles in the early days after its founding was the Wild Wild West, with some Mexican flavor. Juan Flores was the co-leader, along with Pancho Daniel of a gang called “las Manillas” (the handcuffs) who were most known for a string of robberies in San Juan Capistrano and the shooting of a local sheriff. Tiburcio Vásquez was also another popular horse rustler, robber and cattle thief in early Los Angeles.