Summer 2011, Volume 57, Number 3 - San Diego History Center

Book Reviews
activism meanwhile continued uninterrupted, and in a rebellion carried out in
1845, he replaced Mexico’s appointed governor. When American forces attacked
his homeland in 1846, Pico sought to mobilize the Californios, but then left for
Mexico in order to avoid capture and the indignity of surrendering the province
to the invaders. The exile returned from Mexico after the war’s end to reclaim
his Rancho Santa Margarita.
In chapters 6 through 9, Salomon focuses on Pico’s career as a Mexican American
businessman. The author marvels at Pico’s business acumen as the don astutely
forged profitable business alliances with americanos (and even accommodated
himself with the new political order). From the 1850s to the 1870s Pico turned
huge profits from the sale of cattle and with returns purchased several ranches
throughout Southern California. But, Salomon observes, Pico was prone to taking
business risks, many of which produced financial reversals and others litigation.
By the 1880s, Pico’s economic fortunes began a decline due to the diversification
of the California economy, his own business mistakes, and the cost of legal fees.
During the last few years of his life (he lived to the age of 93), indeed, Pico
experienced deepening financial losses and by 1891 faced indigence.
Several conclusions surface from this informative study on Pío Pico. Mainly,
as Salomon contends, the governor’s continued participation in California’s
nineteenth-century political and economic life complicates the standard thesis
that disaster followed the war with Mexico because the Californios could not
compete in the new milieu. A similar observation of individual perseverance might
be made of Mexican Americans in other regions of the conquered Southwest; in
Texas, for instance, José Antonio Navarro’s political and economic life paralleled
Pico’s in some ways (according to a recent book by David McDonald). On the
other hand, Pico’s economic misfortunes (and perhaps that of fellow Californios)
cannot be completely attributed to orchestrated efforts among Anglo Americans
to victimize the Californios; Pico often brought problems upon himself due to
imprudent business decisions. Last, historical figures can often shape history
long after their deaths. As Salomon opines, for Mexican Americans today Pío Pico
symbolizes ethnic pride and the very embodiment of the maxim that individuals
can prosper despite difficult odds.
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