Californios singular Californio are Hispanic Californians , especially those descended from Spanish settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries before California was annexed by the United States. California's Spanish-speaking community has resided there since and is made up of varying Spanish origins, including criollos , Mestizos , Indigenous Californian peoples, and small numbers of Mulatos. Some may also identify as Chicanos , a term that came about in the s.
The term Californio historical, regional Spanish for 'Californian' was originally applied by and to the Spanish-speaking residents of Las Californias during the periods of Spanish California and Mexican California , between and The first Californios were the children of the early Spanish military expeditions into northern reaches of the Californias. Many of their fathers were soldiers who established the presidios of California and guarded the California mission system.
Later, the primary cultural focus of the Californio population became the Vaquero tradition practiced by the landed gentry , who received large land grants and created the Rancho system.
Many married Californio women and became Mexican citizens, learning Spanish and often converting to Catholicism , the state religion. They are often also considered Californios, for their adherence to Californio language and culture.
In studies estimated that between , and , have ancestry descended from the Spanish and Mexican eras of California. The term "Californio" has different meanings depending on the author or source. Authors such as Douglas Monroy, [ 7 ] Damian Bacich [ 8 ] or Covadonga Lamar Prieto, [ 9 ] among others, define Californios as exclusively applying to Alta California residents and their descendants. Historians Hunt Janin and Ursula Carlson consider a Californio to be any settler who migrated to Alta California and their descendants; and also non-Hispanic immigrants who intermarried with Hispanics and integrated into the Californio culture during the Mexican era, and their descendants.
