Juan Leal Goraz (1676–1742 or 1743), also called Juan Leal Gonzal, was a Spanish settler and politician who served as the first alcalde (a municipal magistrate with both judicial and administrative functions) of La Villa de San Fernando, which later would become the city of San Antonio, Texas. A native of the Canary Islands, Leal went to San Antonio in 1731 leading a group of settlers from the Canary Islands to populate this municipality, founded by the Spanish government under the sponsorship of King Philip V. Leal had asserted himself as the Canarian emigrants' leader and spokesman since they left the islands. He served as alcade of San Antonio between 1731 and 1732, and again in 1735.
Biography
Early life and first actions as leader of the new settlers
Juan Leal was born in 1676 in the city of Teguise, in Lanzarote (Canary Islands). He was the son of Antonio Goraz and Maria Perez and became a councilor of the municipality of Teguise. He lived in the village of San Bartolomé, on the same island.
In 1730, the Spanish Crown decided to send ten or eleven families from the Canary Islands as emigrants to Villa de San Fernando because of a supposed threat to Spanish interests by the French in Louisiana. Leal was the first Canarian councilor to respond, and agreed to enlist seven families of the ten more needed for the enterprise.
In Santa Cruz, the capital of Tenerife, Bartolomé de Casabuena, Superintendent of the Court of the Indies in the Canary Islands, appointed the oldest male among the chosen settlers, which happened to be Leal, as their leader. He accepted the assignment. On March 27, 1730, Leal, along with his own and the other Canarian families, departed from Santa Cruz on the frigate Santísima Trinidad y Nuestra Señora del Rosario, headed for Veracruz, via Havana. The first impression that the Canarians, who were unaccustomed to sea travel, had of their transport was that the ship was very small for such a long voyage. When many in the group panicked from fear and confusion, Leal's calm demeanor reassured them, and helped them endure a passage on rough seas across the Atlantic. This was the first indication of his natural ability as a leader, although not all his decisions were at first accepted by every one of the Canarian settlers. The group eventually came to the mutual conclusion that they needed a leader to choose a course of action to address any problems.
The settler group arrived in Havana on May 10 and were greeted by its governor, who had been made aware of their impending arrival by a letter from Bartolomé de Casabuena at Tenerife. Here they remained for several weeks and were given food and clothing. On July 9 they embarked on the ship Santísima Trinidad y Nuestra Señora del Rosario for Veracruz, where they landed on July 19 and remained for thirteen days. The alcalde of Veracruz greeted them on behalf of the Viceroy of New Spain, Juan de Acuña, and ordered horses and mules and wagons, and a guide called Francisco Duval to be made available to them. Continuing their journey overland, they reached Cuautitlán Izcalli, a town northwest of Mexico City, on August 27, 1730, where they received food, shelter, and clothing. Leal went to Mexico City for an audience with the viceroy to request better transportation and tools. Viceroy Acuña committed to providing more resources for the trip, and issued letters of introduction instructing the Governor of Texas and the Captain of the Presidio of San Antonio to assist the Canarians in building the new cabildo.
After the arrival of the settlers' caravan at San Luis de Potosí on November 14, 1730, Leal told the alcalde of the city that four Canarian men had abandoned the caravan and fled. The alcalde sent soldiers in pursuit, and they were arrested several days later and imprisoned at San Luis. The alcalde told Leal that if he would agree to be responsible for them, he would release the deserters to his custody. Leal accepted his proposal. The fact that Juan Leal led the four Canarians in handcuffs back to the caravan and did not respond to them while they were incarcerated at San Luis was the source of many problems that divided the Canarian families once they were established in San Antonio. Many days after this, Juan Leal gave a loan to the fugitives, who were not returned until later, when Juan Leal forced them.
After passing through many other towns and cities, the settlers finally reached the Presidio of San Antonio on the morning of March 9, 1731, after eight months of travel in a caravan and almost a year since they had left the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife for Texas. Leal was 54 years old.