Mariano de la Luz Verdugo (1746 – 1822) was a Spanish soldier and later Mayor of the Pueblo of Los Angeles.

Mariano de la Luz Verdugo was born at San Javier, Baja California

San Javier, Baja California Sur

San Javier is a village in Loreto Municipality in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It is approximately 36 km southwest of Loreto on an unfinished road...

, to Juan Diego Verdugo and María Ignacia de la Concepción Carrillo. Mariano Verdugo came to California with his brother, José María Verdugo

Jose Maria Verdugo

José María Verdugo was a soldier from the Presidio of San Diego who was assigned to the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel at the time his land was granted by the Spanish Empire in 1784.-Spanish soldier:...

, in the 1769 Rivera expedition

Fernando Rivera y Moncada

Fernando Javier Rivera y Moncada was a soldier from New Spain who served in the Baja California peninsula and upper Las Californias, participating in several early overland explorations. Fernando Rivera y Moncada served as a Spanish Miilitary Governor from 1774-1777. -Biography:Rivera was born...

 and, for the next two decades, served at various presidios in California. Mariano Verdugo was promoted to the rank of corporal and placed in command of the guard at Mission San Luis Obispo

Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa

Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was founded 1772 on the Central Coast of California on a site located halfway between Santa Barbara and Monterey. It was named after Saint Louis of Anjou, the bishop of Toulouse. The Mission church of San Luis Obispo is unusual in its design in that its...

 in 1773. In 1781, he was elevated to sergeant and put in charge of the Monterey Presidio

Presidio of Monterey, California

The Presidio of Monterey, located in Monterey, California, is an active US Army installation with historic ties to the Spanish colonial era. Currently it is the home of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center .-Spanish fort:...

. In 1782, when Governor Felipe de Neve

Felipe de Neve

Felipe de Neve was a Spanish governor of Las Californias, an area that included present-day California , Baja California and Baja California Sur . His tenure as governor was from 1775 to 1782...

's expedition headed back to Mexico via the Colorado River, Verdugo led the military escort of the return trip.

In 1784, Spanish governor Pedro Fages

Pedro Fages

Pere Fages Beleta , nicknamed L'Ós , was a soldier, explorer, and the second Spanish military Governor of Las Californias Province of New Spain from 1770 to 1774, and the Governor of Las Californias from 1782 to 1791.-Life:...

 granted grazing rights to Rancho Portezuela, near present day Universal City

Universal City, California

Universal City is a community in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, that encompasses the 415 acre property of Universal Studios...

, to Mariano de la Luz Verdugo. Rancho Portezuela was reclaimed by the Mission San Fernando

Mission San Fernando Rey de España

Mission San Fernando Rey de España was founded on "The Feast of the Birth of Mary" , 1797. The settlement is located on the former Encino Rancho in the Mission Hills community of northern Los Angeles, near the site of the first gold discovery in Alta California.-History:Mission San Fernando Rey de...

 in 1810. Verdugo retired to Los Angeles around 1787, and served as alcalde

Alcalde

Alcalde , or Alcalde ordinario, is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian cabildo and judge of first instance of a town...

 of the Pueblo in 1790 - 1791 and 1802 - 1808. Mariano married Maria Guadalupe Lugo (–1780) at Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo

Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo

Mission San Carlos Borroméo del río Carmelo, also known as the Carmel Mission, is a Roman Catholic mission church in Carmel, California. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and a U.S...

 in 1775. After Guadalupe Lugo died in San Diego

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

 in 1780, Verdugo married Maria Gertrudis Gregoria Espinosa (1760–1830) in 1778. Their daughter, Maria del Rosaria Verdugo (1793-), married Francisco Avila in 1810.