Pío Pico
Encyclopedia
Pío de Jesús Pico was the last Governor of Alta California (now the State of California) under Mexican rule.
to José María Pico and his wife María Eustaquia Gutiérrez, with the aid of midwife Eulalia Pérez de Guillén Mariné
. His paternal grandmother, María Jacinta de la Bastida, was listed in the 1790 census
as mulata
, meaning mixed race with some African ancestry. His paternal grandfather, Santiago de la Cruz Pico, was described as a Mestizo
(Native American-Spanish) in the same census. He was one of the soldiers who accompanied Juan Bautista de Anza
on the expedition that left Tubac, Arizona
for California
in 1775 to explore the region and colonize it. Pio Pico was thus of Spanish, African and Native American ancestry.
. He married María Ignacia Alvarado there on February 24, 1834.
hut and dram shop
in Los Angeles, selling drinks for two Spanish bits (US 25 cents). His businesses soon became a significant source of his income.
John Bidwell
, an early California settler, mentioned him among the people he knew: "Los Angeles I first saw in March, 1845. It then had probably two hundred and fifty people, of whom I recall Don Abel Stearns, John Temple, Captain Alexander Bell, William Wolfskill
, Lemuel Carpenter
, David W. Alexander; also of Mexicans, Pio Pico
(governor), Don Juan Bandini
, and others".
By the 1850s Pico was one of the richest men in Alta California
. In 1850 he purchased the 8894 acres (3,599.3 ha) Rancho Paso de Bartolo
, which included half of present day Whittier
. Two years later, he built a home on the ranch and lived there until 1892. It is preserved today as Pio Pico State Historic Park
. Pico also owned the former Mission San Fernando Rey de España
, Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores
(now part of Camp Pendleton), and several other ranchos for a total of over one half-million acres, or 800 mi² (2,000 km²).
In 1868, he constructed the three story, 33-room hotel, Pico House
(Casa de Pico) on the old plaza of Los Angeles, opposite today's Olvera Street
. At the time of its opening in 1869, it was the most lavish hotel in Southern California. Even before 1900, however, it began a slow decline along with the surrounding neighborhood, as the business center moved further south. After decades of serving as a shabby flop house, it was deeded to the State of California in 1953, and is now a part of El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Monument. It is used on occasion for exhibits and special events.
in 1832, when Victoria was deposed for refusing to follow through with orders to secularize the mission properties. As governor pro tempore and Vocal of the Departmental Assembly, Pico began secularization. After 20 days in office, he transferred the government to Zamorano
and Echeandia
, who were appointed to govern the north and south, respectively.
Pico ran for office in 1834 as the first alcalde
(magistrate) of San Diego, but was defeated. He challenged Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado
(1836 to 1842) on political issues and was imprisoned on several occasions.
In 1844 he was chosen as a leader of the California Assembly. In 1845, he was appointed as governor, succeeding the unpopular Manuel Micheltorena
. Pico made Los Angeles the province's capital. In the year leading up to the Mexican-American War, Governor Pico was outspoken in favor of California's becoming a British Protectorate rather than an American territory.
When U.S. troops occupied Los Angeles and San Diego in 1846 during the Mexican-American War, Pico fled to Baja California
, Mexico, to argue before the Mexican Congress for sending troops to defend Alta California. Pico did not return to Los Angeles until after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
, and he reluctantly accepted the transfer of sovereignty.
Automatically granted United States citizenship, he was elected to the Los Angeles Common Council
in 1853, but he did not assume office.
, a disease diagnosed later in the nineteenth century. They say that images of Pico from 1847 through 1858 show a characteristic pattern of progressive acromegaly
, a disease caused by excessive and unregulated release of growth hormone
from a growth hormone-secreting adenoma
of the anterior pituitary gland. He demonstrates progressive coarsening of his facial features with a large bulbous nose, broad forehead, protuberant lips and forward-jutting jaw (prognathism
). His hands reveal the diagnostic massive enlargement so typical of this illness. With a height of just 67 inches in his forties, his acromegaly must have begun after puberty, or he would have manifested gigantism
. Images of his younger brother Andres Pico
and elder brother, Jose Antonio Pico, show normal body features, suggesting Governor Pico's condition was a disease and not a benign familial trait. Pio Pico had never been recognized or diagnosed previously with acromegaly.
The apparent pituitary adenoma had at least three additional secondary effects on his medical condition besides causing acromegaly. First, his eyes show progressive misalignment, indicating the tumor grew laterally into the cavernous sinus
and compromised the cranial nerves
controlling eye muscle power. Second, he has a hairless face. Although potentially just a personal choice, in the presence of a large pituitary tumor, this is more likely due to testosterone
deficiency. This condition results from the enlarging tumor interfering with the normal function of gonadotropin
pituitary cells resulting in secondary hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and infertility. Third, in 1858 his lateral eyebrows were absent, indicating secondary hypothyroidism
, also caused by the tumor-compromising function of the normal pituitary thyrotrope
cells. The 1852 daguerreotype
of Pio Pico may be the earliest objective image of acromegaly ever recorded, since the disease was not recognized and named until Pierre Marie coined the term in 1886 while working at the clinic of Charcot
in Paris, France.
Acromegaly is usually a fatal illness if untreated; 80% of patients die within 10 years of the diagnosis. But, Pico survived 36 years after the 1858 image, when his disease was active and had been present for at least 11 years. This unexpected situation was probably due to spontaneous pituitary apoplexy
, in this case, selectively involving his tumor but not the remainder of his own pituitary gland. In selective pituitary tumor apoplexy, the adenoma undergoes infarction
and shrinkage and disappears. No longer compressed by the adenoma, the optical nerves could resume normal function and his remaining pituitary cells could restore normal levels of gonadotropic and thyrotropic hormones. Most importantly, absent the abnormally elevated levels of growth hormone that were released by the tumor, the features of acromegaly quickly regress.
Careful inspection of his appearance in his 90s (as shown in the full body image at the top of this entry) reveals a dramatic reversal of all the abnormal features that were so prominent earlier in his life. His hands are delicate and slender, his eyes are now precisely aligned, his eyebrows have returned and he has a full beard. Although the beard partly obscures his facial features, his lips, nose and forehead are no longer so large and coarse. He looks normal in these later years. Pico was fortunate, as the mortality from pituitary tumor apoplexy in this pre-treatment era was 50%, and over 80% of patients who survived had inadequate function of the remaining pituitary hormone cells. It is difficult to determine how soon after 1858 the apoplexy developed to cause his striking recovery, as until now there had been no known photographs of Pico between age 57 and the images of him in his 90s. In 2009 the Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum, burial site of Pico and his wife, received a private 1873 photograph of Pio Pico donated by a descendant of the Temple family. Compared with the 1858 image (above and to the left) Pico at age 72 now shows a generous beard, full eyebrows, symmetrical light reflection on his eyes and less prominence of his acromegalic features. His appearance at age 72 is virtually identical to that in his 90s and supports the hypothesis that his selective pituitary tumor apoplexy actually took place between 1858 and 1873. This new image enhances the controversial probability that Pico was likely the biological father of Alfredo Romero born in 1871. Pico’s selective pituitary tumor apoplexy may be the earliest recorded clinical example of this event as documented photographically because the first description of pituitary tumor apoplexy was published only in 1898.
Pico suffered the dual misfortune of disfigurement from acromegaly and ridicule. Gertrude Atherton
, a prominent San Francisco writer, said of Pico in 1902: “…an uglier man than Pio Pico rarely had entered this world. The upper lip of his enormous mouth dipped at the middle; the broad thick under lip hung down with its own weight. The nose was big and coarse, although there was a certain spirited suggestion in the cavernous nostrils…”
, losses to loan sharks, bad business practices, being a victim of fraud, and the flood of 1883 ruined him financially. He was forced to liquidate his real estate holdings and his final years were spent in near poverty. In 1893 a committee of local boosters and history enthusiasts asked him to appear at the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition as "the last of the California dons". Pico refused, considering it an affront to his dignity. He died in 1894 at the home of his daughter Joaquina Pico Moreno in Los Angeles. He was buried in the old Calvary Cemetery on North Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles but the remains of he and his wife were relocated in 1921 to a modest tomb in El Campo Santo Cemetery
, now in the Homestead Museum
in the City of Industry.
Pico held three different nationalities during his lifetime. He was born a Spaniard in New Spain
, became a Mexican
citizen as a young man, and finally a United States
citizen. He was known for his extravagant lifestyle, with fine clothes, expensive furnishings, and heavy gambling.
Besides his major political and business contributions, his legacy must include the landmark presentations of acromegaly and spontaneous selective pituitary tumor apoplexy with full recovery. There are no current references to any of a variety of symptoms he might have manifested from the tumor itself or the secondary symptoms it might have produced. A partial list of these symptoms could include headache, double vision, loss of vision, fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, frequent urination and extreme thirst, severe snoring, muscle weakness and impotence. Such information, when and if available, will potentially confirm and extend the current state of knowledge of his medical history.
In 1927, Pío Pico State Historic Park
was created from the ruins of his Rancho de Bartolo (El Ranchito) in Whittier
, and Casa Pico mansion. Pico Boulevard
, a major east-west thoroughfare in Los Angeles, is named for him. An elementary and middle school in Los Angeles' Mid-City
district is also named in his honor. Pico Rivera, a city located in southeastern Los Angeles County, is named for the last Mexican governor.
On being invited to appear at the Columbian Expostion:
Origins
Píco was a third-generation Californio. He was born at the Mission San Gabriel ArcángelMission San Gabriel Arcángel
The Mission San Gabriel Arcángel is a fully functioning Roman Catholic mission and a historic landmark in San Gabriel, California. The settlement was founded by Spaniards of the Franciscan order on "The Feast of the Birth of Mary," September 8, 1771, as the fourth of what would become 21 Spanish...
to José María Pico and his wife María Eustaquia Gutiérrez, with the aid of midwife Eulalia Pérez de Guillén Mariné
Eulalia Perez de Guillén Mariné
Eulalia Pérez de Guillén Mariné was a Californio who was mayordoma of Missión San Gabriel Arcángel and grantee of Rancho del Rincón de San Pascual in the San Rafael Hills, in present day Los Angeles County, California...
. His paternal grandmother, María Jacinta de la Bastida, was listed in the 1790 census
Los Angeles Pobladores
The Pobladores of Los Angeles refers to the 44 original settlers and 4 soldiers who founded city of Los Angeles, California in 1781....
as mulata
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
, meaning mixed race with some African ancestry. His paternal grandfather, Santiago de la Cruz Pico, was described as a Mestizo
Mestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
(Native American-Spanish) in the same census. He was one of the soldiers who accompanied Juan Bautista de Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto was a Novo-Spanish explorer and Governor of New Mexico for the Spanish Empire.-Early life:...
on the expedition that left Tubac, Arizona
Tubac, Arizona
Tubac is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 949 at the 2000 census. The place name Tubac is an English borrowing from a Hispanicized form of the O'odham name, which translates into English as "rotten". The original O'odham name is written...
for California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1775 to explore the region and colonize it. Pio Pico was thus of Spanish, African and Native American ancestry.
Marriage and family
After the death of his father in 1819, Pico settled in San Diego, CaliforniaSan 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...
. He married María Ignacia Alvarado there on February 24, 1834.
Business life
In 1821 Pico set up a tanningTanning
Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...
hut and dram shop
Dram Shop
Dram shop or dramshop is a legal term in the United States referring to a bar, tavern or the like where alcoholic beverages are sold. Traditionally, it referred to a shop where spirits were sold by the dram, a small unit of liquid....
in Los Angeles, selling drinks for two Spanish bits (US 25 cents). His businesses soon became a significant source of his income.
John Bidwell
John Bidwell
John Bidwell was known throughout California and across the nation as an important pioneer, farmer, soldier, statesman, politician, prohibitionist and philanthropist...
, an early California settler, mentioned him among the people he knew: "Los Angeles I first saw in March, 1845. It then had probably two hundred and fifty people, of whom I recall Don Abel Stearns, John Temple, Captain Alexander Bell, William Wolfskill
William Wolfskill
William Wolfskill was a cowboy and agronomist from Los Angeles, California, who was highly influential in the development of California's agricultural industry in the 19th century.-Valencia orange:...
, Lemuel Carpenter
Lemuel Carpenter
Lemuel Carpenter, was one of the first Anglo-American settlers of what is now the Los Angeles, California metropolitan area.-Early life:Lemuel Carpenter was born ca. 1808 in Kentucky...
, David W. Alexander; also of Mexicans, Pio Pico
Pío Pico
Pío de Jesús Pico was the last Governor of Alta California under Mexican rule.-Origins:...
(governor), Don Juan Bandini
Juan Bandini
Juan Bandini was an early settler of what would become San Diego, California.-Early history:Juan Bandini was born 1800 in Lima, Peru to José Bandini, a Spanish sea captain. His father came to California in 1819 and 1821 and participated in the Mexican War of Independence...
, and others".
By the 1850s Pico was one of the richest men in Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
. In 1850 he purchased the 8894 acres (3,599.3 ha) Rancho Paso de Bartolo
Rancho Paso de Bartolo
Rancho Paso de Bartolo also called Rancho Paso de Bartolo Viejo was a Mexican land grant in present day Los Angeles County, California given in 1835 by Governor Jose Figueroa to Juan Crispin Perez. The name refers to a San Gabriel River ford called Paso de Bartolo Viejo...
, which included half of present day Whittier
Whittier, California
Whittier is a city in Los Angeles County, California about southeast of Los Angeles. The city had a population of 85,331 at the 2010 census, up from 83,680 as of the 2000 census, and encompasses 14.7 square miles . Like nearby Montebello, the city constitutes part of the Gateway Cities...
. Two years later, he built a home on the ranch and lived there until 1892. It is preserved today as Pio Pico State Historic Park
Pio Pico State Historic Park
Pío Pico State Historic Park is the site of "El Ranchito," also known as the Pío Pico Adobe or Pío Pico Mansion, the final home of Pío Pico, the last Governor of Alta California under Mexican rule and a pivotal figure in early California history. Located in Whittier, California, at 6003 Pioneer...
. Pico also owned the former Mission San Fernando Rey de España
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...
, Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores
Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores
Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores was a Mexican land grant in present day northwestern San Diego County, California given by governor Juan Alvarado in 1841 to Andrés Pico and Pio Pico...
(now part of Camp Pendleton), and several other ranchos for a total of over one half-million acres, or 800 mi² (2,000 km²).
In 1868, he constructed the three story, 33-room hotel, Pico House
Pico House
The Pico House is a historic building in Los Angeles, California, dating from its days as a small town in Southern California. Located on 430 North Main Street, it sits across the old Los Angeles Plaza from Olvera Street and El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument...
(Casa de Pico) on the old plaza of Los Angeles, opposite today's Olvera Street
Olvera Street
Olvera Street is in the oldest part of Downtown Los Angeles, California, and is part of the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument. Many Latinos refer to it as "La Placita Olvera." Circa 1911 it was described as Sonora Town....
. At the time of its opening in 1869, it was the most lavish hotel in Southern California. Even before 1900, however, it began a slow decline along with the surrounding neighborhood, as the business center moved further south. After decades of serving as a shabby flop house, it was deeded to the State of California in 1953, and is now a part of El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Monument. It is used on occasion for exhibits and special events.
Political life
Pico served twice as Governor of Alta California, taking office the first time from Manuel VictoriaManuel Victoria
Manuel Victoria was Governor of the Mexican territory of Alta California from January 1831 to 6 December 1831.The revolt leading to his twelve month abbreviated tenure and subsequent exile were due to his nullifying the order of his predecessor, José María de Echeandía, to secularize the missions...
in 1832, when Victoria was deposed for refusing to follow through with orders to secularize the mission properties. As governor pro tempore and Vocal of the Departmental Assembly, Pico began secularization. After 20 days in office, he transferred the government to Zamorano
Zamorano
The Zamorano Pan-American Agricultural School , generally known as El Zamorano or Zamorano, is a private, coeducational university located in the valley of the Yeguare river, Honduras. El Zamorano's main focus is agricultural and there are four different programs to choose from in the school....
and Echeandia
Echeandia
Echeandia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. It is named for Spanish botanist Pedro Gregorio Echeandía . Species in the genus are distributed from the Southwestern United States south to Northwestern Argentina, Southern Bolivia, and Southern Peru. They...
, who were appointed to govern the north and south, respectively.
Pico ran for office in 1834 as the first 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...
(magistrate) of San Diego, but was defeated. He challenged Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado
Juan Bautista Alvarado
Juan Bautista Valentín Alvarado y Vallejo was a Californio and twice Governor of Alta California from 1836 to 1837, and 1838 to 1842.-Early years:...
(1836 to 1842) on political issues and was imprisoned on several occasions.
In 1844 he was chosen as a leader of the California Assembly. In 1845, he was appointed as governor, succeeding the unpopular Manuel Micheltorena
Manuel Micheltorena
Manuel Micheltorena was a Brigadier General of the Mexican Army, Adjutant-General of the same, Governor, Commandant-General and Inspector of the Department of the California...
. Pico made Los Angeles the province's capital. In the year leading up to the Mexican-American War, Governor Pico was outspoken in favor of California's becoming a British Protectorate rather than an American territory.
When U.S. troops occupied Los Angeles and San Diego in 1846 during the Mexican-American War, Pico fled to Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, Mexico, to argue before the Mexican Congress for sending troops to defend Alta California. Pico did not return to Los Angeles until after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...
, and he reluctantly accepted the transfer of sovereignty.
Automatically granted United States citizenship, he was elected to the Los Angeles Common Council
Los Angeles Common Council
The Los Angeles Common Council was the predecessor of the Los Angeles City Council which serves the City of Los Angeles, California today.The Los Angeles Common Council was formed in 1850 and existed until 1889 when a new charter was established....
in 1853, but he did not assume office.
Medical history
In 2010, scientists published an article about Pio Pico asserting that he showed signs of acromegalyAcromegaly
Acromegaly is a syndrome that results when the anterior pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone after epiphyseal plate closure at puberty...
, a disease diagnosed later in the nineteenth century. They say that images of Pico from 1847 through 1858 show a characteristic pattern of progressive acromegaly
Acromegaly
Acromegaly is a syndrome that results when the anterior pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone after epiphyseal plate closure at puberty...
, a disease caused by excessive and unregulated release of growth hormone
Growth hormone
Growth hormone is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction and regeneration in humans and other animals. Growth hormone is a 191-amino acid, single-chain polypeptide that is synthesized, stored, and secreted by the somatotroph cells within the lateral wings of the anterior...
from a growth hormone-secreting adenoma
Adenoma
An adenoma is a benign tumor of glandular origin. Adenomas can grow from many organs including the colon, adrenal glands, pituitary gland, thyroid, prostate, etc. Although these growths are benign, over time they may progress to become malignant, at which point they are called adenocarcinomas...
of the anterior pituitary gland. He demonstrates progressive coarsening of his facial features with a large bulbous nose, broad forehead, protuberant lips and forward-jutting jaw (prognathism
Prognathism
Prognathism is a term used to describe the positional relationship of the mandible and/or maxilla to the skeletal base where either of the jaws protrudes beyond a predetermined imaginary line in the coronal plane of the skull. In general dentistry, oral and maxillofacial surgery and orthodontics...
). His hands reveal the diagnostic massive enlargement so typical of this illness. With a height of just 67 inches in his forties, his acromegaly must have begun after puberty, or he would have manifested gigantism
Gigantism
Gigantism, also known as giantism , is a condition characterized by excessive growth and height significantly above average...
. Images of his younger brother Andres Pico
Andrés Pico
Andrés Pico was a Californio who became a successful rancher, served as a military commander during the Mexican-American War; and was elected to the state assembly and senate after California became a state, when he was also commissioned as a brigadier general in the state militia.-Early...
and elder brother, Jose Antonio Pico, show normal body features, suggesting Governor Pico's condition was a disease and not a benign familial trait. Pio Pico had never been recognized or diagnosed previously with acromegaly.
The apparent pituitary adenoma had at least three additional secondary effects on his medical condition besides causing acromegaly. First, his eyes show progressive misalignment, indicating the tumor grew laterally into the cavernous sinus
Cavernous sinus
The cavernous sinus , within the human head, is a large collection of thin-walled veins creating a cavity bordered by the temporal bone of the skull and the sphenoid bone, lateral to the sella turcica.-Contents:...
and compromised the cranial nerves
Cranial nerves
Cranial nerves are nerves that emerge directly from the brain, in contrast to spinal nerves, which emerge from segments of the spinal cord. In humans, there are traditionally twelve pairs of cranial nerves...
controlling eye muscle power. Second, he has a hairless face. Although potentially just a personal choice, in the presence of a large pituitary tumor, this is more likely due to testosterone
Testosterone
Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group and is found in mammals, reptiles, birds, and other vertebrates. In mammals, testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the ovaries of females, although small amounts are also secreted by the adrenal glands...
deficiency. This condition results from the enlarging tumor interfering with the normal function of gonadotropin
Gonadotropin
Gonadotropins are protein hormones secreted by gonadotrope cells of the pituitary gland of vertebrates. This is a family of proteins, which include the mammalian hormones follitropin , lutropin , placental chorionic gonadotropins hCG and eCG and chorionic gonadotropin , as well as at least two...
pituitary cells resulting in secondary hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and infertility. Third, in 1858 his lateral eyebrows were absent, indicating secondary hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid gland does not make enough thyroid hormone.Iodine deficiency is the most common cause of hypothyroidism worldwide but it can be caused by other causes such as several conditions of the thyroid gland or, less commonly, the pituitary gland or...
, also caused by the tumor-compromising function of the normal pituitary thyrotrope
Thyrotrope
Thyrotropes are endocrine cells in the anterior pituitary which produce thyroid stimulating hormone in response to thyrotropin releasing hormone .Thyrotropes appear basophilic in histological preparations....
cells. The 1852 daguerreotype
Daguerreotype
The daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process. The image is a direct positive made in the camera on a silvered copper plate....
of Pio Pico may be the earliest objective image of acromegaly ever recorded, since the disease was not recognized and named until Pierre Marie coined the term in 1886 while working at the clinic of Charcot
Jean-Martin Charcot
Jean-Martin Charcot was a French neurologist and professor of anatomical pathology. He is known as "the founder of modern neurology" and is "associated with at least 15 medical eponyms", including Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis...
in Paris, France.
Acromegaly is usually a fatal illness if untreated; 80% of patients die within 10 years of the diagnosis. But, Pico survived 36 years after the 1858 image, when his disease was active and had been present for at least 11 years. This unexpected situation was probably due to spontaneous pituitary apoplexy
Pituitary apoplexy
Pituitary apoplexy or pituitary tumor apoplexy is bleeding into or impaired blood supply of the pituitary gland at the base of the brain. This usually occurs in the presence of a tumor of the pituitary, although in 80% of cases this has not been diagnosed previously...
, in this case, selectively involving his tumor but not the remainder of his own pituitary gland. In selective pituitary tumor apoplexy, the adenoma undergoes infarction
Infarction
In medicine, infarction refers to tissue death that is caused by a local lack of oxygen due to obstruction of the tissue's blood supply. The resulting lesion is referred to as an infarct.-Causes:...
and shrinkage and disappears. No longer compressed by the adenoma, the optical nerves could resume normal function and his remaining pituitary cells could restore normal levels of gonadotropic and thyrotropic hormones. Most importantly, absent the abnormally elevated levels of growth hormone that were released by the tumor, the features of acromegaly quickly regress.
Careful inspection of his appearance in his 90s (as shown in the full body image at the top of this entry) reveals a dramatic reversal of all the abnormal features that were so prominent earlier in his life. His hands are delicate and slender, his eyes are now precisely aligned, his eyebrows have returned and he has a full beard. Although the beard partly obscures his facial features, his lips, nose and forehead are no longer so large and coarse. He looks normal in these later years. Pico was fortunate, as the mortality from pituitary tumor apoplexy in this pre-treatment era was 50%, and over 80% of patients who survived had inadequate function of the remaining pituitary hormone cells. It is difficult to determine how soon after 1858 the apoplexy developed to cause his striking recovery, as until now there had been no known photographs of Pico between age 57 and the images of him in his 90s. In 2009 the Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum, burial site of Pico and his wife, received a private 1873 photograph of Pio Pico donated by a descendant of the Temple family. Compared with the 1858 image (above and to the left) Pico at age 72 now shows a generous beard, full eyebrows, symmetrical light reflection on his eyes and less prominence of his acromegalic features. His appearance at age 72 is virtually identical to that in his 90s and supports the hypothesis that his selective pituitary tumor apoplexy actually took place between 1858 and 1873. This new image enhances the controversial probability that Pico was likely the biological father of Alfredo Romero born in 1871. Pico’s selective pituitary tumor apoplexy may be the earliest recorded clinical example of this event as documented photographically because the first description of pituitary tumor apoplexy was published only in 1898.
Pico suffered the dual misfortune of disfigurement from acromegaly and ridicule. Gertrude Atherton
Gertrude Atherton
Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton was an American writer.-Early Childhood:Gertrude Franklin Horn was born on October 30, 1857 in San Francisco to Thomas Ludovich Horn and his wife, the former Gertrude Franklin...
, a prominent San Francisco writer, said of Pico in 1902: “…an uglier man than Pio Pico rarely had entered this world. The upper lip of his enormous mouth dipped at the middle; the broad thick under lip hung down with its own weight. The nose was big and coarse, although there was a certain spirited suggestion in the cavernous nostrils…”
Epilogue
Following the American annexation of California, Pico dedicated himself to his businesses. However, gamblingGambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
, losses to loan sharks, bad business practices, being a victim of fraud, and the flood of 1883 ruined him financially. He was forced to liquidate his real estate holdings and his final years were spent in near poverty. In 1893 a committee of local boosters and history enthusiasts asked him to appear at the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition as "the last of the California dons". Pico refused, considering it an affront to his dignity. He died in 1894 at the home of his daughter Joaquina Pico Moreno in Los Angeles. He was buried in the old Calvary Cemetery on North Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles but the remains of he and his wife were relocated in 1921 to a modest tomb in El Campo Santo Cemetery
El Campo Santo Cemetery
El Campo Santo is a cemetery located at the Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum, 15415 East Don Julian Road, in City of Industry, California....
, now in the Homestead Museum
Homestead Museum
The Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum is a historic house museum located at 15415 East Don Julian Road in City of Industry, California, that features the homes and private cemetery that belonged to the pioneer Workman-Temple family.-Workman House:...
in the City of Industry.
Pico held three different nationalities during his lifetime. He was born a Spaniard in New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
, became a Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
citizen as a young man, and finally a United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
citizen. He was known for his extravagant lifestyle, with fine clothes, expensive furnishings, and heavy gambling.
Besides his major political and business contributions, his legacy must include the landmark presentations of acromegaly and spontaneous selective pituitary tumor apoplexy with full recovery. There are no current references to any of a variety of symptoms he might have manifested from the tumor itself or the secondary symptoms it might have produced. A partial list of these symptoms could include headache, double vision, loss of vision, fatigue, chest pain, shortness of breath, frequent urination and extreme thirst, severe snoring, muscle weakness and impotence. Such information, when and if available, will potentially confirm and extend the current state of knowledge of his medical history.
In 1927, Pío Pico State Historic Park
Pio Pico State Historic Park
Pío Pico State Historic Park is the site of "El Ranchito," also known as the Pío Pico Adobe or Pío Pico Mansion, the final home of Pío Pico, the last Governor of Alta California under Mexican rule and a pivotal figure in early California history. Located in Whittier, California, at 6003 Pioneer...
was created from the ruins of his Rancho de Bartolo (El Ranchito) in Whittier
Whittier, California
Whittier is a city in Los Angeles County, California about southeast of Los Angeles. The city had a population of 85,331 at the 2010 census, up from 83,680 as of the 2000 census, and encompasses 14.7 square miles . Like nearby Montebello, the city constitutes part of the Gateway Cities...
, and Casa Pico mansion. Pico Boulevard
Pico Boulevard
Pico Boulevard is a major Los Angeles street that runs from the Pacific Ocean at Appian Way in Santa Monica to Central Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, California, USA...
, a major east-west thoroughfare in Los Angeles, is named for him. An elementary and middle school in Los Angeles' Mid-City
Mid-City, Los Angeles, California
Mid-City is a district in Los Angeles, California. It is 2.5 miles south of Hollywood and 3.5 miles west of downtown Los Angeles. The Lafayette Square, Victoria Park, Wellington Square, and Vineyard neighborhoods are part of the district.-Geography and history:Mid-City's boundaries are roughly...
district is also named in his honor. Pico Rivera, a city located in southeastern Los Angeles County, is named for the last Mexican governor.
Quotes
During the Mexican-American War, arguing for Mexican troops to defend California:On being invited to appear at the Columbian Expostion:
Further reading
- Carlos Manuel Salomon. Pio Pico: The Last Governor of Mexican California (University of Oklahoma Press; 2010) 256 pages; ISBN 978-0-8061-4090-2
External links
- Biography from the San Diego Historical Society excerpted from Smythe's History of San Diego (1907)
- What made Pio Pico so, well, ugly? - LATimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....