Historical Marker · No. 385
Rio San Gabriel Battlefield
Montebello, Los Angeles County · California
Erected by the City of Montebello, and Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, 1944
American forces under Stockton and Kearny forded the river here on January 8, 1847, through knee-deep water with quicksand in the bottom, while José María Flores held the high bank opposite. Los Angeles fell two days later. The water beside the plaque is not the river they crossed. In 1867 the San Gabriel shifted east into a new channel and the Rio Hondo took over the old one, so the battlefield carries the name of a river that has since moved away from it. The bronze, cast in 1944, dates the fight to January 3.
What the plaque says
Near this site, on January 3, 1847, was fought the Battle of the Rio San Gabriel between American forces commanded by Capt. Robert F. Stockton, U.S. Navy Commander-in-Chief, Brig. Gen. Stephen W. Kearney, U.S. Army, and Californians commanded by General José Mariá Flores.
Where it stands
33.99210, -118.11132 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Mission San Gabriel Arcangel — 7.2 miThe fourth Alta California mission, built on Tongva land with Tongva labor, rebuilt after arson and now telling that story straight.
- Colorado Street Bridge — 11 miBeaux-Arts concrete arches curving 150 feet above the Arroyo Seco, opened in 1913 and later a link in Route 66.
- Santa Monica Pier — 22 miWhere the Mother Road runs out of continent, and where the End of the Trail sign gives the drive somewhere to finish.