The Don of the Foothill Cities

It's not much, but Duarte gets so precious little media coverage, it merits attention. According to the Star-News, a statue of Andres Avelino Duarte will be revealed to the public this Saturday across from City Hall.

Who? Well, besides giving his name to the city he founded just east of Monrovia, Duarte originally held more than 7,000 acres of land in the San Gabriel Valley, including the cities of Arcadia, Azusa, Baldwin Park, Bradbury, Duarte, Irwindale and Monrovia, as the Star-News notes. The city website has the historical dirt on Duarte:

Andres Duarte was born at Mission San Juan Capistrano, in Alta California in November 1805. He joined the Mexican army at age 16, and was eventually assigned to Mission San Gabriel responsible for monitoring the outer lands of the Mission. In his early thirties he was transferred to the Mission San Gabriel garrison and assigned to protect the Mission property from San Gabriel to San Bernardino. It was then that he grew fond of the area adjacent to the Rio Azusa, now known as the San Gabriel River, along the foothills of the mountains.

After hanging up his weapons, Duarte was on the receiving end of a generous grant from Governor Juan Alvarado, and the rest is history. The bronze statue will be officially unveiled at 1pm, on Saturday.