Pío Pico in the context of Rancho Ex-Mission San Buenaventura

Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city in and the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States. It is a coastal city located northwest of Los Angeles. The population was 110,763 at the 2020 United States census. Ventura is a popular tourist destination, owing to its historic landmarks, beaches, and resorts.

Ventura has been inhabited by different peoples, including the Chumash Native Americans, for at least 10,000 years. With the arrival of Spanish missionaries in 1782, Mission San Buenaventura was established by Junípero Serra, giving the city its name. Following the Mexican secularization act of 1833, San Buenaventura was granted by Governor Pío Pico to Don José de Arnaz as Rancho Ex-Mission San Buenaventura and a small community arose. Following the American Conquest of California, San Buenaventura was eventually incorporated as a city in 1866. The 1920s brought a major oil boom which significantly developed and expanded Ventura, a growth that continued with the post–World War II economic expansion.

Below is a list of the governors of early California (1769–1850), before its admission as the 31st U.S. state. First explored by Gaspar de Portolá, with colonies established at San Diego and Monterey, Las Californias was a remote, sparsely settled Spanish province of the viceroyalty of New Spain. In 1822, following Mexican independence, California became part of Mexico.

In 1836, a coup led by Californios Juan Bautista Alvarado and José Castro eventually resulted in Alvarado becoming governor. That conflict ended in 1838, when the central government of Mexico recognized Alvarado as California Governor. The territorial diputación (legislature) approved the appointment.