Los Angeles, California

Lore & Background

The Tongva people called the Los Angeles region Yaa in their Uto-Aztecan language. By the 1700s CE, there were 5,000 native people in the Los Angeles basin, and the land occupied by the Tongva covered about 4,000 square miles (10,000 km2). Their trade extended to the Colorado River and included slavery. The survival and success of Los Angeles depended greatly on the presence of a nearby and prosperous Tongva village called Yaanga, located by the freshwater artesian aquifer of the Los Angeles River. Its residents provided the colonists with seafood, fish, bowls, pelts, and baskets. For pay, they dug ditches, hauled water, and provided domestic help. They often intermarried with the Mexican colonists. The first Europeans to visit the region were Captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542 and Captain Sebastián Vizcaíno in 1602. The first permanent non-native presence began when the Portolá expedition arrived on August 2, 1769.

In Their Own Story

In 1777, Governor Felipe de Neve toured Alta California and decided to establish civic pueblos for the support of the military presidios. He identified Santa Barbara, San Jose, and Los Angeles as sites for his new pueblos. His plans closely followed a set of Spanish city-planning laws contained in the Laws of the Indies promulgated by King Philip II in 1573. The Pobladores—22 adults and 22 children from Sonora—founded Los Angeles. Twenty were of African American or Native American descent. The official date for the founding of the city is September 4, 1781. The name first given to the settlement is debated: historian Doyce B. Nunis said the Spanish named it "El Pueblo de la Reina de los Angeles" ("The Town of the Queen of the Angels"), pointing to a map dated 1785. Frank Weber, the diocesan archivist, replied that the name given by the founders was "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Porciuncula," or "the town of Our Lady of the Angels of Porciuncula," and that the map was in error.

Reader's Guide

Los Angeles is a major urban setting within the Supernatural universe, characterized by its high concentration of supernatural threats masked by celebrity culture and urban density. It serves as a critical location where Sam and Dean Winchester often travel to investigate cases involving demons exploiting human ambition or ancient creatures hiding in the city's vast infrastructure. The environment forces hunters to adapt their tactics from rural isolation to navigating crowded, chaotic streets. The city matters because it represents the intersection of modern society and the hidden war between heaven and hell. Its role highlights that monsters do not just lurk in backwoods but thrive where human sin is most concentrated, making it a dangerous yet necessary ground for the brothers' endless crusade.

Did You Know?

• The Tongva people called the Los Angeles region Yaa in their Uto-Aztecan language.
• By the 1700s CE, there were 5,000 native people in the Los Angeles basin.
• The official date for the founding of Los Angeles is September 4, 1781.
• Twenty of the 44 Pobladores who founded Los Angeles were of African American or Native American descent.
• The first Europeans to visit the region were Captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542 and Captain Sebastián Vizcaíno in 1602.