Revilla Gigedo
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Two Counts of Revilla Gigedo served as Viceroys of New Spain:
1. Juan Francisco de Güemes y Horcasitas, count of Rivella Gigedo (1682?–1766), was the Viceroy of New Spain from 1746 to 1755. He encouraged the and settlement of New Mexico, particularly under José de Escandón.
2. His son, Juan Vicente Güemes Pacheco de Padilla, count of Revilla Gigedo, (1740–1799), born in Havana, Cuba, was Viceroy of New Spain from 1789 to 1794. He was one of the finest administrators of the Spanish colonial era.
Revilla Gigedo the son slept 3 - 4 hours per night, arising at 1 a. m. to begin a day's work. Shortly after he assumed the office of the 53rd viceroy of New Spain, a gang of outlaws murdered 11 people in one family. Revilla Gigedo took only 13 days to have the gang located, tried and hung for the murders. For this, he was often called the Vindicator of Justice. He also did much to lessen the bribery and corruption among government employees. He implemented new administrative system of intendancies in the government. He cleaned up Mexico City and installed street lights there and in various other cities and he promoted the construction of needed public buildings and aqueducts.
Rivella Gigedo sent out an expedition that carried the Spanish territorial claims north of the California coast. Because of his sponsorship of exploration, several places in North America bear his name. When he took the office of viceroy in 1789, the Spanish claims in North America had reached their widest extent. Although he sponsored exploration, he did not see the Pacific Northwest as being worth what it would cost to maintain possession of it and he resisted his predecessor's build up of the army there.
Despite his good work and popularity with the people he ruled, Revilla Gigedo lasted only five years in office. Although King Charles IV was the nominal ruler of Spain, his queen, Maria Luisa of Parma and her lover, Manuel de Godoy held most of the power. Godoy wasn't in agreement with Rivella Gigedo's reforms and lack of territorial ambitions in the Pacific Northwest. Godoy replaced him as soon as he could.
Revillagigedo Island, in Alaska was named after him, as were the San Juan Islands in what is now the United States state of Washington and the Revilla Gigedo Islands, southwest of the Baja California peninsula in Mexico. There is also a Revilla-Gigedo Palace in Gijón, Spain.