Longinos Martínez, José (c. 1755–1803)

José Longinos Martínez (b. ca. 1755; d. 1803), naturalist in New Spain (1787–1803). A native of Calahorra, Spain, Longinos studied botany at the Royal Botanical Garden in Madrid before traveling to Mexico in 1787. Longinos preferred the study of animals and spent his time in Mexico studying birds, butterflies, fish, and mammals. He traveled through Lower and Upper California in 1791 and 1792, and kept a detailed journal on Indian life and customs, geography, and fauna and flora. Following his assignment in California, Longinos went to Guatemala, where he opened a small museum and gave lessons in botany. He died of tuberculosis on a trip to Campeche in Yucatán.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lesley Byrd Simpson, ed. and trans, Journal of José Longinos Martínez: Notes and Observations of the Naturalist of the Botanical Expedition in Old and New California and the South Coast, 1791–1792 (1961).

The following are selective pages from the 1961 book that give a road log from 1792 of travel from Cabo San Lucas to San Diego plus many side trips.