Born at Mission San Juan Capistrano, Andres Avelino Duarte joined the Mexican Army in 1821. After being transferred to Mission San Gabriel, he was assigned to protect mission property. Upon retirement, he received nearly 7,000 acres that included portions of present-day Duarte, Bradbury, Monrovia, Azusa, Arcadia, Irwindale, and Baldwin Park. Duarte, his wife Gertrudis, and their son Felipe Santiago lived in a small adobe called the Homestead on what is now Tocino Drive in Duarte. After the Mexican-American War and the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, Duarte began selling his landholdings, and in 1862 Rancho Azusa de Duarte came to an end.