Pablo de la Portillà was a soldier and pioneer in nineteenth-century California. Capt. Portillà served in the frontier Spanish army. He arrived in 1819 with his troops on the Cossack from Mazatlán, Mexico. These were reinforcements to protect Mission San Buenaventura against Mohave (Colorado River) Indians. They were attached to the Presidio of Santa Barbara. Capt. Portillà took part in the 1831 Mexican Revolution.