Thomas Fallon: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Thomas Fallon (1825 - 1885) was an Irish-born, Canadian-raised, American capitalist and politician, and seventh Mayor of San Jose, California.

Fallon's family moved to Canada when he was a child. When he was 18, he moved to Texas, where he joined the expedition of John C. Frémont to Alta California. In 1844, Fallon left Frémont's force and moved to Santa Cruz. In June of 1846 he joined the Bear Flag Revolt, raised a group of 22 voluanteers in Santa Cruz, and appointed himself captain. The force then crossed the Santa Cruz Mountains to capture the pueblo (town) of San Jose without bloodshead on July 11. On July 14, 1846, he recieved an American Flag from Commodore John D. Sloat, which he raised over the juzgado of San Jose, the pueblo's administrative building.

Fallon became rich early in the California Gold Rush, married the daughter of a local land owner, and moved back to Santa Cruz. After a short time, the family moved again, this time back to Texas. Following the death of several of his children, the family moved back to San Jose, and Fallon began buying land in the area and built the Fallon House in Downtown San Jose. Fallon was elected Mayor of San Jose in 1859.

Fallon died in San Francisco, California in 1885.

In the 1980s, San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery had the city commission a statue of Fallon raising the U.S. flag in San Jose at a cost of over $800,000. The statue was completed in 1988, and was scheduled to be located in the City Park Plaza (now known as Plaza de Céasar Chávez) near the site of the flag raising. However local groups, including Hispanic Americans, protested that Fallon represented American imperialism and repression of the Mexican population. The statue was stored until 2002, when it was finally displayed in a small park northwest of the original proposed location, near Julian and St. James Streets.