The Project Gutenberg EBook of The March of Portolá, by
Zoeth S. Eldredge and E. J. Molera
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Title: The March of Portolá
and, The Log of the San Carlos and Original Documents
Translated and Annotated
Author: Zoeth S. Eldredge and E. J. Molera
Release Date: March 20, 2009 [EBook #4978]
Last Updated: January 26, 2013
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MARCH OF PORTOLÁ ***
Produced by David A. Schwan, and David Widger
THE MARCH OF PORTOLÁ AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO
By Zoeth S. Eldredge
Log of the San Carlos and
Original Documents Translated and Annotated
By E. J. Molera
Published by the Reception Committee
of The California Promotion
Committee
This Book is published with the approval and
endorsement
of the Executive Committee of the Portolá Festival.
San Francisco
"Serene, indifferent of fate,
Thou sittest at the Western Gate;
Upon thy heights so lately won,
Still slant the banners of the sun;
Thou seest the white seas strike their tents,
O warder of two continents,
And scornful of the peace that flies,
Thy angry winds and sullen skies,
Thou drawest all things, small or great,
To thee beside the Western Gate."
CONTENTS
Introduction
THE MARCH OF PORTOLÁ AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE
BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO
DATA REGARDING DON GASPAR DE PORTOLÁ AFTER HE
LEFT CALIFORNIA
Causes that Decided the Government of Spain to
Send an Expedition by
THE LOG OF THE SAN CARLOS
Report of Don Juan Manuel de Ayala Commander
of the Packet Boat San
Description of the Newly-discovered Port of
San Francisco
Reconnaissance of the Port of San Francisco,
with Map
Index of Persons
FOOTNOTES
Introduction
In the annals of adventure, there are no more thrilling narratives of
heroic perseverance in the performance of duty than the record of Spanish
exploration in America. To those of us who have come into possession of
the fair land opened up by them, the story of their travels and adventures
have the most profound interest. The account of the expedition of Portolá
has never been properly presented. Many writers have touched on it, and H.
H. Bancroft, in his History of California, gives a brief digest of
Crespi's diary. Most writers on California history have drawn on Palou's
Vida del V. P. F. Junipero Serra and Noticias de la Nueva California, and
without looking further, have accepted the ecclesiastical narrative. We
have endeavored in this sketch to give, in a clear and concise form, the
conditions which preceded and led up to the occupation of California.
The importance of California in relation to the control of the Pacific was
early recognized by the great European powers, some of whom had but small
respect for the Bull of Pope Alexander VI dividing the New World between
Spain and Portugal. England, France, and Russia sent repeated expeditions
into the Pacific. In 1646 the British Admiralty sent two ships to look in
Hudson's Bay for a northwest passage to the South Sea, one of which bore
the significant name of California. The voyage of Francis Drake,
1577-1580, was a private venture, but at Drake's Bay he proclaimed the
sovereignty of Elizabeth, and named the country New Albion. Two hundred
years later (1792-1793) Captain George Vancouver explored the coast of
California down to thirty degrees of north latitude (Ensenada de Todos
Santos), which, he says,﹃is the southernmost limit of New Albion, as
discovered by Sir Francis Drake, or New California, as the Spaniards
frequently call it.﹄Even after the occupation and settlement by the
Spaniards, so feeble were their establishments that, as Vancouver reports
to the Admiralty, it would take but a small force to wrest from Spain this
most valuable possession. But though the growing feebleness of Spain
presaged the time when her hold upon America would be loosened, the
standard of individual heroism was not lowered, and the achievements of
Portolá and of Anza rank with those of De Soto and Coronado. The
California explorer did not, it is true, have to fight his way through
hordes of fierce natives. The California Indians, as a rule, received the
white adventurers gladly, and entertained them with such hospitality as
they had to offer, but the Indians north of the Santa Barbara Channel were
but a poor lot. In a country abounding in game of all kinds, a sea
swarming with fish, a soil capable of growing every character of
foodstuff, these miserable natives lived in a chronic state of starvation.
As in heroic qualities, so also in skill and judgment, Portolá upholds the
best traditions of Spain. The success of an expedition depends upon the
character of the leader. Pánfilo de Narváez landed on the coast of Florida
in April, 1528, with a well-equipped army of three hundred men and forty
horses, just half the force he sailed with from Spain the previous June,
and of the three hundred men whom he led into Florida, only four lived to
reach civilization—the rest perished. That is but one example of
incompetent leadership. When Portolá organized his expedition for the
march from San Diego Bay to Monterey, many of his soldiers were ill from
scurvy, and at one time on the march the sick list numbered nineteen men,
including the governor and Rivera, his chief officer. Sixteen men had to
be carried, and to three, in extremis, the viaticum was administered; but
he brought them all through, and returned to San Diego without the loss of
a man.
There are two full diaries of this expedition, one by Father Crespi and
the other by Alférez Costansó. There is, besides, a diary of Junípero
Serra of the march from Velicatá to San Diego Bay, a translation of which
is printed in Out West magazine (Los Angeles), March-July, 1902. It is of
small value to the student of history. There is a diary by Portolá, quoted
by Bancroft, and a Fragmento by Ortega, also used by Bancroft. These we
have not seen. There are letters from Francisco Palou, Juan Crespi and
Miguel Costansó, printed in Out West for January 1902. The diary of Father
Crespi is printed in Palou's Noticias de la Nueva California. Documentos
para la Historia de Mexico, re-printed San Francisco, 1874. The diary of
Miguel Costansó is in the Sutro library. It has never been printed. It is
prefaced by an historical narrative, a poor translation of which was
published by Dalrymple, London, 1790, and a better one by Chas. F. Lummis
in Out West, June-July, 1901. In Publications of the Historical Society of
Southern California, Vol. II, Part 1, Los Angeles, 1891, a number of
documents of the Sutro collection are printed, with translations by George
Butler Griffin. These relate to the explorations of the California coast
by ships from the Philippines, the two voyages of Vizcaino, with some
letters of Junípero Serra, and diaries of the voyage of the Santiago to
the northern coast in 1774.
The sketch here submitted is the result of much study of original
documents, and the route of the expedition is laid down after careful
survey of the physical geography where possible, and in other cases, by
the contoured maps of the Geological Survey, following the directions and
language as given by the diarists. Among the printed books consulted are
Palou's Vida del Padre Junipero Serra and his Noticias de la Nueva
California, above noted. The Conquest of the Great Northwest, Agnes C.
Laut, New York, 1908; History of California by H. H. Bancroft; Treaties of
Navigation, Cabrera Bueno, Translation, Dalrymple, London, 1790; The
Discovery of San Francisco Bay, George Davidson, and Francis Drake on the
Northwest Coast of America in 1579, the same author; Proceedings of the
Geographical Society of the Pacific.
In view of the forthcoming Portolá Festival, The California Promotion
Committee, through its Reception Committee, appointed three of its members
to compile a history of the first expedition for the settlement of
California. In the endeavor to obtain further knowledge of the life and
character of Portolá, the committee has been enabled, through the efforts
of one of its members, to have careful search made among the archives of
Madrid, of the India Office at Saville, of the City of Mexico, and of
Puebla, and while we have little to show, as yet, concerning Portolá, we
have received other documents of the utmost importance to the history of
San Francisco: a chronicle of the events following the discovery of the
Bay.
By royal edict, a maritime expedition for the exploration of the
northwestern coasts of America sailed from San Blas early in the year
1775. This consisted of the frigate Santiago, under the
commander-in-chief, Don Bruno de Heceta; the packet boat San Carlos, under
Lieutenant Ayala, and schooner Sonora, under Lieutenant Bodega. To
Lieutenant Ayala was assigned the exploration of the Bay of San Francisco,
while the Santiago and the Sonora sailed for the north. Bodega discovered
the Bay which bears his name, and Heceta (to spell his name as it is
usually written) discovered the Columbia River. Bancroft (History of
California), in giving Palou's Vida as authority for his short and
incorrect account of Ayala's survey, says:﹃It is unfortunate that neither
map nor diary of this earliest survey is extant.﹄It is with pleasure we
are permitted to present to the public these important documents, now
printed for the first time, and only regret that the shortness of time
allowed for their study may perhaps necessitate later some minor
corrections.
We have also received from the Minister of Marine of Spain, Don José
Ferrano, under date of July 14, 1909, a drawing of the paquebot, San
Carlos, together with the record of her gallant commander, Don Juan Manuel
de Ayala.
Ayala was born in Osuna, Andalucia, on the 28th of December, 1745. He
entered the Marine Corps on the 19th of September, 1760, and was made
Alférez de Fragata, October 10, 1767; Alférez de Navio, June 15, 1769;
Teniente de Fragata, April 28, 1774; Teniente de Navio, February, 1776;
and Capitan de Fragata, December 21, 1782.
When the order for the exploration of the northern coast was made, Ayala
was one of the officers assigned to the work. He arrived in Vera Cruz in
August, 1774, proceeded to the City of Mexico, and was ordered by Viceroy
Bucareli to San Blas, where he was given command of the schooner Sonora.
The squadron under Heceta had hardly got under way, when the commander of
the San Carlos, Don Miguel Manrique, suddenly went mad. Ayala was ordered
to the command of the packet-boat, and returned to San Blas with the
unfortunate officer, to follow the squadron a few days later.
In December, 1775, Ayala conducted a reconnaissance on the coast of New
Spain, and at its conclusion was placed in command of the Santiago, and
until October, 1778, served the new establishments of California. In
August, 1779, he was sent to the Philippine Islands in command of the San
Carlos, returning to San Blas in 1781. In July, 1784, he returned to
Spain, and on March 14, 1785, was retired, at his own request, the royal
order granting him full pay as captain of frigate in consideration of his
services to California. He died December 30, 1797.
Zoeth S. Eldredge,
E. J. Molera,
Charles H. Crocker,
San Francisco, August, 1909.—Committee.
THE MARCH OF PORTOLÁ AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO
By Zoeth S. Eldredge
The popular mind accepts the oft-repeated statement that the settlement of
California was due to the pious zeal of a devoted priest, eager to save
the souls of the heathen, supplemented by the paternal care of a monarch
solicitous for the welfare of his subjects. The political exigencies of
the day are forgotten; military commanders and civil governors sink into
insignificance and become mere executives of the priestly will, while the
heroic efforts of Junípero Serra to convert the natives, his courage in
the face of danger, his sublime zeal, and his unwearied devotion, make him
the impelling factor in the colonization of California.
Nor is the popular conception that the church led the way into California
strange, when we understand that it is to the writings of Fray Francisco
Palou, friend, disciple, and successor of Junípero, that all historians
turn for the account of the occupation. Fray Palou details the glorious
life of the leader with whom he toiled; he eulogizes the worthy priest,
the ardent missionary, as he passed up and down the length of the land,
founding missions, planting the vine, the olive, and the fruit tree in a
land whose inhabitants had often suffered from hunger; giving aid and
comfort to the sick and weary and consolation to the dying. Indeed, the
pictures of the padres are fascinating. The infant establishments planted
by the church grew rich and powerful, but so wise and gentle was the
administration of the priests and so generous their hospitality, that life
in California in the first quarter of the nineteenth century was an almost
dolce far niente existence.
Radiant as is the priestly figure of Junípero drawn by Palou, the careful
investigator will find that the impelling factor in the occupation of
California was stern military necessity, not missionary zeal. From the
time of Cabrillo, Spain had claimed the coasts of the Pacific up to
forty-two degrees north latitude by right of discovery, but more than two
hundred years had passed and she had done nothing towards making good this
right by settlement. The country was open to colonization by any nation
strong enough to maintain and protect its colonies.
Before relating the story of Portolá's march, let us consider for a moment
the situation of California in its relation to Spain and other European
nations, and we will then understand why Spain found it necessary to
occupy the country.
When Legaspi completed the conquest of the Philippines in 1565, he sent
his flagship, the San Pedro, back to New Spain under command of his
grandson, Felipe Salcedo, with orders to survey and chart a practicable
route for ships returning from the Islands. The San Pedro sailed from
Cebu, June 1, 1565, and took her course east-northeast to the Ladrones,
thence northward to latitude thirty-eight, thence sailing eastward,
following the Kuroshiwo, the Black Current of Japan, they made a landfall
on the coast of California about the latitude of Cape Mendocino. A sail of
two thousand five hundred miles down the coasts of California and New
Spain brought the voyagers to the port of Acapulco. This route was charted
by the priests on board the San Pedro, and for nearly three centuries was
the one followed by the galleons of Spain sailing from Manila to Acapulco.
The voyage across the Pacific was a long one and ships in distress were
obliged to put about and make for Japan. A harbor on the coast of
California in which ships could find shelter and repair damages was
greatly desired. A survey of the unknown coasts of the South Sea, as it
was called, was ordered, and it was also suggested that the explorations
be extended beyond the forty-second degree of north latitude, it being
held that the coast was a part of the same continent as that of China, or
only separated therefrom by the narrow strait of Anian, which was believed
to open in latitude forty-two.
Up to this time the only exploration of the northern coast of California
was that of Juan Rodrigues Cabrillo, and continued after his death by his
chief pilot, Bartolomé Ferrelo, in 1542-1543. Cabrillo sailed as far north
as Fort Ross, anchored in the Gulf of the Farallones, off the entrance to
the Golden Gate, and then sought refuge from the terrible storms in San
Miguel Island, Santa Barbara Channel, where he died. Ferrelo took command
and sailed up to Cape Mendocino, which he named in honor of Don Antonio de
Mendoza, first viceroy of New Spain.
On the 17th of June, 1579, Francis Drake, in command of the Golden Hinde,
took refuge in the bay under Point Reyes, now known as Drake's Bay. He
took possession of the country in the name of Queen Elizabeth, and named
it New Albion, because of the white cliffs which, Chaplain Fletcher
writes, "lie towards the sea," and also﹃that it might have some affinity
with our own country.﹄It was in this place and at this time that the
first English service was held in America, by Master Francis Fletcher,
chaplain to Francis Drake. The "Prayer Book Cross" in Golden Gate Park,
San Francisco, commemorates the event.
Drake remained in this bay thirty-seven days, refitted his ship, supplied
himself with wood and water, and sailed on July 23d to the Southeast
Farallones, where he laid in a store of seal meat, and on the 25th sailed
across the Pacific for England by way of the Cape of Good Hope.
In 1585, Captain Francisco de Gali, sailing for the Philippines, was
directed to sail, on the return voyage, as far north as the weather would
permit, and on reaching the coast of California, examine the land and the
harbors on his way homeward, make maps of all, and report all that he
accomplished. It does not appear from Gali's report that he accomplished
anything in particular. He reached the coast in latitude 37° 30' (Pillar
Point), and noted that the land was high and fair; that the mountains1
were without snow, and that there were many indications of rivers, bays,
and havens along the coast.
In 1594, Captain Sebastian Cermeñon, a Portuguese sailor in the service of
Spain, sailed for the Philippines with orders similar to those of Gali. In
an attempt to survey the coast, he lost his ship, the San Agustin. It is
supposed she struck on one of the Farallones and was beached in Drake's
Bay. From the trunk of a tree they constructed a boat, called a viroco,
and in this the ship's company of more than seventy persons continued the
homeward voyage. The little vessel reached Puerto de Navidad in safety,
and here the commander and part of the company left it in charge of the
pilot, Juan de Morgana, with a crew of ten men, who brought it into
Acapulco on the 31st of January, 1596; a most remarkable voyage of nearly
twenty-five hundred miles by shipwrecked, sick, and hungry men, crowded
into an open boat. With the loss of the San Agustin, explorations of the
California coast by laden ships from the Philippines came to an end.
Sometime prior to the summer of 1595, the viceroy of New Spain, Don Luis
de Velasco, entered into an agreement with certain persons looking to the
exploration of the coasts of the Californias and the settlement of the
land. The consideration for this undertaking, which was to be at the
expense of the adventurers, was the privilege of pearl fishing and trade,
together with all the honors, favors, and exemptions usually given to the
pacifiers and settlers of new provinces. Preparations for the expedition
were under way, when a dispute arose between the leader and his partners
in the enterprise, and the matter was carried into the courts. Before a
decision was reached, the leader died, and the judge ordered the other
partners, among whom was one Sebastian Vizcaino, to begin the voyage to
the Californias within three months. Under this order, Vizcaino applied to
Viceroy Velasco, and received his permission to make the journey. This was
the condition of affairs when, on October 5, 1596, Velasco was relieved
and a new viceroy, Don Gaspar de Zúñiga y Azevedo, Count of Monterey, took
command. At Velasco's request, Zúñiga made a careful examination of all
matters pertaining to the expedition to the Californias, and the result
was not favorable to Vizcaino. The new viceroy did not think that an
enterprise which might involve results of such vast importance should be
entrusted to the leadership of a person of such obscure position and
limited capital. He also doubted if Vizcaino had the resolution and
capacity necessary for so great an undertaking, and it appeared to him
that if disorders should arise among his men through lack of discipline,
or if the natives of the country to which he was going should repel him,
the repute and royal authority of the king would be in danger. On the
other hand, there was the decision of the court, the concession of the
viceroy, and the fact that Vizcaino had already been at expense in the
matter. Zúñiga communicated his doubts to the former viceroy, who, in his
perplexity, submitted the question to a theologian and a jurist, selected
as the viceroy writes, from the number of those whose opinions were
entitled to the greatest consideration. Their decision was that the
concession of the viceroy had the force of an agreement and contract; that
what was at first a favor had become a right, and that, as the captain had
manifested no incapacity and had been guilty of no offense, the compact
could not be varied. The audiencia2, before whom
Zúñiga also laid the matter, was of like opinion. In view, therefore, of
the length to which the affair had gone, the viceroy resolved not to annul
the contract but to do all in his power to insure the success of the
expedition. That Vizcaino's soldiers might respect and esteem him, the
viceroy clothed him with authority and showed him the greatest honor. He
required Vizcaino to furnish him with complete memorandums and inventories
of the ships and lanchas he intended to take with him, with their sails
and tackle, the number of people, and the provisions for them, arms,
ammunition, and all other property, and he instructed the royal officers
at Acapulco that the expedition must not be permitted to sail until it was
fully provided with everything necessary for the voyage and the safety of
the people. The Council of the Indies, on receiving Zúñiga's report,
ordered him to cancel Vizcaino's commission and select another leader for
the expedition, but before this order could reach the viceroy, Vizcaino
had sailed. The expedition consisted of the flagship San Francisco, six
hundred tons; the San José, a smaller ship, under command of Captain
Rodrigo de Figueroa, and a lancha. Vizcaino sailed from Acapulco in March,
1596. His first stop was at the port of Calagua on the coast of Colima,
where he took on some of his people and stores, and to this point the
watchful viceroy sent a personal representative to see that Vizcaino
complied with all of his requirements, and to report on the conduct of his
soldiers. From here Vizcaino sailed northwest to Cape Corrientes, thence
northerly to the Islands of San Juan de Mazatlan. From Mazatlan he bore
west-northwest across the Gulf of California and landed in a large bay
which he named San Felipe, afterwards known as the Bay of Cerralbo. From
here he went to La Paz bay, which he so named because of the peaceful
character of the Indians, who received him hospitably with presents of
fish, game, and fruits. This was, it is supposed, the place where Jimenez,
the discoverer of California, lost his life in 1533, and where Córtez
planted his ill-fated colony two years later. In entering the bay, the
flagship ran on a shoal, and they were obliged to cut away her masts and
lighten her of her cargo of provisions, a great part of which was wet and
lost. Here Vizcaino landed and built a stockade fort, and leaving the
dismantled flagship and the married men of his company under command of
his lieutenant, Figueroa, he sailed on October 3rd, with the San José and
the lancha and eighty men to explore the gulf. He encountered severe
storms which separated his vessels, and not having proper discipline among
his men, had trouble with the Indians of the coast, during which nineteen
men were lost by the overturning of the ship's long boat. He turned back
to La Paz, where his men, disheartened by the storms and the loss of their
comrades, demanded to be returned to New Spain. His stock of provisions
was running low, and putting the disaffected on the flagship and the
lancha, he sent them back, and with the San José and forty of the more
adventurous of the men, again sailed, on October 28th, for the headwaters
of the gulf. For sixty-six days he battled against strong north winds, and
only succeeded in reaching latitude twenty-nine; then yielding to the
demands of his men, he sailed for the port of the Isles of Mazatlan.
The results of the expedition did not add to Vizcaino's reputation, but he
made a most glowing report of his discoveries. He told of a land double
the extent of New Spain and in situation much preferable; its seas
abounding in pearls of excellent quality and in fish of all kinds, in
quantity greater than was contained in any other discovered sea; while in
the interior of the land, some twenty days' journey to the northwest, were
people who lived in towns, wore clothes, had gold and silver ornaments,
cloaks of cotton, maize and provisions, fowls of the country (turkeys),
and of Castile (chickens); thus the Indians told him—not only in one
place but in many. He desired permission to make another voyage, and as
the late expedition had exhausted his own resources, asked that he be
granted thirty-five thousand dollars from the royal treasury and
outfitting for his ships. These advances he agreed to repay from the first
gain received by him during the voyage. He also asked, on behalf of those
who accompanied him, that the countries brought by him into subjection to
the crown be given to them encomienda for five lives3; that they be
made gentlemen and granted all the favors, exemptions, and liberties that
other gentlemen enjoy, not only in the provinces of the Indies but also in
Spain. For these and for other favors asked, Vizcaino agreed to sail with
five ships, equipped with proper artillery, one hundred and fifty men,
arms and ammunition, provisions, etc.—all things necessary for the
voyage. He would pay the king one-fifth part of all gold, precious stones
and valuable mineral substances obtained, one-tenth part of the fish
taken, and one-twentieth part of the salt obtained. He also agreed to make
discovery of the whole ensenada and gulf of the Californias, take
possession of the land in the name of his majesty, make settlements, build
forts, and explore the country inland for a distance of one hundred
leagues.
Vizcaino's rose-colored report did not deceive the authorities, but as he
had the necessary outfit and had had some experience, the Council decided
that he was the best man to head the expedition, though Zúñiga favored Don
Gabriel Maldonado, of Saville, for commander. The Council ordered that
Vizcaino be supplied from the royal treasury with all necessary funds; it
granted the boon of encomienda for three lives, and that the discoverers
should have all the privileges of gentlemen throughout the Indies. It also
granted other minor privileges and boons asked for. Vizcaino was made
captain-general of the expedition, and sailed from Acapulco May 5, 1602,
with orders to explore the coasts of the Californias from Cape San Lucas
to Cape Mendocino, or as far north as latitude forty-two. His ships were
the San Diego, flagship, the Santo Tomas, under Toríbio Gomez de Corvan,
the Tres Reyes, a small fragata or tender, under Alférez Martin Aguilar,
and a barcolongo for exploring rivers and bays4. The chief
pilot of the expedition was Francisco Bolaños who had been one of the
pilots with Cermeñon on the lost San Agustin. Three barefooted Carmelites
looked after the spiritual needs of the adventurers. The story of this
second voyage of Vizcaino is well known. On the 10th of November, they
were in the Bay of San Diego, which Vizcaino named for San Diego de
Alcalá, whose day, November 14th, they spent in the bay, ignoring the
name, San Miguel, given it by Cabrillo sixty years before. Later in the
month he entered and named San Pedro bay, for Saint Peter, bishop of
Alexandria, whose day, November 26th, it was. He also named the islands
still known as Santa Catalina and San Clemente. He next sailed through and
named the Canal de Santa Barbara, which saint's day, December 4th, was
observed while in the channel, and also named Isla de Santa Barbara and
Isla de San Nicolas. Passing Punta de la Concepcion, which he named5,
Vizcaino sailed up the coast in a thick fog, which lifting on December
14th, revealed to the voyagers the lofty coast range usually sighted by
the ships coming from the Philippines. Four leagues beyond they saw a
river flowing from high hills through a beautiful valley to the sea. To
the mountains he gave the name of Sierra de la Santa Lucia, in honor of
the Saint whose day (December 13th) they had just celebrated, and the
stream he named Rio del Cármelo, in honor of the Carmelite friars.
Rounding a high wooded point, which he named Punta de los Pinos, he
dropped anchor in Monterey bay, December 16th, 1602. Here Vizcaino found
the much desired harbor of refuge, and he named it for his patron, the
Conde de Monterey. Vizcaino made the most of his discovery, and in a
letter to the king, written in Monterey Bay, December 28, 16026,
he gives a most glowing description of the bay, which is, at best, but an
open roadstead. The Indians, as usual, told him of large cities in the
interior, which they invited him to visit, but Vizcaino could not tarry.
His provisions were almost gone, his men were sick with scurvy, of which
many had died, and putting the most helpless on board the Santo Tomas, he
sent her to Acapulco for aid, and sailed, January 3, 1603, with the
flagship and fragata, for the north. A storm soon separated the vessels
and they did not see each other again until they met in the harbor of
Acapulco. Vizcaino was told by the pilot, Bolaños, that Cermeñon had left
in Drake's Bay a large quantity of wax and several chests of silk, and he
entered the bay on January 8th to see if any vestiges remained of ship or
cargo. He did not land, but awaited the arrival of the fragata. As she did
not appear, he became uneasy, and sailed the next morning in search of
her. On the 13th, a violent gale from the southeast drove him northward.
This was followed by a dense fog, and when it lifted, he found himself in
latitude forty-two—the limit of his instructions—with Cape
Blanco in sight, "and the trend of the coast line onward," he writes,
"towards Japan and Great China, which are but a short run away." Only six
of his men were now able to keep the deck, and he bore away for Acapulco,
where he arrived March 21, 1603. Of the company that sailed with him,
forty-two had died.
In 1606, Philip III, King of Spain, ordered that Monterey be occupied and
provision made there to succor and refit the Philippine ships. He directed
that to Vizcaino should be given the command of the expedition. His orders
were not carried out and Vizcaino sailed instead for Japan, whence he
returned in 1613, and died three years later.
For over one hundred and sixty years, no steps were taken for the
pacification and settlement of Alta California. The galleons continued to
make their yearly voyages to the Philippines, and returning, sail down the
coast within sight of the fair land; but no harbor of refuge was
established and no attempt was made to colonize the country.
At last the Spanish king began to realize that if he would retain his
possessions in America, some action was necessary for their protection.
Spanish sovereignty in the Pacific was threatened. The Russians had
crossed Bering Sea, had established themselves on the coast of Alaska, and
their hunters were extending their pursuit of the sea otter into more
southern waters. England had wrested Canada from France and was ready to
turn her attention to the American possessions of Spain. The Family
Compact of the Bourbon princes of France, Spain, and Italy had aroused the
ire of Pitt, then at the zenith of his fame, and he resolved to demand an
explanation from Spain, and, failing to receive it, attack her at home and
abroad before she was prepared, declaring that it was time for humbling
the whole house of Bourbon. A check in the cabinet caused Pitt's
resignation, but in 1766 he was again restored to power with vigor and
arrogance unabated.
On February 27, 1767, Don Carlos III of Spain issued his famous decree
expelling the Jesuits from the Spanish dominions. This society had
established a number of missions in Lower California, and Don Gaspar de
Portolá, a captain of dragoons of the Regiment of Spain, was appointed
governor of the Californias and sailed from Tepic with twenty-five
dragoons, twenty-five infantry, and fourteen Franciscan friars to
dispossess the Jesuits and turn the California missions over to the
Franciscans.
The king having been warned of the advance of the Russians upon the
northern coasts of California, ordered the viceroy of New Spain to take
effective measures to guard that part of his dominions from danger of
invasion and insult. While the viceroy was casting about to find a person
of sufficient importance and ability to organize and carry out so great an
undertaking, Don José de Galvez, visitador-general of the kingdom and
member of the Council of the Indies, offered his services and volunteered
to go to Lower California and effect the organization and equipment of the
expedition. His services were eagerly accepted, and Galvez set out from
the City of Mexico, April 9, 1768, for San Blas, on the coast of New
Galicia. Before arriving at that port, he was overtaken by a courier from
the viceroy bringing orders just received from the court directing that a
maritime expedition should be at once dispatched to Monterey and that port
fortified. Convening the Junta at San Blas on the 16th of May, 1768, the
señor visitador laid before them the situation and the wishes of the king.
He stated that on the exterior or occidental coasts of the Californias,
Spain claimed from Cape San Lucas on the south to the Rio de los Reyes7
in 43 degrees, though the only portion occupied was from Cape San Lucas up
to 30° 30'.8
The civilized or Christian portion of the community (gente de razon—people
of reason) did not, he said, number more than four hundred souls,
including the families of the soldiers of the garrison of Loreto and those
of the miners in the south; that if foreigners of any nation were to
establish themselves in the celebrated ports of San Diego and Monterey,
they might fortify themselves there before the government could receive
notice of it. In all the Sea of the South that washes the shores of New
Spain there were no other vessels than the two packet-boats recently built
in San Blas, the San Carlos and the San Antonio, and two others of small
tonnage which served the Jesuit missionaries in their communications
between California and the coast of Sonora. In these few ships consisted
all the maritime forces which could have been opposed to foreign invasion.
All this Galvez laid before the Junta, there being present the commandant
of the department and the army officers and pilots who chanced to be
there. It was resolved to send an expedition by sea in the San Carlos and
San Antonio, and orders were made to prepare the ships, while Galvez
proceeded to the peninsula to attend to the gathering of supplies and
provisions. All the missions of Lower California were laid under
contribution of vestments and sacred vessels for the new missions to be
established, also dried fruits, wine, oil, riding horses and mule herd;
for Galvez had decided to supplement the maritime expedition by one by
land, lest the infinite risks and dangers attending a long sea-voyage
should render the attempt abortive. The governor, Don Gaspar de Portolá,
volunteered to lead the expedition, and he was named commander-in-chief.
Don Fernando de Rivera y Moncado, captain of the presidio of Loreto, was
appointed second in command. The troops were composed of forty cavalrymen
from the presidio of Loreto in Lower California, under Rivera, and
twenty-five infantrymen of the compania franca of Catalonia, under
Lieutenant Don Pedro Fages. To the presidial troops were joined thirty
Christian Indians from the missions, armed with bows and arrows. These
were intended for the land expedition. The mission of Santa Maria, the
northernmost mission on the peninsula, was the rendezvous of the land
forces, and from Loreto four lighters loaded with provisions for the land
expedition were sent up the gulf to the bay of San Luis Gonzaga, the
nearest point to the mission of Santa Maria, whither also went by land the
troops, muleteers, and vaqueros, with the herd of every sort. Finding
insufficient pasturage for the cattle at Santa Maria, they advanced to
Velicatá, some thirty miles distant, and here was assembled the land
expedition. In addition to the officers named, Don Miguel Costansó, ensign
of royal engineers, was ordered to join the expedition as cosmographer and
diarist, and Don Pedro Prat was appointed physician. To minister to the
soldiers and take charge of the missions to be established in the new
land, the following missionary priests, all of the college of San Fernando
in Mexico, were named to accompany the expedition. Fray Junípero Serra,
appointed president of the missions of Alta California, Fray Juan Crespi,
Fray Fernando Parron, Fray Juan Vizcaino, and Fray Francisco Gomez.
On the 6th of January, 1769, at the port of La Paz, the San Carlos was
loaded and ready for sea. The venerable Father Junípero Serra sang mass
aboard her, and with other devotional exercises blessed the ship and the
standards. The visitador named the Señor San José patron of the
expedition, and in a fervent exhortation, kindled the spirits of those
about to sail. These were Don Pedro Fages, with his twenty-five Catalans
of the 1st batallion 2d regiment, Voluntarios de Cataluna, Alférez Miguel
Costansó, Surgeon Don Pedro Prat, and Padre Fernando Parron. The ship was
commanded by Don Vicente Vila, lieutenant of the royal navy; the mate was
Don Jorge Estorace, and twenty-three sailors, two boys, four cooks, and
two blacksmiths made up the rest of the ship's company—sixty-two in
all. They embarked on the night of January 9th and sailed on the 10th.
Galvez appointed Fages gefe de las armas—chief of the military
expedition at sea, and instructed him to retain command of the soldiers on
land until the arrival of the governor at Monterey9. On the 15th
of February, Father Junípero performed like offices for the San Antonio,
and she sailed the same day under command of Don Juan Perez,﹃of the
navigation of the Philippines,﹄carrying Frays Vizcaino and Gomez, some
carpenters, blacksmiths, and cooks, that, with the sailors, made some
ninety persons, all told, on both ships. The rendezvous was San Diego bay,
where all were to meet.
The land expedition was divided into two parts. The first division, under
Rivera, started from Velicatá March 24th, and the second, under command of
the governor, started May 15th. With Rivera were Padre Crespi, Pilotin
(Mate) Jose Cañizares. Twenty-five soldados de cuera10, three
muleteers, and eleven Christian Indians—forty-two men. With the
governor marched Junípero Serra, fifteen soldados de cuera, under Sergeant
Jose Francisco de Ortega, two servants, muleteers and Indians—forty-four
in all. The previous day, May 14, 1769, being Easter Sunday, Junípero
established the Mission of San Fernando with Fray Miguel de la Campa as
Minister. For the succor and relief of the forces, both sea and land,
Galvez built, at San Blas, a ship which he named in honor of the protector
of the expedition, the San Jose, and loading her with supplies and
provisions, sent her with orders to meet the expedition at Monterey. She
was lost at sea.
There is very little of interest in this march of some two hundred miles
through a barren country to the bay of San Diego. Junípero's diary lies
before me11;
it is a dreary recital of small incidents of the march, the Indians they
met, the barrancas they crossed, with pious comments, etc.; no course, no
distances traveled, or other like information necessary to an
understanding of the route and country. As a diarist, he is not to be
compared with Crespi. On June 20th they came first in sight of the sea at
the Ensenada de Todos Santos; thence their journey was by the sea until
they came to the rendezvous. As they drew near to San Diego, their Indian
allies began to desert, evidently in fear of the Diegueños, whom they
began to meet in numbers and who proved a rascally lot. They thronged the
camp and became a perfect nuisance with their begging and stealing. They
begged from Junípero his robe and from the governor his cuera, waistcoat,
breeches, and all he had on. One of them succeeding in inducing Junípero
to take off his spectacles to show them to him and as soon as he got them
in his hands made off with them, causing the priest a thousand
difficulties to recover them. On the 27th of June Sergeant Ortega, with
his scouts, pushed on to San Diego and announced to the anxious camp the
proximity of the governor. Rivera sent ten of his soldiers with fresh
horses back with Ortega, and Portolá, in advance of his command, reached
the camp June 29th, and the entire division arrived, June 30th, in good
order and condition, forty-six days from Velicatá.
Let us anticipate their arrival and ascertain the fate of the other
divisions of the expedition. For more than a century and a half the placid
waters of San Diego bay had lain undisturbed by any craft more formidable
than the tule rafts (balsas de enea) of the natives, when on the 11th of
April, 1769, a silent ship slowly entered the bay and dropped her anchor
not far from the point where now the ferry boat for Coronado leaves the
slip. It was the San Antonio, the first arrival at the rendezvous. No
attempt was made to land, for they were alone and dread scurvy had them in
its grip. Two had died, and most of the ship's company were sick. On the
29th, the San Carlos arrived, 110 days from La Paz, with her company in
even worse condition. All were sick, some had died, and only four sailors
remained on their feet, aided in working the ship by such of the soldiers
as were able to help. She had been driven far out of her course; had found
herself short of water, and had to put into the island of Cedros to supply
herself, and it was with the greatest difficulty she reached the bay of
San Diego. The first thing to be done was to find good water and to
minister to the sick. For this purpose there landed, on May 1st, Don Pedro
Fages, Don Miguel Costansó, and Don Jorge Estorace, with twenty-five
men-soldiers, sailors, etc., all who were able to do duty, and, proceeding
up the shore, found, by direction of some Indians, a river of good
mountain water at a distance of three leagues to the northeast. Moving
their ships as near as they could, they prepared on the beach a camp,
which they surrounded with a parapet of earth and fascines, and mounted
two cannon. Within they made two large hospital tents from the sails and
awnings of the ships, and set up the tents of the officers and priests.
Then they transferred the sick. The labor was immense, for all were sick,
and the list of those able to perform duty daily grew smaller. The
difficulties of their situation were very great. Nearly all the medicines
and food had been consumed during the long voyage, and Don Pedro Prat, the
surgeon, himself sick with scurvy, sought in the fields with a thousand
anxieties some healing herbs, of which he himself was in as sore need as
the others. The cold made itself felt with vigor at night and the sun
burned them by day—alternations which made the sick suffer cruelly,
two or three of them dying every day, until the whole sea expedition which
had been composed of more than ninety men, found itself reduced to eight
soldiers and as many sailors in a state to attend to the safeguarding of
the ships, the working of the launches, the custody of the camp, and the
care of the sick.
There was no news whatever of the land divisions. The neighborhood of the
fort was diligently searched for tracks of a horse herd, but none were
discovered. They did not know what to think of this delay. At length, on
the 14th of May, the Indians gave notice to some soldiers on the beach
that from the direction of the south men mounted on horses and armed as
they, were coming. It was the first land division under Rivera, fifty days
from Velicatá, without the loss of a man or having a sick one; but they
were on half rations; they had only three sacks of flour left and were
issuing two tortillas12 per day to each man. Great was
the rejoicing in the camp of the sick over the arrival of Rivera's force.
It was now resolved to remove the camp near to the river. This was done,
and a new camp established on a hill in what is now known as "Old Town,"
where a stockade was made and the cannon mounted. The surgeon, Pedro Prat,
devoted himself to the sick, but the deaths continued, until of the ninety
and more who had sailed from La Paz, two-thirds were laid under the sand
of Punta de los Muertos13. It was now thought best to send
one of the packets to San Blas to inform the viceroy and the visitador of
the state of the expedition, and it was feared that if this were longer
delayed, the ship would be unable to put to sea for lack of mariners. The
San Antonio was selected for this purpose, and was prepared for sea, but
as she was about to sail, the camp was thrown into an ecstasy of joy by
the arrival of Portolá and the second division, sound in body, and with
163 mules laden with provisions. The governor promptly informed himself of
the condition of affairs, and desirous that the señor visitador's orders
concerning the sea expedition should be carried out, offered to Captain
Vila of the San Carlos sixteen men of his command to work the ship, that
he might pursue the voyage to Monterey. As Vila had lost all his ship's
officers, boatswain, storekeeper, coxswain of the launch, and there was
not a sailor among the men offered by Portolá, he declined to go to sea
under such conditions. All the available sailors were therefore placed on
board the San Antonio, and she sailed for San Blas, June 8th, with eight
men only for a crew.
The governor now proceeded to organize his force for the march to
Monterey. He determined to move at once, lest the advancing season should
expose them to the danger of having the passes of the sierra closed by
snow, as even at San Diego those who came by sea reported the sierras
covered with snow on their arrival in April.
On the 14th of July, Portolá began his march to Monterey, distant one
hundred and fifty-nine leagues. His force consisted of Sergeant Ortega,
with twenty-seven soldados de cuera under Rivera, Fages with six Catalan
volunteers—all that could travel, Ensign Costansó, the priests,
Crespi and Gomez, seven muleteers, fifteen Christian Indians from the
missions of Lower California, and two servants—sixty-four in all.
Both Fages and Costansó were sick with scurvy, but joined the command
notwithstanding. The personnel of this expedition contains some of the
best known names in California. Portolá, the first governor; Rivera,
comandante of California from 1773 to 1777, killed in the Yuma revolt on
the Colorado in 1781; Fages, first comandante of California, 1769-1773,
governor, 1782-1790; Ortega, pathfinder, explorer, discoverer of the
Golden Gate and of Carquines Strait14;
lieutenant and brevet captain, comandante of the presidio of San Diego, of
Santa Barbara, and of Monterey; founder of the presidio of Santa Barbara
and of the missions of San Juan Capistrano and San Buenaventura. Among the
rank and file were men whose names are not less known: Pedro Amador, who
gave his name to Amador county; Juan Bautista Alvarado, grandfather of
Governor Alvarado; José Raimundo Carrillo, later alférez, lieutenant, and
captain, comandante of the presidio of Monterey, of Santa Barbara, and of
San Diego, and founder of the great Carrillo family; José Antonio Yorba,
sergeant of Catalonia volunteers, founder of the family of that name and
grantee of the Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana; Pablo de Cota, José Ignacio
Oliveras, José Maria Soberanes, and others.
At San Diego, Portolá left the sick under the care of the faithful
surgeon, Prat, and a guard of ten cuera soldiers; Captain Vila of the San
Carlos, with a few seamen; Frays Junípero Serra, Juan Vizcaino, and
Fernando Parron, a carpenter, a blacksmith, and a few Lower California
Indians, some forty persons in all. The governor also left with them a
sufficient number of horses and mules and about sixty loads15
of provisions. On July 16th, two days after the Portolá expedition
started, Junípero founded, with appropriate ceremonies, the mission of San
Diego de Alcalá, the first mission established in Alta California. The
deaths continued, and before Portolá's return in January, eight soldiers,
four sailors, one servant, and eight Indians died, leaving but about
twenty persons at the camp.
We will now follow the governor. Relying somewhat on the supply ship, San
Jose, which was to meet him at Monterey, but which, as we have seen, was
lost at sea, and also on the supplies to be brought by the San Antonio,
the governor, knowing the uncertainties of a sea voyage, took with him one
hundred mules loaded with provisions, sufficient, he concluded, to last
him for six months.
On the march the following order was observed. Sergeant Ortega, with six
or eight soldiers, went in advance, laid out the route, selected the
camping place, and cleared the way of hostile Indians by whom he was
frequently surrounded. At the head of the column rode the comandante, with
Fages, Costansó, the two priests, and an escort of six Catalonia
volunteers; next came the sappers and miners, composed of Indians, with
spades, mattocks, crowbars, axes, and other implements used by pioneers;
these were followed by the main body divided into four bands of
pack-animals, each with its muleteers and a guard of presidial soldiers.
The last was the rear guard, commanded by Captain Rivera, convoying the
spare horses and mules (caballada y mulada).
The presidial soldiers were provided with two kinds of arms, offensive and
defensive. The defensive consisted of the cuera (leather jacket) and the
adarga (shield)16. The first, being made in the
form of a coat without sleeves, was composed of six or seven thicknesses
of dressed deer skins impervious to the Indian arrows, except at very
short range. The adarga was of two thicknesses of raw bulls-hide, borne on
the left arm, and so managed by the trooper as to defend himself and his
horse against the arrows and spears of the Indians; in addition, they used
a species of apron of leather, fastened to the pommel of the saddle, with
a fall to each side of the horse down to the stirrup, wide enough to cover
the thigh and a leg of the horseman, and protect him when riding through
the brush. This apron was called the armas. Their offensive arms were the
lance, which they managed with great dexterity on horseback, the
broadsword, and a short musket, carried in a case. Costansó, who was an
officer of the regular army, bears testimony to the unceasing labor of the
presidial soldiers of California on this march, and says they were men
capable of enduring much fatigue, obedient, resolute, and active; "and it
is not too much to say that they are the best horsemen in the world, and
among the best soldiers who gain their bread in the service of the king."17
It must be understood that the marches of these troops with such a train
through an unknown country and by unused paths, could not be long ones. It
was necessary to explore the land one day for the march of the next, and
the camp for the day was sometimes regulated by the distance to be
traveled to the next place where water, fuel, and pastures could be had.
The distance made was from two to four leagues18, and the
command rested every four days, more or less, according to the fatigue
caused by the roughness of the road, the toil of the pioneers, the
wandering off of the beasts, or the necessities of the sick. Costansó says
that one of their greatest difficulties was in the control of their
caballada (horse-herd), without which the journey could not be made. In a
country they do not know, horses frighten themselves by night in the most
incredible manner. To stampede them, it is enough for them to discover a
coyote or fox. The flight of a bird, the dust flung by the wind-any of
these are capable of terrifying them and causing them to run many leagues,
precipitating themselves over barrancas and precipices, without any human
effort availing to restrain them. Afterwards it costs immense toil to
gather them again, and those that are not killed or crippled, remain of no
service for some time. In the form and manner stated, the Spaniards made
their marches, traversing immense lands, which grew more fertile and
pleasing as they progressed northward.
The expedition followed practically the route which afterwards became the
Camino Real. Its fourth jornada (day's journey) brought it to the pretty
valley where later was established the mission of San Luis Rey. They
called it San Juan Capistrano, but that name was afterwards transferred to
a mission forty miles north of this place. The command rested here, July
19th. Resuming the march on the 20th, the sierra (San Onofre), whose base
they were skirting, drew so near the sea that it seemed to threaten their
advance, but by keeping close to the shore, they held their way, and on
the 24th they encamped on a fine stream of water running through a mesa at
the foot of a sierra, whence looking across the sea, they could descry
Santa Catalina Island. This was San Juan Capistrano, and here they rested
on the 25th. On the 28th they reached the Santa Ana river, near the
present town of that name; a violent shock of earthquake which they
experienced caused them to name the river Jesus de los Temblores19.
July 30th and 31st they were in the San Gabriel valley, which they called
San Miguel, and on August 1st they rested near the site of the present
city of Los Angeles. The stop this day, in addition to the needed rest and
the necessity for exploration, was to give opportunity for the soldiers
and people of the expedition to gain the great indulgence of Porciúncula.20
The priests said mass and the sacrament was administered. In the afternoon
the soldiers went to hunt and brought in an antelope (barrendo), with
which the land seemed to abound. The next day they crossed the Los Angeles
river by the site of the present city, and named it Rio de Nuestra Señora
de Los Angeles de Porciúncula21. Passing up the river, they went
through the cañon and came into the San Fernando valley, which they called
Valle de Santa Catalina de los Encinos—Valley of St. Catherine of
the Oaks. Five days they spent in the valley, and crossing the Santa
Susana mountains, perhaps by the Tapo cañon, they came to the Santa Clara
river near the site of Camulos, and there rested, August 9th. Portolá
named the river Santa Clara, which name it still bears, in honor of the
saint, whose day, August 12th, was observed by them. Five days, by easy
jornadas, they traveled down the river, and arrived on the 14th at the
first rancheria22 of the Channel Indians. It being
the vespers of the feast of La Asuncion de Nuestra Señora, Portolá named
the village La Asuncion. It contained about thirty large, well-constructed
houses of clay and rushes, and each house held three or four families.
These Indians were of good size, well-formed, active, industrious, and
very skillful in constructing boats, wooden bowls, and other articles.
Portolá thought this pueblo must be the one named by Cabrillo, Pueblo de
Canoas (Pueblo of the Boats). This was the site selected for the mission
of San Buenaventura, founded March 31, 1782. The natives received them
kindly, gave them an abundance of food, and showed them their well-made
boats, twenty-four feet long, made of pine boards tied together with cords
and covered with asphaltum, and capable of carrying ten men each. The next
four days they followed the beach and camped, on August 18th, at a large
laguna, called by them La Laguna de la Concepcion. This was the site of
the future presidio and mission of Santa Barbara. Everywhere were large
populous rancherías of the Indians, and everywhere they were received in
the most hospitable manner and provided with more food than they could
eat. The next stop was three leagues beyond, on the shore of a large
lagoon and marsh, containing a good-sized island on which was a large
ranchería, while four others lined the banks of the lagoon. Portolá gave
to this group the name In Mediaciones de las Rancherías de Mescaltitan—The
Contiguous Rancherías of Mescaltitan. The name of Mescaltitan is still
attached to the island, though the marsh is mostly drained and contains
some of the finest walnut groves in California. On the 28th, they turned
Point Concepcion and camped just north at a place called by them Paraje de
los Pedernales. Point Pedernales, about five miles beyond, preserves the
name. On the 30th they crossed a large river, which they named the Santa
Rosa, in honor of that saint, whose day it was. This is now the Santa
Inez, so called from the mission of that name, established on its bank in
1804. Passing northward along the beach, a sharp spur of the sierra
jutting out at Point Sal turned them inland through the little pass
followed by the Southern Pacific Coast Line, and they came, on September
10th, to a large lake in the northwest corner of Santa Barbara county, to
which was given the name of Laguna Larga, now known as Guadalupe Lake.
Three leagues beyond, they camped at a lake named by Costansó, Laguna
Redonda, but which the soldiers called El Oso Flaco—The Thin Bear—and
it is still known by that name. Here Sergeant Ortega was taken ill, and
ten of the soldiers complained of sore feet. They rested on the 3d, and on
the 4th reached the mouth of the San Luis cañon. Here they were hospitably
received by the chief of a large ranchería, whose appearance caused the
soldiers to apply to him the name of "El Buchon," he having a large tumor
hanging from his neck. Father Crespi did not approve of the name which the
soldiers applied to the chief, his ranchería, and to the cañon leading up
to San Luis Obispo, and he named the village San Ladislao. As in so many
cases the good father was unable to make the name he gave stick, the saint
has been ignored, but Point Buchon, just above Point Harford and Mount
Buchon, otherwise known as Bald Knob, bear witness to the staying
qualities of the tumor on the chief's neck. Passing up the narrow cañon of
San Luis creek, they camped at or near the site of the mission and city of
San Luis Obispo. From here, instead of proceeding over the Sierra de Santa
Lucia by the Cuesta pass into the upper Salinas valley, whence the march
to Monterey would have been easy, they turned to the west and followed the
Cañada de los Osos to the sea at Morro Bay, which they called El Estero de
San Serafin. The Cañada de los Osos23, still so
called, they named because of a fight with some very fierce bears, one of
which they succeeded in killing after it had received nine balls. Another
wounded the mules, and the hunters with difficulty saved their lives.
The travelers now marched up the coast until, on the 13th, they came to a
point where further progress was disputed by the Sierra de Santa Lucia.
This was where a spur from the sierra terminating in Mount Mars, blocks
the passage by the beach and presents a bold front, rising three thousand
feet from the water. Camping at the foot of the sierra, Portolá sent out
the explorers under Rivera to find a passage through the mountains. During
the 14th and 15th, the pioneers labored to open a way into the sierra
through San Carpóforo cañon, and on the 16th the command moved up the
steep and narrow gulch, with inaccessible mountains on either side. It is
impossible to follow their route through this rugged mountain range with
any degree of accuracy. Their progress was slow and painful. On the 20th,
they toiled up an exceedingly high ridge to the north, and from its summit
the Spaniards looked upon a boundless sea of mountains, "presenting,"
writes Crespi,﹃a sad prospect to us poor travelers worn out with the
fatigue of the journey.﹄The cold was beginning to be severe, and many of
the men were suffering from scurvy and unfit for service, which increased
the hardship for all; yet they did not falter but pressed bravely on, and
on the 26th emerged from the mountains by the Arroyo Seco, which they
named the Cañada del Palo Caido24 (Valley of the Fallen Tree), and
camped on the Salinas river, which they christened Rio de San Elizario.
From now on the march is an easy one down the Salinas valley to the sea.
On the last day of September, the command halted near the mouth of the
Salinas river, within sound of the ocean, though they could not see it.
They were persuaded that they were not far from the desired port of
Monterey and that the mountain range they had crossed was unquestionably
that of the Santa Lucia, described by Torquemada in his history of the
voyage of Vizcaino, and shown on the chart of the pilot Cabrera Bueno. The
governor ordered the explorers to go out and ascertain on what part of the
coast they were. On the morrow, Rivera, with eight soldiers, explored the
coast to the southward, marching along the shore of the very port they
were seeking, while Portolá, with Costansó, Crespi, and five soldiers,
climbed a hill from whose top they saw a great ensenada, the northern
point of which extended a long way into the sea, and bore northwest at a
distance of eight maritime leagues, while on the south a hill ran out into
the sea in the form of a point, and appeared to be wooded with pines. They
recognized the one on the north as the Punta de Año Nuevo and that on the
south as Punta de Pinos, while between the two lay the great ensenada25,
with its dreary sand dunes. This was as laid down in the coast pilot
(derretero) of Cabrera Bueno, but where was the famous port of Monterey?
They thought that perhaps they had passed Monterey in the great circuit
they had made through the mountain ranges. For three days the search was
continued. Rivera reported that south of the Point of Pines and between it
and another point to the south (Point Cármelo) was a small ensenada, where
a stream of water came down from the mountains and emptied into an estero;
that beyond this the coast was so high and impenetrable they were obliged
to turn back, and he believed that it was the same sierra which compelled
them to leave the coast on the 16th of September.
Much perplexed by these reports, the governor called a council of officers
to deliberate as to the best course to pursue. On Wednesday, October 4th,
the council met and after hearing mass, the commander laid the matter
before them. He set forth the shortness of their store of provisions, the
seventeen men on the sick list, unfit for duty, the excessive burden of
labor imposed on the rest in sentinel duty, care of the animals, and
continual explorations, and to the lateness of the season. In view of
these circumstances, and of the fact that the port of Monterey could not
be found where it was said to be, each person present was called upon to
express freely his opinion.
Costansó spoke first; Vizcaino had put Monterey in 37°; they had only
reached 36° 42'; they should not fail to explore up to 37° 30', so as
either to find the port or decide it did not exist. Fages was for going up
to 37° or a little more. Rivera thought they should establish themselves
somewhere. Then the resolute commander determined to go forward and put
his trust in God. If they found the desired port of Monterey and therein
the supply-ship San Jose, all would be well. If Monterey did not appear,
they would find a place for a settlement; but if it should be the will of
God that all were to perish, they would have discharged their duty to God
and man in laboring until death in their endeavor to accomplish the
enterprise on which they had been sent. To this decision all agreed, and
signed their names to the compact.
Ortega and his scouts were now dispatched to lay out the route and locate
camping places for several days in advance, and on the 7th of October, the
march was resumed. Sixteen sick men had now lost use of their limbs. Each
night they were rubbed with oil, and each morning they were put into
hammocks swung between two mules, tandem, and thus carried in the mode of
travel used by the women of Andalusia26. The march
was slow and painful. Some of the sick were believed to be in the last
extremity, and on October 8th, the holy viaticum was administered to
three, who were thought to be dying.
On this day they crossed the Rio del Pájaro, which they named because of a
great bird the Indians had killed and stuffed with straw, and which
measured seven feet and four inches from the tip of one wing to that of
the other. It was thought to be a royal eagle, and that the natives were
preparing it for some ceremony when they were frightened away by the
approach of the Spaniards. Crespi, who still had a supply of saints on
hand, gave the river the name La Señora Santa Ana, but again the saint was
ignored, and the river is known as the Pájaro (Bird). On the 17th they
crossed and named the Rio de San Lorenzo, at the site of the present city
of Santa Cruz. On the 20th they were at Punta de Año Nuevo, and camped at
the entrance of the cañon of Waddell creek. They recognized Point Año
Nuevo from the description given by Cabrera Bueno, and Crespi estimated
that it was one league distant from the camp. With good water and fuel,
the command rested here the 21st and 22d. Both Portolá and Rivera were now
added to the sick list. Meat and vegetables had given out and the rations
were reduced to five tortillas of bran and flour per day. Crespi named the
camp San Luis Beltran, while the soldiers called it La Cañada de Salud. On
the 23d, they again moved forward, passing Punta de Año Nuevo and,
traveling two leagues, camped probably on Gazos creek, where was a large
Indian ranchería, whose inhabitants received them kindly. This camp, which
was about opposite Pigeon Point, they named Casa Grande, also San Juan
Nepomuceno27.
The next jornada was a long one of four leagues, and their camp was on San
Gregoria creek. It began to rain and the command was prostrated by an
epidemic of diarrhoea which spared no one. They now thought they saw their
end, but the contrary appeared to be the case. The diarrhoea seemed to
relieve the scurvy, and the swollen limbs of the sufferers began to be
less painful. They named the camp Vane de los Soldados de los Cursos, and
Crespi applied the name of Santo Domingo to it. Unable to travel on the
25th and 26th, but resuming the march October 27th, they pressed forward.
The next stop was Purisima creek, two short leagues distant, but the way
was rough, and the pioneers had to make roads across three arroyos where
the descents were steep and difficult for the transportation of the
invalids. On the bank of the stream was an Indian ranchería, apparently
deserted. The Spaniards took possession of the huts, but soon came running
forth with cries of "las pulgas! las pulgas!28" They
preferred to camp in the open. The soldiers called the camp Ranchería de
las Pulgas, while Crespi named it San Ibon. On the 28th they camped on
Pilarcitos creek, site of Spanish town or Half Moon Bay. They named the
camp El Llano de los Ansares—The Plain of the Wild Geese—and
Crespi called it San Simon y San Judas. Every man in the command was ill;
the medicines were nearly gone and the supply of food very short. They
contemplated killing some of the mules. That night it rained heavily and
Portolá, who was very ill, decided to rest on the 29th. On Monday, October
30th, they moved forward. Half Moon Bay and Pillar Point were noted but no
names given. Several deep arroyos were crossed, some of which required the
building of bridges to get the animals over. They proceeded up the shore
until a barrier of rock confronted them and disputed the passage. Here in
a rincon (corner) formed by the sierra and sheltered from the north wind
they camped while Ortega and his men were sent out to find a passage over
the Montara mountains. A little stream furnished them with water and they
named the camp El Rincon de las Almejas, on account of the mussels and
other shell fish they found on the rocks. Crespi calls it La Punta del
Angel Custodia. The site of the camp is about a mile north of the Montara
fog signal. By noon of the next day, October 31st, the pioneers had
prepared a passage over the bold promontory of Point San Pedro, and at ten
o'clock in the morning the company set out on the trail of the
exploradores and made their painful way to the summit. Here a wondrous
sight met their eyes and quickened their flagging spirits. Before them,
bright and beautiful, was spread a great ensenada, its waters dancing in
the sunlight. Far to the northwest a point reached out into the sea,
rising abruptly before them, high above the ocean. Further to the left,
west-northwest, were seen six or seven white Farallones and finally along
the shore northward they discerned the white cliffs and what appeared to
be the mouth of an inlet. There could be no mistake. The distant point was
the Punta de los Reyes and before them lay the Bahía ó Puerto de San
Francisco. The saint had been good to them and with joy in their hearts
they made the steep and difficult descent and camped in the San Pedro
valley29
at the foot of the Montara mountains.
Some of the company thought they had left the Port of Monterey behind but
would not believe they had reached the Port of San Francisco. To settle
the matter, the governor ordered Ortega and his men to examine the country
as far as Point Reyes, giving them three days in which to report, while
the command remained in camp in the Vallecito de la Punta de las Almejas
del Angel de la Guarda, as Crespi calls it, combining the two names of the
camp of October 30th and transferring them to the camp in San Pedro
valley.
The next day, Thursday, November 2nd, being All Souls day, after mass some
of the soldiers asked permission to go and hunt for deer. They climbed the
mountains east of the camp and returning after nightfall reported that
they had seen from the top of the mountain an immense estero or arm of the
sea, which thrust itself into the land as far as the eye could reach,
stretching to the southeast; that they had seen some beautiful plains
thickly covered with trees, while the many columns of smoke rising over
them showed that they were well stocked with Indian villages. This story
confirmed them in the belief that they were at the Port of San Francisco,
and that the estero described was that spoken of by Cabrera Bueno, the
mouth of which they imagined they had seen from the Montara mountains30.
They were now satisfied that Ortega would be unable to reach Point Reyes,
and that three days was not sufficient time to go around the head of such
an estero. The exploring party returned in the night of November 3d,
discharging their fire-arms as they approached. They reported that they
found themselves obstructed by immense estuaries which ran extraordinarily
far back into the land31, but what caused their rejoicing
was that they understood from the signs of the Indians that at two days
journey from where they were there was a port in which a ship was
anchored. On this announcement, some thought that they were at the port of
Monterey, and that the supply ship San Jose or the San Carlos was waiting
for them. Crespi says that if they were not in Monterey, they were
certainly in San Francisco.
On Saturday, November 4th, being the day of San Carlos Borromeo, in whose
honor they had come to establish a royal presidio and mission in the Port
of Monterey, and also the day of the king, Don Carlos III (que Dios
guarde), the holy sacrifice of the mass was celebrated﹃in this little
valley, beach of the Port (without the least doubt) of my father San
Francisco.﹄The men feasted liberally on the mussels which abounded on the
nearby rocks, and which were pronounced large and good, and, in better
spirits than they had been for some time, they took up their march at one
o'clock in the afternoon. Proceeding a short distance up the beach, they
turned into the mountains on their right, and from the summit beheld the
immense estero o brazo del mar. Then descending into the Cañada de San
Andres, they turned to the south and southeast, and traveling two leagues
camped in the cañada at the foot of a hill, very green with low brush, and
having a cluster of oaks at its base. The next two days they traveled down
the cañada, coasting the estero, which they could not see for the low
hills (lomeria) on their left, noting the pleasant land with its groves of
oak, redwood (palo colorado), and madroño. They saw the tracks of many
deer and also of bears. The Indians met them with friendly offers of black
tamales and atole, which were gladly received by the half-starved
Spaniards. They begged the strangers to go to their rancherías, but the
governor excused himself, saying that he must go forward, and dismissed
them with presents of beads and trinkets. On the 6th, they reached the end
of the cañada, which suddenly turned to the east, and saw that the estero32
was finished in a spacious valley. To the cañada they gave the name of San
Francisco33.
Traveling a short distance towards the east, they camped on a deep arroyo,
whose waters came down from the sierra and flowed precipitately into the
estero. They were on the San Francisquito creek, near the site of Stanford
University34.
Having failed to get through to Point Reyes by the ocean beach route,
Portolá now sent Ortega around by the contra costa giving him four days in
which to explore the country and find the port containing the supply-ship.
Ortega with his exploradores, guided by some friendly Indians from the
neighboring rancherías, set out after noon on November 7th and returned in
the night of the 10th. He reported that he had seen no sign of port or
ship, and was convinced he had not understood the information the Indians
had tried to convey to him, and that the port of Monterey could not be in
advance. They also reported that the country they had seen towards the
north and northeast was impassable for the expedition, for the reason that
the Indians had burned the grass and, in addition, were hostile and would
dispute the passage. They said that they had encountered another immense
estero on the northeast (Carquinez Strait), which also ran far inland and
connected with the one on the southeast, and that to double it would take
many leagues of travel35.
During the absence of the explorers, the people of the expedition were
compelled for want of meat to eat oak acorns, which caused them much
suffering from indigestion and fever.
Portolá called a council of officers, on November 11th, to determine the
best course to pursue. The decision was unanimous to return to the Point
of Pines and renew the search for the elusive Puerto de Monterey, which
they believed they had left behind. This was at once acted upon, and the
command took up the march in the afternoon of that day, returning by the
route of its coming, and on the 27th camped in sight of the Point of Pines
at a little lake of muddy water. They had partly subsisted on wild geese
which they shot, and on mussels gathered from the rocks of the coast. The
following day, November 28th, they moved across the Point of Pines and
camped in the cañada of the Cármelo, where was plenty of wood and good
water from the river. After giving his men a rest, the governor sent ten
soldiers, under command of Rivera, with six of the Indian pioneers, who
undertook to guide them by the coast trails, with instructions to
thoroughly explore the coast to the south and see if the Port of Monterey
was concealed in some "rincon" of the Sierra de Santa Lucia.
The exploring party returned on Monday, December 4th, at night. They were
tired out with their travels over the rough mountain trails, and they
reported that no port of Monterey existed south of their camp; that the
mountains belonged to the Sierra de Santa Lucia, and that there was no
passage along the shore.
Vizcaino had said that Monterey was just north of the Sierra de Santa
Lucia. "It is all that can be desired for commodiousness and as a station
for ships making the voyage to the Philippines, sailing whence they make a
landfall on this coast. This port is sheltered from all winds * * * and is
thickly settled with people, whom I found to be of gentle disposition,
peaceable, and docile; * * * they have flax like that of Castile, and
hemp, and cotton,"36 etc.
The commander knew not what to think. What should be a great port,
protected from all winds, was but an ensenada; what should be the Rio
Cármelo was but an arroyo; what should be great lakes were but lagunillas;
﹃and where, too, were the people, so intelligent and docile, who raised
flax and hemp and cotton?﹄Costansó says that in their entire journey,
they found no country so thinly populated, nor any people more wild and
savage than the few natives whom they met here. It is not strange that
Portolá failed to recognize, in the broad ensenada, Vizcaino's Famoso
Puerte de Monterey.
The situation of the command was becoming very grave. The food supply was
almost gone. They had killed a mule, but only the Indians and the
Catalonians would eat it. The commander called a council of officers, on
December 6th, and told them the condition of affairs. They had not found
the port they had come in search of, he said, and had no hope of finding
it or the vessel that should have succored them; they had but fourteen
half sacks of flour left; winter was upon them, the cold was becoming
excessive, and snow was beginning to fall in the mountains. He invited
free discussion, but postponed the decision until the next day, that all
might have time for reflection. On December 7th, after hearing mass, the
junta again met. Some were for remaining where they were until the
provisions were entirely consumed, and then retreat, relying on the mules
for food during the journey to San Diego; others thought it better to
divide the party, one-half to remain and the other return to San Diego.
Both projects were carefully discussed, and both presented difficulties.
The prevailing sentiment seemed to favor a return, and the governor
announced his determination. They would return to San Diego at once, he
said, for if the snow should close the mountain passes, the whole
expedition would be lost.
A violent storm arose in the afternoon, which lasted until the night of
December 9th, delaying the march.
On Sunday, December 10th, they began the retreat from Monterey. Before
leaving Cármelo Bay, they set up a large cross on a little hill on the
shore of the ensenadita, and on it, cut into the wood, the legend:﹃Dig;
at the foot you will find a writing.﹄A message was put into a bottle and
buried at the foot of the cross. It gave the facts of the expedition, its
commander, date of starting, the dates of entering the channel of Santa
Barbara, of passing Point Concepcion, of the passage of the Santa Lucia
mountains, of the sight of Punta de Pinos, of Point Reyes, etc.
"The expedition desired to reach Point Reyes, but some esteros intervened
which ran far inland, which required a long journey to go around, and
other difficulties (the chief of which was the want of provisions), made
it necessary for us to return, believing that the Port of Monterey might
perhaps be near the Sierra de Santa Lucia, and thinking that we might have
passed it without observing it. We left the estero of San Francisco on our
return on the 11th of November. We passed the Punta de Año Nuevo on the
19th of said month, and reached the second time this Port and Ensenada de
Pinos on the 27th of the same."
It states that from that day to this they have made diligent search for
the port of Monterey, but in vain, and now, despairing of finding it,
their provisions nearly gone, they return to San Diego. Then follows the
latitude at various points as observed by Costansó. It requests the
commanders of the San Jose or San Antonio, if they, or either of them,
should be informed of the contents of the letter and the condition of the
expedition, to sail down the coast as near the land as possible, that the
expedition might sight and obtain succor from them.
The march that day was across the Point of Pines, one league and a half,
and they camped on the shore of Monterey Bay, where they erected another
cross with an inscription announcing their departure. On the 11th, they
ascended the Salinas and began to retrace the route of their coming. They
killed many geese, which relieved their necessities somewhat, and on the
21st were clear of the Santa Lucia mountains. The hungry soldiers stole
flour, and to prevent further theft, the comandante divided the remainder
among them. On the 28th the command was stuck fast in a mudhole near San
Luis Obispo, and were unable to say mass, though it was a feast day37.
On January 3d, they passed Point Concepcion. Here, among the Channel
Indians, food was abundant, their severe trials were over, and the health
of the command improved daily. Instead of following up the Santa Clara
river, they crossed the Santa Susana mountains, into the San Fernando
valley, and followed down the Los Angeles river, crossed the Santa Ana,
January 18th, and reached San Diego, January 24, 1770, with the command in
good health and without the loss of a man, "with the merit of having been
compelled to eat the flesh of male and female mules, and with not having
found the Port of Monterey, which we judged to have been filled up by the
great sand dunes which were in the place where we had expected to find
it."38
Portolá found a joyful welcome at the little camp at San Diego. Many had
died, and Junípero and Father Parron were just recovering from scurvy. No
tidings were yet received from the San Antonio. The commander made a
careful inventory of supplies, and reserved enough to march to Velicatá in
case the San Antonio did not appear when the remainder should be
exhausted. This, he calculated, would be a little after the middle of
March, and the 20th of that month was fixed as the date of departure, very
much to the disappointment of the priests. On February 11th Rivera was
sent to Velicatá with a guard of nineteen or twenty soldiers, to bring up
the cattle and supplies that had been left there.
After sundown of the day before that appointed for the departure, a sail
appeared in the distance. It was the San Antonio, just in time to prevent
the abandonment of San Diego. She brought abundant supplies, and Portolá
prepared for a second expedition in search of the Port of Monterey.
Captain Vila of the San Carlos declared, when the details of the search
were related to him, that the place where they erected the second cross
was the long-lost Port of Monterey.
On April 16th the San Antonio sailed for Monterey, carrying Junípero,
Costansó, Prat, and a cargo of stores for the new mission. On the 17th,
Portolá set out by land with Fages, twelve Catalan volunteers, seven
soldados de cuera, Crespi, two muleteers, and five natives. At San Diego
was left Vila with his mate and five sailors on the San Carlos, Fathers
Parron and Gomez, with Sergeant Ortega and eight soldados de cuera as
guard, and Rivera arrived in July with over eighty mules laden with
supplies, and one hundred and sixty head of cattle.
Portolá followed the same route that he took on the retreat from Monterey,
and on May 24th arrived at the Ensenada Grande under Punta de Pinos, near
the cross they had erected, December 10th. Selecting a place for the camp,
Portolá took Fages, Crespi, and a soldier for guard, and went to the cross
to see if any vessel had visited the spot. They found around the cross a
ring of arrows stuck in the ground, some of which were decked with
feathers; others had fish and meat attached to them, while at the foot of
the cross was a small pile of shell-fish. As Portolá, Fages, and Crespi
walked along the beach and looked out over the bay and noted its calm and
placid waters, with its swimming seals and spouting whales, they broke
forth with one voice, "This is the Port of Monterey which we have sought.
It is exactly as reported by Sebastian Vizcaino and Cabrera Bueno."39
Remembering the good water at the camp on the Rio del Cármelo, Portolá
ordered the expedition to Cármelo Bay by direct line, while he, with Fages
and Crespi, proceeded around the Point of Pines. They found it well
covered with pine trees, many of them large enough for masts of a ship.
They also came upon a grove of cypress at a point beyond (Cypress Point),
and arrived at camp after a walk of four good leagues. Here they awaited
the arrival of the San Antonio.
On May 31st the paquebot was sighted near Point Pinos. The soldiers made
signals, to which the ship replied with her guns, and before night had
dropped her anchor in Monterey Bay, which was pronounced by the sailors to
be a most famous port.
On the 3d of June, 1770, under a shelter of branches near the oak where,
in 1602, Vizcaino's Cármelite friars had celebrated mass, Don Gaspar de
Portolá, with his officers, soldiers, and people of the land expedition,
Fray Junípero Serra and Fray Juan Crespi, Don Juan Perez, captain of the
San Antonio, Don Miguel del Pino, his second in command, together with the
crew, assembled to establish a presidio and mission. The father president
chanted the mass and preached from the Gospel, while the musical
deficiency was made good by repeated discharges from the guns of the San
Antonio and volleys from the muskets of the soldiers. At the conclusion of
the religious ceremonies, Don Gaspar de Portolá, governor of the
Californias, took possession of the country in the name of his majesty Don
Carlos III, King of Spain, and the presidio and mission of San Carlos de
Borromeo de Monterey were founded and established, the first presidio and
second mission in California.
In accord with the orders of the visitador-general, Portolá now delivered
to Lieutenant Fages, as comandante of California, the command of the new
establishments, sailed on the San Antonio, July 9th, for San Blas, and
California knew him no more.
DATA REGARDING DON GASPAR DE PORTOLÁ AFTER HE LEFT CALIFORNIA
By E. J. Molera
Portolá and Costansó sailed, on July 9, 1770, for Mexico, to give to the
viceroy an account of their discoveries. Costansó remained in the capital
and took part in several engineering works, among others, the map of the
Valley of Mexico and its drainage. Diligent search instituted by the
writer in Mexico and Spain regarding Portolá's further history, has so far
discovered little beyond the fact that the commander's return to the
capital was followed by promotion from Captain to Lieutenant-Colonel in
the Royal Spanish Army, and his appointment as Governor of Puebla,
February 23, 1777.
In the municipal archives of the city of Puebla, on page 33 of the folio
covering the years 1776-1783, is the following description of Portolá's
taking possession of the office as Governor of that city and state:
"Possession of Governor Portolá."
"In the session (meeting of February 23d, 1777), the council saw a royal
title of Political and Military Governor of this city granted by his
Majesty to Señor Don Gaspar de Portolá, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Royal
Army, and also a superior order of his Excellency the Viceroy, Governor,
and Captain General of this New Spain, in which is stated that said title
has been forwarded."
"The President of the Council, standing and uncovered, took the title in
his hand and kissed it and put it over his head, being a letter from the
king, our master, and said that he would obey and he did obey its contents
and in its provisions it was ordered that Lieutenant-Colonel Don Gaspar de
Portolá be given possession of said office, and for that purpose, said
noble corporation went out with the heralds to bring him to this hail of
sessions, and when he was in, a notary-public having certified to his
identity, he swore to use faithfully and well the office of Governor,
doing justice, punishing, and not burdening the poor with excessive taxes;
to keep and cause to be kept, the rights, privileges, royal decrees and
ordinances, etc."
"Having signed the oath, the president gave him the cane of Royal justice,
by which the act of possession was completed."
In the same volume many decrees and ordinances are signed by Portolá as
Governor of Puebla.
That in the year 1779, Portolá was still Governor of Puebla is proved by
two original manuscripts in possession of the writer. One is a circular
official notice to all the head authorities of Mexico, announcing the
death of Viceroy Frey Don Antonio Bucareli y Ursua, and shown herewith;
the other is a letter of Don Gaspar de Portolá, dated April 17th, 1779.
Letter from the Viceroy of New Spain to Don Julian de Arriaga, Giving an
Account of the arrival at San Blas of the Packet Boat San Carlos,
Returning from the Survey of the Port of San Francisco. Document Obtained
from the Archives of the Indies, Seville.
"My Dear Sir:"
"By courier sent to me from San Blas, I have just learned that the royal
packet-boat San Carlos, under command of Lieutenant of the frigate Don
Juan Manual Ayala, which with provisions and goods sailed for the harbor
of Monterey, thence to the port of San Francisco, anchoring on the 6th
inst. at San Blas."
"In the copies which I send herewith, of the extensive examination made by
this officer and his pilot, Don José Cañizares, your Excellency will see,
in detail, all that was found advantageous, and the news obtained gives
knowledge of all that that vast port contains and the facilities that is
has to invernate40 vessels. The docility and gentle
manners of the heathen that live in its vicinity inspire hopes in the
utility of the plan, on which I had previously determined, of colonizing
this land."
"The letter of this officer, a copy of which is also enclosed, confirms
everything, extolling the grandeur of the view of the port, the water,
wood, and ballast with which it abounds, and although the climate is
rather cold, it is healthy and free from the fogs found in Monterey."
"He gives an account of what happened on his return, and praises the merit
of the pilot, Don José Cañizares, in discharging the commission entrusted
to him, and he recommends him to my attention, which I reserve to that of
the King; at the same time recommending to Your Excellency that you remind
His Majesty that this pilot is one of the most useful that the Department
of San Blas has, and that in the voyages he has made has always shown the
same honor, conduct, and intelligence as on the one just finished with
such advantage to the service, because of the information and knowledge he
has shown in the discharge of his duty."
"For his reward, I consider him worthy of the royal bounty, as well as
Lieutenant of frigate, Don Juan Manuel de Ayala, for his part in such
important work."
"That the Lord may keep you from harm for many years is my wish."
"Exm°. Sr."
"Your most obedient servant who kisses Your Excellency's hands,"
"Bailio Frey D. Antonio Bucareli y Ursua."
"Mexico, November 26th, 1775."
"To His Excellency Sr. Bailio Frey Don Julian de Arriaga."
Causes that Decided the Government of Spain to Send an Expedition by
Sea to Ascertain if there were any Russian Settlements on the Coast of
California, and to Examine the Port of San Francisco.
Father Junípero Serra had difficulty in obtaining from Commandant Fages
the soldiers necessary to found the missions that were projected and
notwithstanding his old age, he decided to go to the capital of Mexico to
lay before the authorities his troubles. He sailed from San Diego in the
mail boat San Carlos October 19, 1772, but, stricken by fever in
Guadalajara, did not reach Mexico till February 16, 1773.
Viceroy Bucareli, then in command of the colony, made the orders he
considered necessary for California, but his orders would have had but
little effect or would have followed the slow process of all official
business, had not an outside incident given them force.
Count de Lacy, then Minister Plenipotentiary of Spain to St. Petersburg,
communicated to the court in Madrid, that the Russians were exploring the
coast of America. He corroborated his statement with copies of the
newspapers of the Russian capital41. This news
with the corroborating proofs was sent to Bucareli with the Royal edicts
of April 11th and September 23, 1773.
The result of this information was to give a better organization to the
maritime department of San Blas and better regulations for California. It
was also ordered that a settlement should be made at San Francisco; that
better means of communication be established between San Diego and
Monterey, and that an expedition should be sent to ascertain if the
Russians had made settlements on the coast of California.
THE LOG OF THE SAN CARLOS
Alias Toison De Oro (Golden Fleece)
Under Command of Lieutenant of Frigate of the Royal Navy Don Juan Manuel
de Ayala
From the Port of San Blas to the Port of San Francisco
The First Ship to Enter the Port of San Francisco. Transcript of a
Certified Copy of the Original, now in the Archives of the Indies, at
Seville, Spain42.
On the 19th of March, 1775, Lieutenant of Frigate, Don Juan Manuel de
Ayala had the schooner under his command anchored near the white rock in
the harbor of San Blas, waiting the sailing of the frigate Santiago to the
west coast of California, when the commander of the expedition, Don Bruno
de Ezeta, ordered him to deliver to Lieutenant of Frigate, Don Juan de la
Bodega y Cuadra, the command of his schooner and take command of the
packet boat, San Carlos, as her captain, Don Miguel Manríque, was sick and
unable to make the voyage. Ayala obeyed the order and waited until the
morning of the 21st, for the return of the launch which carried his
predecessor to San Blas. He made everything ready on board to follow the
frigate and schooner and he asked the commander of the expedition, Don
Bruno de Ezeta, to take in his frigate some brown sugar and provisions
which he could not accommodate in his boat except on deck where they were
liable to be damaged.
At 3 p. m. of the 21st he sailed from the anchorage of San Blas with the
wind east-northeast and on the following day came in sight of Isabela
Island, lying about five miles to the west. On the 23rd he came in sight
of the Maria Islands and saw the frigate and schooner going to the
southeast of the islands, where he lost sight of them. Contrary winds and
calm weather prevented the San Carlos from making any considerable
progress. On the 26th, Ayala sent his pilot to see if he could obtain some
water to replace that which had been consumed43. The pilot
could not make a landing and consequently did not obtain any water. On
April 2d, he saw Mazatlan and the packetboat Concepcion. The following day
he came near the Concepcion, and the captain informed him that he had on
board the governor of California44. From the
Concepcion Ayala obtained six kegs of water. On the 4th of April a serious
accident happened to the commander. When his predecessor was taken sick,
he had a number of loaded pistols. Ayala ordered them placed where they
could not injure anyone. In doing this, one fell and was discharged, the
bullet entering the commander's foot between the second and third toes,
coming out under the big toe. This accident caused him to keep his bed.
On the 7th of April, Cape San Lucas was seen to the north, distant about
two leagues. On the 8th, Cape San Lucas was seen to the west, about twelve
leagues distant. On account of contrary winds, the progress northward was
very slow. On June 22d, while they were warming some pitch to calk the
launch, it took fire, but was extinguished before great damage was done.
On the same day indications of land were noted and some whales were seen,
which the sailors say is the first sign of land. On the following day they
saw some seals, which, according to the sailors, was the second sign of
land. On the 24th, they saw some ducks, which, they say, is proof positive
of land being near. On the same day land was sighted at 4 p. m.; the North
Farallones of San Francisco were seen to the north and Point Año Nuevo to
the southeast. At 7 p. m., the South Farallones were seen at a distance of
about two leagues to the northeast. The variation of the needle was
observed and found to be 13° E.
Next day, at 9 a. m., the fog having lifted, land was seen and Point Año
Nuevo was recognized to the northwest about three leagues distant. At noon
the sun's altitude was taken, and the latitude found to be 36° 58'. At 3
p. m. they took bearings to make Point Pinos, but this point could not be
seen on account of the fog. At 4 p. m. the fog lifted, and at 5 p. m. they
saw the point which protects the harbor of Monterey. The variation of the
needle was observed and found to be 12° 58' E. They had some difficulty in
finding good anchorage, but finally did so on a sandy bottom.
On the 26th of June, Commander Ayala sent his launch on shore with mail
and documents, and on its return the vessel was made fast.
Ayala remained in the harbor of Monterey till July 26th, during which time
he unloaded his cargo, took ballast, water, and fuel, mended sails and
repaired the ship, which needed it badly, the sixth board under water at
the poop having to be replaced for a length of one and one-half yards.
He got ready to start for the newly-discovered Port of San Francisco.
Starting from the shelter of Monterey, situated at latitude 36°° 33',
longitude 16° 45' W. of San Blas to the newly-discovered Port of San
Francisco, July 26, 1775.
That day it was impossible to sail on account of the wind coming from a
contrary direction.
On July 27th, the launch towed the San Carlos until she came to the range
of a southwest wind and sailed in a northwest direction45.
At noon Point Pinos was seen bearing south 13° distant five miles; at 3 p.
m. it had disappeared from view. Very soon after, Point Año Nuevo came in
sight and the land adjoining it, about four or five miles distant. From
July 28th to August 3d, little progress was made on account of contrary
winds from the northwest. On August 3d, at 1 p. m., land was seen to the
east 1/4 northeast, distant about twelve leagues. It was found to be Point
Año Nuevo. At 7 p. m. another point came into view bearing north 1/4
northeast, distant about twelve leagues, which was considered to be Point
Reyes. At 10 p. m., the wind being northwest, the San Carlos steered
west-southwest and continued in that course until 8 a. m. of the 4th, when
the bearing was changed to the north-northeast. At noon the sun's altitude
was taken and the latitude was found to be 37° 11', and longitude 17° 51'
W. of San Blas. At 6 p. m., August 4th, the southernmost Farallon of the
Port of San Francisco was seen to the northwest, distant about eight
leagues. The land to the north was Point Reyes, bearing 4° W., distant
about fourteen leagues. At half past eleven, considering the coast was
near, the course was changed to the south-southwest, until 3 a. m. of
August 5th, when it was changed again to the north-northeast 5° north to
bring the ship at sunrise to the point it was at sunset of the day before.
At 5 a. m. four of the Farallones of San Francisco were seen to the
north-northwest, distant four leagues. Point Año Nuevo was southeast 1/4
east from twelve to fourteen leagues and Point Almejas northeast 4° east,
distant three leagues. At 8 a. m., being near land, commander Ayala
lowered the launch, and in it Pilot Cañizares was sent with ten men to
search for an anchorage, while the San Carlos continued along the coast.
At 9 a. m. a strong current was felt, which drove them to sea, but at
eleven it was observed that the vessel was nearing the coast, which
convinced the commander that it was due to the tide, and this was
confirmed by the soundings; in entering the port, as on the first
occasion, the tide was going out, and on the second one the tide was
coming in. The altitude of the sun was taken at noon of that day, with the
utmost care, and the latitude was found to be 37° 42' and the longitude
17° 14' W. of San Blas. At this time Point Año Nuevo was about fourteen
leagues distant to the southeast south; the Farallones to the northwest,
distant four leagues, and Point Reyes north 1/4 northeast, distant four
leagues. The wind was from the west. At 4 p. m. the vessel was steered to
the north-northeast, and half an hour later soundings were taken and
bottom found at sixteen brazas46 of mud and sand mixed, and
distant from the mouth about two leagues. At 5 p. m. bottom was found at
fifteen brazas, with the same kind of bottom material. Sounding was
continued and the bottom was found to be as noted in the large map. The
current was so great at the mouth of this port that at 8:30 p. m., with a
strong wind from the west-southwest with full sails, the current allowed
them to go not more than a mile and a half per hour, which shows that the
current must go at least six miles at the middle of the channel. The
swiftness of the current, the fact that the launch had not returned and
that night was coming on, made it necessary to seek for an anchorage; this
was done with great care and precaution; as the force of the wind made it
necessary to have full sail, it was feared that some of the rigging might
give way. For that reason, soundings were taken continually with a 20-lb.
lead, and a line of sixty brazas could not reach bottom, either in the
channel or near the point. This seemed very strange until it was realized
that the current was carrying the lead and it did not strike bottom. They
continued thus until they were one league inside the mouth of the bay and
a quarter of a mile from the shore, when the wind suddenly stopped.
Finding that the current was carrying the ship towards the mouth, an
anchor was thrown overboard, after having made it fast to the big mast so
that if it did not catch the bottom it would not be lost. It was found
that the anchor held. Two more anchors were made ready to drop in case the
big one should drag. When the wind stopped and the current ceased, the
vessel was found to be in twenty-two brazas, with sandy bottom47.
At 6 a. m. of August 6, the launch, which had not been seen since sunset
the day before, came to the vessel. The pilot was asked why he had not
come to meet the ship when he saw her sailing shoreward looking for the
entrance of the bay, answered that at 6 p. m. he had seen a suitable
harbor for the packet-boat to the east of the entrance, and when he
attempted to go out the whirlpools and eddies caused by the current were
such that it was impossible to make any progress, as the current carried
him back towards the shore, so that he determined to stay in the harbor he
had attempted to leave. This, and the fact that the men were fired out,
made him wait until 4 a. m., when he again attempted to go out, with the
same result as before. During his efforts to get out, he saw the
packet-boat, and putting the bow towards her he had no difficulty in
reaching her.
At 7 a. m., the commander sent the pilot to examine a harbor which was to
the west-northwest. He found it useless, because, though it had sufficient
water, the bottom was sticky mud. As Ayala was not in need of shelter
then, he did not enter that harbor, as he was afraid of losing his anchor
in the mud, and also because it was open from the south to the east,
although the wind came from the landward which was about two leagues from
the harbor48.
He called this harbor "Carmeita," because in it was a rock resembling a
friar of that order. There was in its vicinity an Indian village, the
inhabitants of which came out from their huts and cried out and made signs
for the vessel to go near them. As the sailors were taking soundings and
came near the shore, the Indians erected a pole, at the top of which was a
large number of feathers. The sailors having no orders to answer them,
remained at a distance from the shore. The Indians, thinking, no doubt,
that the sailors were afraid of them, endeavored to assure them by
dropping their bows to the ground, and after describing a circle in the
air with the arrows stuck them in the sand. The launch came on board
again, and soon after, the Indians, from a point of land near the vessel,
talked to the sailors with loud cries, and although their voices were
heard distinctly, they could not be understood for want of an interpreter.
At 9 the launch was sent again to another harbor to the north, which
seemed to be better sheltered and to have better anchorage49.
It was so, and when the launch returned at 10, the pilot stated that he
found bottom at eight to fourteen brazas, and the bottom was sticky with
mud. At 3 p. m. the vessel sailed towards the place examined, but a strong
current prevented her reaching it. It was then decided to anchor in
fifteen brazas, sandy bottom, and they stayed there all night, during
which time the vessel moved on account of the bad quality of the anchors.
On the 7th, at 9 a. m., the vessel was started towards a large and
fine-looking harbor which seemed commodious. Soundings were taken, and the
bottom was found at twelve to fourteen brazas. It had been decided to go
to the end of it, but the tide was contrary and it was necessary to return
to the vessel at 1 p. m. Indians from the shore were calling to the men
with loud cries, and the commander decided to send the launch with the
priest, the pilot, and armed men, with orders that they must not molest
the Indians but treat them well and make them presents, for which purpose
the commander gave the men beads and other trinkets and ordered them to
observe good precaution, so that in case the Indians showed fight they
could easily return to the launch, where four armed men must always remain
to protect the retreat. It is true that from the day when intercourse was
first had with the Indians, it was seen how affable and hospitable they
were, showing the greatest desire for the Spaniards to go to their
village, where, they said, they could eat and sleep. They had already
prepared on shore a meal of pinole, bread from their corn, and tomales of
the same. During the time the Spaniards were with the Indians, they found
that the latter repeated the Spanish words with great facility, and by
signs the Spaniards asked the Indians to go on board the packet boat, but
the Indians, also by signs, signified that until the Spaniards should
visit their village, they could not go on board. After a little while the
Spaniards returned to the boat and the Indians disappeared.
On the 8th, the pilot, with men, was sent in the launch to explore the
bay, and on the 9th returned and made his report.
On the 12th the launch was lowered to look for a better anchorage near
Angel Island, which is the largest in this bay, and many good places were
found. It was also thought a good idea to examine another island, which
was found to be very steep and barren and would not afford shelter even
for the launch. This island was called "Alcatraz"50 on account
of the abundance of those birds that were on it.
On the 13th the vessel moved to another anchorage with nine brazas of
water at pistol shot of the land. On the 21st, the first pilot, Don José
de Cañizares, returned from an expedition on which he had been sent a few
days before and made his report. On the same day, the second pilot, Don
Juan B. Aguirre, went, with fresh men, in the launch to try to find the
party which the commander of the presidio had promised to send to San
Francisco by land. The second pilot did not see the party, but explored an
estero which enters the land about twelve leagues51.
On the 23d fifteen Indians came on a raft and were taken on board, where
they were entertained and given something to eat. They learned how to ask
for bread in Spanish.
From this day to the 6th of September, the explorations of the Bay of San
Francisco continued, and first pilot Don José de Cañizares was instructed
to make his report and the map of the bay.
On September 7th an attempt was made to go to sea for the return voyage,
but the rudder was injured by a submerged rock on which the current had
carried the vessel.
From this day to September 18th, the time was passed in repairing the
rudder and making preparations for the return voyage, which took place on
that day, going to Monterey, where they arrived the following day.
In order to make the necessary repairs to the ship and pass the equinox in
good shelter, the San Carlos remained in the harbor of Monterey till
October 13, 1775, when she started for San Blas, where she arrived on
November 6th of the same year.
Report of Don Juan Manuel de Ayala Commander of the Packet Boat San
Carlos to Don Antonio Maria Bucareli Viceroy of New Spain On the
Examination of the Port of San Francisco
Your Excellency:—I have finished the orders under which I took
command of the San Carlos, returning to this port of San Blas today,
November 6th, after having visited the ports of Monterey and San
Francisco.
Although Your Excellency will see in the account of my examination,
together with the pilot, Don José Cañizares' report of his examination and
the map he made of this port, the nature of the work done. I will,
notwithstanding in this, give a brief account, that shows the port of San
Francisco to be one of the best that I have seen on this coast from Cape
Horn.
After one hundred and one days of navigation, I arrived at the harbor of
Monterey, where I had to remain till July 27th, discharging the cargo and
making some repairs necessary for the safety of my vessel. On July 27th, I
started in search of the Port of San Francisco, where I arrived on the
night of August 5th. I remained there forty-four days, inspecting by
myself, or by my pilot, with all possible accuracy, everything that
pertains to this matter.
It is true that this port is good, not only for the beautiful harmony that
offers to the view, but because it does not lack very good fresh water,
wood, and ballast in abundance. Its climate though cold, is healthful and
free from those troublesome fogs which we had daily in Monterey, because
the fogs here hardly reach the entrance of the port, and once inside the
harbor, the weather is very clear. To these many advantages is to be added
the best: and this is that the heathen Indians around this port are so
constant in their good friendship and so gentle in their manners, that I
received them with pleasure on board several times, and I had the sailors
frequently visit with them on land; so that from the first to the last
day, they remained the same in their behavior. This made me present them
with trinkets, beads, and biscuit; the last they learned to ask for
clearly in our language.
There is no doubt that this good friendship was a great comfort to us,
enabling us to make with less fear the reconnaissance that was ordered of
me. Although in a letter written by Your Excellency to my predecessor, Don
Miguel Manrique, dated January 2d, I read that it was possible we might
find in San Francisco the land expedition undertaken by Captain Don Juan
de Anza; I did not on that account refuse the offer of another small land
expedition which the Captain of Monterey, Don Fernando de Rivera, made me.
I did not see either of them while I remained in that port, but I did not,
on that account, postpone the reconnaissance. I could not do all of this
in person, because I was convalescing from a serious wound in my right
foot, received April 3d by the accidental discharge of a double-barrel
pistol, which Don Miguel Manrique had left loaded in the cabin.
Notwithstanding this, I am satisfied that Don José Cañizares executed with
his usual ability everything I entrusted to his care. I therefore state to
Your Excellency (in order that the merit of his work may not be ignored),
that as long as he was with me, he acted not only with his usual honesty,
but showed such great talent in his profession that in the midst of my
troubles I found him one to entrust with the more delicate points of my
duty.
On September 7th, I decided to leave the Port of San Francisco, as I
considered the reconnaissance completed, and in doing this, having no
wind, I was carried by the strong current against some rocks, injuring the
rudder and breaking two female and one male bolts. This obliged me to
enter a cove, where I repaired as well as possible the accident, and again
tried to sail forth, a light breeze from the north (the only one I noticed
in the forty-four days) aiding the sailing. On the 18th, because the
rudder was injured, and those who had been on this coast before had warned
me that at this time of year the weather was very severe, I determined to
pass the Equinox at Monterey, and arrived there on the 19th. At this port
I found the frigate Santiago. The schooner came October 7th, and I left
for San Blas on the 13th, where I am sick of my foot, but always desirous
to obey Your Excellency.
I pray the Lord to keep the life of Your Excellency many years.
San Blas, November 9, 1775.
Juan Manuel de Ayala.
To His Excellency, Bailio Frey Don Antonio Maria Bucareli.
Description of the Newly-discovered Port of San Francisco
Situated in Latitude 37° 53' North, Longitude 17° 10' West of San Blas
By Lieutenant Don Juan Manuel Ayala
Placed about two leagues west-southwest of Point Almejas52,
latitude 37° 42', the following is to be seen: First that it53
is large, with two red barrancas54, and
second, that to the north there are three white rocks at a stone's throw55.
From that point the coast runs north-northeast, forming a small harbor in
which there are five submerged rocks close to its shore; above it some
white barrancas56, ending in a sloping bill which
top, to the north, is what is called Angel Point57. This has
near it several rocks58, the furtherest one a gunshot
distant. From this point there is a harbor sufficient to accommodate any
vessel59,
not only on account of its bottom, but because it is sheltered from all
winds excepting those from the west-southwest. The middle of this harbor
is to the northwest, where a copious creek empties60; the point
runs northeast 1/4 east. This harbor, with the one inside of it, which I
called San Jose61, has been found very good, with
the prevailing winds from the south to the northwest.
From Pt. Almejas to the northwest 1/4 west, four Farallones are seen,
distant about four leagues. The one southernmost looks like a sugar-loaf.
To the northwest 1/4 north, at a distance of about twelve leagues, a
mountain62
is seen which ends in a low point. According to the records of Sebastian
Vizcaino and coast pilot of Cabrera Bueno, this is the one called Point
Reyes. From this point the coast runs east-southeast in the shape of a
half-moon, open to all winds of the third quarter and ending in two
barrancas at the foot of which a low point comes out with two submerged
rocks. This point was called Santiago63, and, with
one called Angel de la Guarda, forms the mouth of the channel of the
entrance of the port64. Following this shore in a
northeast direction, another harbor is to be found within three small
rocks near the shore which, in case of necessity, may shelter any vessel.
This harbor65
ends on the north with a large, steep, and broken point, at the foot of
which there is a white farallon to which and to the point I gave the name
of San Carlos66, and with Point San José, which
is distant about half a league, forms the entrance of this famous port. It
is to be borne in mind that any vessel that enters or leaves this port
must take the precaution not to come near San Carlos Point, because in
this place exist violent whirlpools which make useless the rudder, but
must take the middle of the channel or sail near the shores of San José
Point.
To the northeast 1/4 north of the middle of the entrance, an island67
is seen, distant about one and a half leagues. This island divides the
water of the flood in two channels in which a vessel may anchor,
especially in the one that runs northeast 1/4 north near the island where
water and wood are to be found in abundance. The vicinity of the island is
such good anchorage that a vessel can anchor within a pistol-shot of the
shore.
To the east-northeast of Point San José there is a sheltered harbor,
landlocked, with bottom which diminishes gradually to the shore, where
water and some wood are to be found68. In this
harbor there is no current, and for that reason, and because it is so near
the point I consider, it one of the best anchorages.
Once Points San José and San Carlos have been passed, and taking care to
leave at one side the principal channel, an anchorage can be made at any
place, because it is sheltered from all winds; the only thing to avoid is
the current, which in the principal channel is five miles, and in its
branches three miles.
This report was made to me by Pilot Don José Cañizares, to whom I
entrusted the examination of the port, because I was seriously sick.
Reconnaissance of the Port of San Francisco, with Map
Report of the Pilot Don José de Cañizares to Commander Don Juan de Ayala
Translation of a Certified Copy of the Original in the Archives of the
Indies at Seville.
Dear Captain:—During the four times that I made reconnaissance of
this Port, and made its map, I found at the northeast and north-northeast
what is shown on the map and I here describe. To the north-northeast of
Angel Island, distant about a mile, there is a bay running in a direction
north-northwest to south-southwest. The distance between the points
forming said bay, is about two leagues, and the shore line is about two
and a half leagues. To the northwest of the shore there are three small
islands, forming between them and the shore a narrow passage of shallow
water closed to the southwest. This bay is all surrounded with hills with
few trees, which are mostly laurel and oak, but at a distance to the
west-northwest, is visible a wood of what seems to be pines. In the middle
of this bay is standing a high farallon with submerged rocks around it. On
the northeast of it there is sufficient water for anchorage, as is shown
on the map. There is no doubt of its being good anchorage for vessels,
provided they have good cables and anchors, for they are subject to great
stress because of the current, which at this point, cannot be less than
four miles an hour69.
North-northeast of said bay there is a mouth about two miles wide, where
there are four small white rocks, the two north ones with the two south
ones70
form a channel of nine brazas depth. From this, one passes to another bay71
more spacious, the diameter of which is about eight leagues, its shape a
perfect isosceles triangle; its mouth is divided into two channels,—one,
on the side of the southwest coast, turns to the northwest at about the
distance of a mile and ends in two large harbors which are situated in the
same shore at about four league's distance from the mouth that
communicates with the first bay; from the northwest point of the furthest
harbor to the north of it, distant about one and a half leagues, in
turning a point to the west-northwest, a large body of water72
is seen, which I did not examine because the channel which leads to it is
extremely limited, its depth not having three codos73 of water;
from here to the east-northeast follows a low-lying island, just above the
water level, ending in a division made by the hills74. The other
channel, which is roomy and deep, runs directly in a northeast direction
till it reaches the division of the hills through a cañon that runs in the
same direction.
All the bay, which is called the round bay (Bahia Redondo), though it is
not shaped that way, is surrounded with steep hills, without trees,
excepting two spots on the slopes fronting the two harbors to the
southwest. The rest of it is arid, rugged, and of a melancholic aspect.
Outside of the channels there is in this bay about five codos of water,
and at low tide two and a half, and in some places it is dry. It is not
difficult to enter this bay, but going out will be difficult on account of
the wind from the southwest. After a careful examination of its shore, I
did not find any fresh water or any signs of it. Standing in the cañon,
which is to the northeast, there is a channel75 a mile and
a half wide, deep and clear. East of its entrance there is a ranchería of
about four hundred souls. I had dealings with them, but did not buy
anything, though I presented them with beads, which you had given me for
that purpose, and some old clothing of mine. Their acquaintance was useful
to my men and to me, as they presented us with exquisite fishes (amongst
them salmon), seeds, and pinole. I had opportunity of visiting them four
times and found them always as friendly as the first time, noticing in
them polite manners, and what is better, modesty and retirement in the
women. They are not disposed to beg, but accept with good will what is
given them, without being impertinent, as are many others I have seen
during the conquest. This Indian village has some scows or canoes, made of
tule, so well constructed and woven that they caused me great admiration.
Four men get in them to go fishing, pushing with two-ended oars with such
speed that I found they went faster than the launch. These were the only
Indians with whom I had communication in this northern part.
Following said channel a distance to the west from its mouth, there is a
harbor, so commodious, accessible, abundant in fresh water and wood, and
sheltered from all winds, that I considered it one of the best inland
ports that our Sovereign has for anchoring a fleet of vessels. I called it
Puerto de la Asumpta, having examined it the day of the festivity of that
saint76.
To the southeast of this port77 the cañon continues, until it
joins the channel of the Indian village. Following a distance of three
leagues in an east-northeast direction, it enters another bay78
with a depth of thirteen brazas, diminishing to four where some rivers79
empty and take the saltiness of the water which there becomes sweet, the
same as in a lake. The rivers come, one from the east-northeast (this is
the largest, about two hundred and fifty yards wide), the other, which has
many branches, comes from the northeast through tulares and swamps in very
low land, the channels not over two brazas with sandy bars at their
mouths, where I found in sounding the water not more than a half braza.
This made me think they were not navigable, especially as on the second
occasion I entered them, I touched bottom both in the channels and on the
bars. The bay where these rivers empty, is another port larger than the
Asumpta, where any vessel may enter, but it would be difficult to obtain
wood, which is far from the shore. All the eastern coast is covered with
trees; that to the west is arid, dry, full of grasshoppers, and impossible
of settlement. This is all I have reconnoitered to the north of Angel
Island. To the southeast of said island following the estero is as
follows:
To the east of this island, at a distance of about two leagues, there is
another, steep and barren, without any shelter, which divides the mouth of
the channel in two80, through which the sea enters to
a distance of about twelve leagues. The width of this channel is in some
parts, one, two, and three leagues; its depth is not over four brazas, its
width ample, but a pistol shot outside of the channel; its depth is not
over two brazas. The extreme end of this sound, eastward, forms with a
point, a pocket, which, at low tide is nearly dry81. In every
part there are seen poles driven in (the mud), with black feathers,
bunches of tule, and little shells, which I believe are buoys for fishing,
since they are in the water. I think it will be impossible to anchor for
three leagues inside of this slough, because it is so exposed to the
weather that strong cables and good anchorage are needed to hold against
the strong current from the north.
The northeast part of this slough is surrounded by high hills, and has in
its mouth a thick wood of oaks, and at the other end groves of thick
redwood trees. At the southwest of the coast is a small slough, navigable
only by launches82, and on the coast two harbors83
where vessels can anchor. On the more eastern one there is an Indian
village, rough, like the ones in Monterey. This part seems to have better
places for missions, though I did not examine it except from a distance.
All the above stated in this report is what I observed, saw, surveyed, and
sounded, during the days, in which by your orders, I went to the
reconnoitering of this Port of San Francisco in its interior; and as proof
of it, I sign it in this new Port of San Francisco, at the shelter of
Angel Island, on September 7th, 1775.
José de Cañizares.
Index of Places
Acapulco
Alcatraz Island
Almejas, El Rincon de las
Almejas, Punta del
Angel Island
Angel Point
Año Nuevo, Punta de
Arroyo de San Francisco
Arroyo Seco
Baker's Beach
Barranca
Ballenas Bay
Bonita, Point
Brazas
California, Baja
California, Gulf of
Cañada
Cañada do los Osos
Cañada do San Andres
Cármelo, Pt
Cármelo, bay
Cármelo, Rio del
Carquines, strait
Cerralbo, Bay of
Codo
Columbia river
Concepcion, Laguna de la
Concepcion, Point
Diegueños
Drake's Bay
El Buchon
El Oso Flaco
Ensenada
Farallones de San Francisco
Farallones, Gulf of
Florida
Fort Point
Golden Gate
Golden Gate, strait
Guadalupe, lake
Islais creek
Jesus de los Temblores, Rio de
La Paz, Bay of
La Paz, port of
Lime Point
Lobos creek
Loreto, presidio of
Los Angeles, City of
Los Angeles, river
Napa slough
Mare Island
Mendocino, Cape
Mescaltitan
Mission bay
Montara mountains
Monterey, Bay of
Monterey, Port of
Monterey, presidio and mission of
Muertos, Punta de los
Navidad, Puerto de
Oakland Flats
Pájaro, Rio del
Pedernales, Point
Philippine Islands
Pilar Point
Pinos, Punta de
Porciúncula, Indulgence
Puerto Dulce
Punta del Angel de la Guarda
Presidio anchorage
Ranchería
Reyes, Punta de los
Reyes, Rio de los
Richardson's bay
Red Rock
Ross, Fort
San Blas
San Buenaventura, mission of
San Carlos, Point
San Clemente, island
San Corpóforo, cañon
San Diego
San Diego, bay
San Diego, Founding of mission
San Diego, presidio of
San Elizario, Rio de
San Fernando, valley
San Francisco, Bahia ó Puerto de
San Francisco, Bay of
San Francisco, Port of
San Francisco, creek
San Gabriel, valley
San Joaquin river
San Jose, Point
San Juan Capistrano, mission of
San Lorenzo, Rio de
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Rey, mission of
San Miguel (island)
San Nicolas, Isla de
San Pablo bay
San Pedro bay
San Pedro Point
San Pedro valley
Santa Ana, Rio de
Santa Barbara Channel
Santa Barbara Isla de
Santa Barbara presidio of
Santa Catalina, island
Santa Clara, river
Santa Inez, river
Santa Lucia, Sierra de
Santa Maria, mission of
Santa Rosa, river
Santa Susana, Sierra de
Sacramento, river
Sal, Point
Salines, river
Santiago, Point
Seal Rocks
Suisun bay
Tamalpais, mountain
The Brothers (rocks)
The Sisters (rocks)
Tomales bay
Velicatá
Yerba Buena cove
Index of Persons
Aguilar, Martin
Aguirre, Juan B.
Alvarado, Juan Bautista
Amador, Pedro
Anza, Juan Bautista de
Arriaga, Julian de
Ayala, Juan Manuel
Bancroft, H. H.
Bodega y Quadra, Juan de la
Bolaños, Francisco
Bucareli, Antonio Maria
Bueno, Cabrera
Cabrillo, Juan Rodrigues
Cañizares, José
Carrillo, José Raimundo
Cermeñon, Sebastian
Coronado, Francisco Vasquez
Cortes, Hernando
Corvan, Toribio Gomez de
Costansó, Miguel
Cota, Pablo de
Crespi, Juan
Davidson, George
De Gali, Francisco
De Soto, Hernando
Drake, Francis
Estorace, Jorge
Fages, Pedro
Ferrelo, Bartolomé
Figueroa, Rodriga de
Fletcher, Francis
Galvez, José de
Gomez, Fray Francisco
Griffin, George Butler
Heceta, Bruno de
Jiminez (Fortun)
Laut, Agnes C.
Legaspi, Miguel Lopez de
Lummis, Chas. F.
Maldonado, Gabriel
Manrique, Miguel
Mendoza, Antonio de
Monterey, Conde de
Morgana, Juan de
Oliveros, José Ignacio
Ortega, José Francisco
Palou, Fray Francisco
Perez, Juan
Parron, Fray Fernando
Pino, Miguel del
Portolá, Gaspar de
Prat, Pedro
Rivera y Moncada, Fernando de
Salcedo, Felipe
Serra, Fray Junípero
Soberanes, José Maria
Vancouver, Captain George
Velasco, Luis de
Vila, Vicente
Vizcaino, Fray Juan
Vizcaino, Sebastian
Yorba, José Antonio
Zúñiga y Asevedo, Gaspar de
FOOTNOTES:
1 (return)
[ Sierra de Santa Lucia.]
2 (return)
[ Audiencia, the highest
judicial body.]
3 (return)
[ The system of encomienda
conferred feudal rights upon the discoverers. The Indians became vassals
of Spanish lords.]
4 (return)
[ Vizcaino says he set out on
the discovery of the coast of the South Sea with two ships, a lancha, and
a barcoluengo. A lancha was a small vessel having no deck and but one
mast, and propelled by sweeps. Vanegas calls the vessel a fragata. A
barcoluengo, or barcolongo, was a long open boat.]
5 (return)
[ The second voyage of
Vizcaino is of particular interest to Californians for the reason that the
names given by him to the various geographical features of the coast still
remain. The particulars of the first voyage are taken largely from the
publications of the Southern California Historical Society of documents in
the Sutro collection.]
6 (return)
[ Sutro Col. Pub. Southern
California Hist. Socy.]
7 (return)
[ Prof. George Davidson
identifies the Rio de los Reyes as Rogue River in 42° 25'.]
8 (return)
[ About Cape San Quintin, the
latitude of their northernmost mission.]
9 (return)
[ Instruccion qua ha de
observer el Teniente de Infanteria. Dn Pedro Pages, 5 enero de 1769.
Provincial State Papers; i, 38.9, Ms. Spanish Archives of California.]
10 (return)
[ So-called from the cuera,
a leathern jacket worn by them as a defensive armor.]
11 (return)
[ Out West. March-July,
1902.]
12 (return)
[ Pancakes.]
13 (return)
[ Dead Men's Point. The
name has disappeared from the modern maps, but is found on all of the old
ones. It is the foot of H street where the cars for the Coronado ferry
turn on to the wharf.]
14 (return)
[ I am well aware that this
claim will be disputed by one whose study of original documents and power
of analysis make him perhaps the greatest authority on early California
History; but I am nevertheless prepared to maintain my position.]
15 (return)
[ Carga, 275 lbs.]
16 (return)
[ Hence the presidial
soldiers were called Soldados de Cuera and so distinguished from soldiers
of the regular army.]
17 (return)
[ Diario Historico de los
viages de Mar y de tierra hichos al norte de la California. Ms. Original
in Sutro Library.]
18 (return)
[ The league is the Spanish
league of 5,000 varas. 2.63 miles.]
19 (return)
[ They also gave it the
name of Santa Ana, whose day, July 26th, they had just observed.]
20 (return)
[ Sometimes called the
Grand Pardon of Assisi—the great indulgence of the Franciscans.
Originally granted to St. Francis for the Church of Our Lady of the
Angeles of Porciúncula, it was, by apostolic indult, expanded to accompany
the child of St. Francis wherever he may be. It is enough for him to erect
an altar and that altar will be to him St. Mary of the Angels, and he will
there find the Porciúncula of the revelations. Whoso confesses and
receives the sacrament in the church of Porciúncula is granted plenary
remission of his sins in this world and the next. This indulgence is only
for August 2nd—that is, from the afternoon of August 1st until
sunset of August 2nd.]
21 (return)
[ It is to this incident
that the city of Los Angeles owes its name. The full baptismal name of the
city is Nuestra Senora La Reina de los Angeles—Our Lady the Queen of
the Angels. It was founded in 1781, by royal order, the second pueblo
established in California.]
22 (return)
[ Ranchería is the name
given to an Indian village or town.]
23 (return)
[ The Valley of the Bears.]
24 (return)
[ The diarists applied the
word cañada to either a cañon or an open valley.]
25 (return)
[ The word ensenada, much
used by the Spanish explorers, means a bight or open roadstead, not an
enclosed and protected bay.]
26 (return)
[﹃Transportar en Xamus al
Modo que cominan las mujeres en Andalucia,﹄Crespi: Palou's Noticias de la
Nueva California, ii. 181.]
27 (return)
[ The names given on this
portion of the route have all disappeared, but are here given as a
suggestion to the Ocean Shore Railroad.]
28 (return)
[ The Fleas.]
29 (return)
[ It must be borne in mind
that what they called the Bay or Port of San Francisco was that stretch of
water reaching from Point Reyes to Point San Pedro and later known as the
Gulf of the Farallones.]
30 (return)
[ Professor George Davidson
says that what was seen by Portolá from the Montara mountains was the
break in the Ballenos cliffs, a deep narrow valley which runs straight
from Ballenos bay to Tomales bay, fourteen miles.]
31 (return)
[ The Golden Gate and Bay
of San Francisco.]
32 (return)
[ The Bay of San Francisco
continued to be called the "Estero," until some time after Colonel Anza
established the presidio and mission of San Francisco in 1776.]
33 (return)
[ The present name, Cañada
de San Andres, was given by Rivera, Nov. 30, 1714.]
34 (return)
[ On November, 1774, Rivera
came up the peninsula on an exploring expedition and on the spot where he
had camped with the first expedition in 1769, he planted a cross to mark
the place for a mission. In March, 1776, Col. Juan Bautista de Anza,
coming to select sites for the Presidio and Mission of San Francisco,
notes this cross on the bank of the Arroyo de San Francisco (now San
Francisquito creek), about one hundred paces above the great redwood tree,
and says the plan for a mission there was abandoned because the creek was
dry in summer. I note this explanation because an excellent authority has
located Portolá's camp on Redwood creek.]
35 (return)
[ I give to Ortega the
credit of discovering the Golden Gate and the Straits of Carquinez. The
testimony seems sufficient to me.]
36 (return)
[ Vizcaino to the King, May
23, 1603. Pub. Hist. Socy. of Southern California, Vol. ii, Part 1.]
37 (return)
[ On the day of the Holy
Innocents it was not possible to say mass. We are sorry for it, because it
is the only feast day in all the journey up to the present that we have
been without mass. We are stuck in a mud hole and are unable to move from
the place where we are all wet through, and it is not possible to make a
journada to a plain that is dry for this is bubbling up water—Crespi,
Diario.]
38 (return)
[ Crespi: Diario.]
39 (return)
[ Palou: Noticias de la
Nueva California.]
40 (return)
[ Invernate—to
winter.]
41 (return)
[ Manuel Orozco y Berra,
Apuntes Airs. la Historia de la Geografia an Mexico, Anales del Ministerio
de Formento de la Republica Mexicana Tomo VI, p. 269. Documents in the
Archives of the Indies, Seville.]
42 (return)
[ This is a summary of the
document. A full translation would be too tedious for a work of this
kind.]
43 (return)
[ On the Tres Marias
Islands.]
44 (return)
[ Don Pedro Fages.
Commandante of California, who had been recalled.]
45 (return)
[ Bancroft. Hist. of Cal.,
says Ayala sailed from Monterey, July 24th. That was to make the sailing
fit the Bancroft theories.]
46 (return)
[ Braza—Fathom: Six
feet.]
47 (return)
[ Ayala anchored inside
Port Point—the Presidio anchorage.]
48 (return)
[ Richardson's Bay.]
49 (return)
[ Angel Island.]
50 (return)
[ Alcatraz—Pelican]
51 (return)
[ The Southern portion of
the bay.]
52 (return)
[ Pt. San Pedro.]
53 (return)
[ That is: Pt. Almejas or
Pt. San Pedro.]
54 (return)
[ Barranca: The dictionary
definition is a ravine or gulch, but it also means a high bluff or cliff
and in that sense is used by these explorers.]
55 (return)
[ i. e.: from Pt. Almejas.]
56 (return)
[ Cliff Rouse Rocks.]
57 (return)
[ Punta del Angel de la
Guarda—Point Lobos.]
58 (return)
[ Seal Rocks.]
59 (return)
[ Bakers Beach.]
60 (return)
[ Lobos Creek.]
61 (return)
[ i. e.: Inside of Point
San Jose—Fort Point.]
62 (return)
[ Tamalpais]
63 (return)
[ Point Bonita. The present
name was given it in 1776.]
64 (return)
[ Golden Gate Strait.]
65 (return)
[ i. e.: The outer harbor;
outside of the Golden Gate.]
66 (return)
[ Lime Point.]
67 (return)
[ Angel Island.]
68 (return)
[ The Presidio anchorage.]
69 (return)
[ This is the body of water
between Pt. San Pedro, Pt. San Pablo, Pt. Richmond and Tiburon Peninsula.
The high farallon is Red Rock.]
70 (return)
[ The rocks are The Sisters
and The Brothers.]
71 (return)
[ San Pablo Bay.]
72 (return)
[ Napa Slough. The marsh
was evidently under water, and island number one, with Mare Island, made
one long island.]
73 (return)
[ Codo—1 1/2 feet.]
74 (return)
[ Mare Island. The division
of the hills or cañon is Carquines Strait.]
75 (return)
[ Carquines Straits.]
76 (return)
[ The Assumption of the
Virgin—August 15th. It is Southampton bay.]
77 (return)
[ That is, from Puerto de
la Asumpta.]
78 (return)
[ Suisun Bay.]
79 (return)
[ The Sacramento and San
Joaquin. Suisun Bay was long known as Puerto Dulce—Freshwater Port.]
80 (return)
[ Yerba Buena or Goat
Island. Cañizaries marked it on the map (c) for isla do Alcatraces, but
that evidently was a mistake, as a comparison of the entry in the Log
under date of August 12, with the map will show.]
81 (return)
[ Oakland and Berkeley tide
flats.]
82 (return)
[ Islais creek.]
83 (return)
[ Yerba Buena cove and
Mission bay.]
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The March of Portolá, by
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