Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Map of Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail routes in Arizona and California
California road signage for the Anza Trail

The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail is a 1,210-mile (1,950 km) trail extending from

National Millennium Trail
.

Juan Bautista de Anza.

History

Map of the route Juan Bautista de Anza travelled in 1775–76 from Mexico to today's San Francisco via the Gila River corridor and the Yuma Crossing of the Colorado River.

1st California Trip

Pueblo de Los Angeles
would be established in 1781 by eleven families recruited mostly from Sonora y Sinaloa Province. It took Anza about 74 days to make this initial reconnaissance trip to establish a land route into California.

On his return trip he retraced his path to the Yuma Crossing of the Colorado River and then went down the Gila River corridor until reaching the Santa Cruz River (Arizona) corridor and continuing on to Tubac, Arizona. The return trip only took 23 days as he now had found a trail with sufficient water to make land access to California possible. On the Gila River, he encountered several extensive villages of Pima (Akimel O'odham) Indians. These were a peaceful and populous agricultural tribe with extensive crops and irrigation systems located along the river.[3]

Map of the drainage basin of the Gila River in Arizona, New Mexico and Sonora in the United States and Mexico.

2nd California Trip

In Anza's second trip (1775–1776) he returned to California via the Gila River path he had discovered with 240 friars, soldiers and colonists with their families. They took 695 horses and mules, 385

San Francisco, California
.

In 1779, Father Francisco Garcés was assigned to establish a mission at Yuma crossing of the Colorado River. In 1780, the Spanish established two combination missions and pueblos at the Yuma Colorado River Crossing of the Anza trail: Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer and Mission Puerto de Purísima Concepción. Both these pueblos and missions were on the California side of the Colorado River near the mouth of the Gila River but were administered by the Arizona authorities.

Later use

The settlement of

San Gabriel Mission.[4]

The second group, under Fernando Rivera y Moncada, took an overland route over the Anza trail 1,200 miles (1,900 km) through the desert from Sinaloa Mexico. They passed through the new missions on the Colorado River, Mission Puerto de Purísima Concepción and Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer. The group arrived at the Colorado River in June 1781. Rivera y Moncada sent most of his party ahead, but he stayed behind to rest the livestock before continuing their drive across the desert. His party would never reach San Gabriel. In July, Rivera was killed along with the local missionaries, settlers, and travelers with them in the Yuma revolt of the Quechan Indians in 1781.

The

Mojave Indians rose up against the party for encroaching on their farmlands and for other abuses inflicted by the soldiers. On July 17–19, 1781, the Yuma (Quechan) Indians, in a dispute with the New Spain government and church, destroyed both missions and pueblos – killing 103 soldiers, colonists and Friars and capturing about 80 more (mostly women and children). Included in the casualties were Fernando Rivera y Moncada military commander and former governor of California and Father Francisco Garcés founder of the missions on the Colorado River. In four well-supported punitive expeditions in 1782 and 1783 against the Quechans, the Spanish managed to gather their dead and ransom nearly all the prisoners but failed to re-open the Anza Trail. The Yuma Crossing and the Anza trail were closed for Spanish traffic and would stay closed until the late 1820s. As a result, California was nearly isolated again from land-based travel, and about the only way into California from Mexico would now be a 40- to 60-day voyage by sea.[5]
According to historian David Weber, the Yuma revolt turned California into an "island" and Arizona into a "cul de sac", severing Arizona-California and Mexican land connections before they could be firmly established.

Modern touring

A hiking version of the Juan Bautista de Anza Trail found near the Cull Canyon Regional Recreation Area main entrance. This segment overlaps the Bay Area Ridge Trail, and the East Bay Regional Park District-managed Chabot to Garin trail.

Along the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail route, visitors can experience the varied landscapes similar to those the expedition saw; learn the stories of the expedition's events, members, and descendants; better understand the

National Millennium Trail in 1999.[1]

In 2005,

Caltrans
began posting signs on roads that overlap with the trail route so that California drivers could follow the trail.

Designated sites

The National Park Service has developed a printed and online: Brochure Map for driving and guides for auto tours, hiking sections, and designated Historic sites, landmarks, and museums open to the public. Schedules of Anza celebrations and other historic events are on an updated NPS: What to Do-Events Guide. The detailed Anza Trail Maps by County show more points of interest, trailheads, and local lore.[1]

Growth

The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail project is growing as local, state, and NPS efforts establish more trails, signage, and interpretive programs. The Trail is inspiring activities at existing

municipal parks, neighborhood greenbelts, regional parks
, and large open space preserves.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d http://www.nps.gov/juba/ de Anza National Historic Trail . 9/9/2010
  2. ^ "Tour Anza Historic Trail". CaliforniaResortLife. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
  3. ^ Bancroft, Hubert Howe. 1886. History of California. 7 volumes. San Francisco: History Company." available one-line

External links