Juan Crespí

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Joan Crespí
Juan Crespí
New Spain
Resting placeMission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo
Occupation(s)Roman Catholic priest, missionary, explorer

Joan Crespí or Juan Crespí (1 March 1721 – 1 January 1782) was a

Franciscan missionary and explorer of Las Californias.[1]

Biography

A native of

Baja California Peninsula and was placed in charge of the Misión La Purísima Concepción de Cadegomó
.

In 1769, Crespí joined the

missions. He was one of three diarists to document the first exploration by Europeans of interior areas of Alta California
.

Crespí is credited with giving Los Angeles its name, after having named the region's primary river El Río de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula, meaning, in Spanish, "the River of Our Lady Queen of the Angels of Porciuncula". The town that later formed nearby took its name from this river. [3]

After reaching Monterey in October 1769, Crespí continued with the expedition that explored as far north as present-day San Francisco, and became one of the first Europeans to see

San Francisco
.

In 1772, Crespí accompanied Captain Pedro Fages on an exploration of areas to the east of San Francisco Bay. The Fages expedition members were the first Europeans to see the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin Valley.

In 1774, Crespí was chaplain of the expedition to the North Pacific conducted by

Misión San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco in Landa, is reported as still standing.[5]

The Trek of Father Crespi, 1777, by Katherine S. Works, 1938

Recognition

A Catholic boys' school, Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, is named for him, as was a middle school in the West Contra Costa Unified School District. The latter was renamed Betty Reid Soskin Middle School on her hundredth birthday on 22 September 2021.[6][7]

References

  1. ISBN 0-8059-4172-X
    ..
  2. ^ "BC Book World - Juan Crespi". Retrieved 2007-12-03.
  3. ^ "Origin of the Name Los Angeles". laalmanac.com. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  4. ISBN 1-879691-64-7
  5. ISBN 1-55570-045-4
    .
  6. ^ "Betty Reid Soskin, Groundbreaking Park Ranger, to Have East Bay Middle School Renamed in Her Honor". KQED. Retrieved 2021-06-24.
  7. ^ 🖉"East Bay Middle School Renamed for Pioneering Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin — on Her 100th Birthday". KQED.
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