Juan de Ayala

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In this
Spanish name, the first or paternal surname
is Ayala and the second or maternal family name is Aranza.
Juan de Ayala
Andalucía, Spain
Died30 December 1797(1797-12-30) (aged 52)
New Spain now Mexico
NationalitySpain Spanish
Occupationnaval officer

Juan Manuel de Ayala y Aranza (28 December 1745 – 30 December 1797) was a Spanish naval officer who played a significant role in the European exploration of California, as he and the crew of his ship the San Carlos were the first Europeans known to have entered the San Francisco Bay, having sailed there from the Port of San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico.

Biography

Ayala was born in

Andalucía, Spain. He entered the Spanish navy on 19 September 1760, and rose to achieve the rank of captain
by 1782. He retired (on full pay on account of his achievements in California) on March 14, 1785.

In the early 1770s, the Spanish royal authorities ordered an exploration of the north coast of California, "to Ascertain if there were any

Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursua
.

Bucareli sent him to

which?] Ayala was ordered to take command of this larger vessel, sailed back to San Blas to land the unfortunate Manrique, and rejoined the squadron after a few days' sailing. Ayala was designated to pass through the strait and explore what lay within, while the Santiago and Sonora continued northwards.[1]

The San Carlos took on supplies at

Angel Island was most satisfactory, but failed to make contact, as he had hoped, with Anza's party. Ayala put up a wooden cross where he landed the first night. The San Carlos remained in the Bay until 18 September, returning to San Blas via Monterey. Ayala's subsequent report to the Viceroy gave a full account of the geography of the bay, and stressed its advantages as a harbour (chiefly the absence of "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.") and the friendliness of the local Native American people.[citation needed
]

On 12 August 1775, Ayala gave the name Isla de Alcatraces, "island of the pelicans", and what is now Yerba Buena Island, "on account of the abundance of those birds that were on it." The name was transferred in 1826 to Alcatraz Island.[2] The word "Alcatraz" comes from Spanish, which in turn was a probably a loan word from Arabic, القطرس al-qaṭrās meaning "sea eagle."[3] The pelicans native to San Francisco Bay are brown pelicans.[citation needed]

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-7748-1367-9
    .
  2. ISBN 978-0-520-24217-3
    . Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  3. ^ "alcatras, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 20 October 2012.

External links

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