Portolá expedition
Organized by | José de Gálvez, 1st Marquess of Sonora |
---|---|
Participants | 74 men, including Gaspar de Portolá, Junípero Serra, the Free Company of Volunteers of Catalonia, and Franciscan missionaries |
The Portolá expedition was a
Background
This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2017) |
Although already inhabited by Native Americans, the territory that is now California was claimed by the
A competing claim was established for England in 1579 by the privateer
Soromenho was followed in 1602 by
Then, in 1767,
Decision to send an expedition
By the late 1760s, the Spanish king and a handful of other European rulers began to realize the importance the Pacific coast of North America would have in maritime trade and activity. The Russians had been advancing south from their strongholds in present-day Alaska, and the British had been pushing west in Canada and were approaching the Pacific coast. In order to secure Spain's claims in California, Charles III wanted to explore and settle the coastline so that he could create a buffer zone to protect Spain's territories from the threat of invasion.[additional citation(s) needed]
Upon hearing about the king's desire to explore
The expedition's original assignment was to travel to the "port of Monterey" described by Vizcaíno and establish a settlement there.[2] After that, the explorers were to continue north to locate Soromenho's "Bay of San Francisco", chase away any Russians encountered, claim the area for Spain and determine whether the bay would make a good port.
Expedition
Baja California to San Diego
The first leg of the expedition consisted of five groups all departing from
Three groups by sea
On the shore of
On February 15, Gálvez dispatched the San Antonio, captained by Juan Pérez, from Cabo San Lucas; Franciscan friars Juan Vizcaíno and Francisco Gómez served as chaplains. With sailors plus cooks, carpenters and blacksmiths, the San Antonio carried a total of around 30 men. These ships left ahead of the land groups. The San Carlos and San Antonio were followed by an additional supply ship, the San José, which was named after the patron saint of the Portolà expedition, Saint Joseph. The San José never reached San Diego and was presumed lost at sea.
Two groups by land
Captain Fernando Rivera, moving north through Baja California, gathered horses and mules from the fragile chain of Catholic missions to supply his overland expedition. José de Gálvez had ordered Rivera to requisition horses and mules from the missions without endangering their survival and to give the friars receipts for the number of animals taken; those missions would later get restocked with animals brought over from the Mexican mainland. Friar Juan Crespí, selected as chaplain for the Rivera party and diarist for the Franciscan missionaries, traveled for 24 days from Mission La Purísima, approximately 400 miles (640 km) north to Velicatá, then the northern frontier of Spanish settlement in Baja California. There Crespí met up with the Rivera party, which set out from Velicatá on March 24. Their mule and horse train, tended by three muleteers, carried 25 leather-jacket soldiers and 42 Baja California Christian Indians (all men).[7]
Portolà himself led the second land group, which set out from
Arrival in San Diego
The ships arrived in San Diego first: the San Antonio on April 11 and the San Carlos on April 29, 1769. Many crew members on both ships had fallen ill – especially from scurvy – during their voyages. On May 1, lieutenant Pedro Fages, engineer Miguel Costansó, and mate Jorge Estorace came ashore from their anchorage in San Diego Bay, along with 25 soldiers and sailors still healthy enough to work. Searching for a source of fresh water and helped by Indians they encountered, they found a suitable river about nine miles northeast. Moving their ships as close as possible, they set up a camp on the beach, surrounding it with an earthen parapet with two cannons mounted. From their ships' sails and awnings they made two large hospital tents, as well as tents for the officers and friars. Then they moved the sick men to shore and settled them into the camp. The number of men engaged in those arduous labors diminished daily due to illness. Nearly all medicines and stored food had been consumed on the long voyages. Doctor Pedro Prat – himself weakened by scurvy – gathered medicinal herbs in the fields and desperately tried to cure the ill men. Heat scorched them by day, cold stung them by night. Two or three men died every day, until the combined sea expedition – which had started with over 90 men – had shrunk to eight soldiers and eight sailors.[10]
Captain Rivera's column arrived on May 14, having trekked 300 miles (480 km) in 50 days from Velicatá[11] without losing a single man or having a sick one – although with their food rations drastically reduced. Rivera's men moved the camp slightly inland near the San Diego River, building the new camp on a hill now known as Old Town. They erected a stockade and mounted a cannon on land that later became the Presidio of San Diego.[12]
The commanding officers prepared to dispatch the San Antonio back to Lower California New Spain, to report to viceroy
After the four groups had reunited in San Diego, friars Juan Vizcaíno and Fernando Parrón stayed there with Junípero Serra to head the new mission San Diego. Friars Juan Crespí and Francisco Gómez continued north with Portolà. Serra's group aimed to establish Catholic missions to convert the natives of Alta California to Christianity. Crespí was the only one who traveled with the land expedition throughout its travels, so he became the official diarist for the missionaries (Portolà and Costansó also kept diaries). The Franciscans ultimately founded twenty-one missions at or near the Pacific Coast of what is now the state of California, in addition to one mission in Baja California. The string of California missions began at San Diego.
San Diego to San Francisco, flummoxed at Monterey (1769)
After two weeks of recuperation, Portolà resumed the northward march to rediscover Vizcaíno's port of Monterey by land, with a party of 74 men: lieutenant Pedro Fages with his Catalan volunteers; leather-jacket soldiers; captain Fernando Rivera; sergeant José Francisco Ortega leading the scouts; engineer and cartographer Miguel Costansó; Baja California Christian Indians; and friars Juan Crespí and Francisco Gómez; the Franciscan missionary college of San Fernando had appointed Crespí official diarist of the expedition. On July 14, 1769, after the friars held a Mass in honor of saint Joseph – patron saint of the Portolá expedition – the Portolá party pulled out of San Diego. Serra stayed behind, as did captain Vicente Vila and the few sailors who remained on the San Carlos.[14] Serra founded mission San Diego in a humble building just two days after the expedition's departure. While Portolà moved north, more men died in San Diego: Eight soldiers, four sailors, eight Christian Indians, and one servant perished by the time the Portolà party returned six months later.[15]
Earthquakes around future Los Angeles
On July 28, the Portolà party reached a major southern California river, which the soldiers called the Santa Ana River. That afternoon they felt a strong earthquake, with aftershocks jolting them over the next few days. On August 2 they traveled west out of San Gabriel Valley, through the hills to a river Crespí named El Río de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula – site of the future pueblo of Los Angeles. They continued moving northwest along a route that would become El Camino Real (royal path or road) in New Spain.
On September 30, as the party camped by a river just south of today's Salinas, scouts ranged west to the coast. They reached Monterey Bay but failed to recognize it as the port described by Vizcaíno 167 years earlier. The rest of the party reached Monterey Bay on October 1 – but still failed to recognize it as their destination, because it did not seem to match the grand scale described by Vizcaíno. Also, Portolà and his hungry men had hoped to find the supply ship San José waiting for them at anchor in their destination harbor of Monterey.[16] They never saw the San José, apparently lost at sea.
Its morale waning, the party resumed its march on October 7, reaching the area of Espinosa Lake east of today's Castroville. By then, at least ten of the party were being carried on litters, due to the effects of scurvy.[17]
Rounding San Francisco Bay
Portolà and his men continued north along the coast, hoping to find the great port they had now left behind. On October 30, they reached the headlands near today's Moss Beach. Looking into the Pacific Ocean, they could see the Farallon Islands due west – and Drakes Bay curving broadly to Point Reyes across 40 miles (65 km) of open water to the northwest. Drake's Bay had been named the "port of San Francisco" by previous European explorers, while what is today known as "San Francisco Bay" was still undiscovered. The sight convinced some, but not all of them that they had indeed bypassed the port of Monterey.
Sergeant Ortega, contacting a group of Indians, thought they were trying to notify him of a ship anchored somewhere up north; for weeks, the men of the expedition had sought desperately for a harbor with a ship laden with food supplies. Heading a party of scouts up and over Montara Mountain, Ortega reached the area now known as Devil's Slide. They found their northward advance blocked by the mouth of a vast bay they could not identify – known today as San Francisco Bay.[18] Ortega and his scouts turned back south along the west shore of the bay, around the southern end and back up the east side. However, they only got as far as present-day Hayward before turning back – because their allotted three days were up. When the scouts returned and described what they had seen, Portolà led the entire party up into the hills, to a place where the entire San Francisco Bay was visible. Only friar Crespí seemed to grasp the importance of the bay, describing it in his diary as "a very large and fine harbor, such that not only all the navy of our Most Catholic Majesty but those of all Europe could take shelter in it."
Return trip
On November 11, Portolà convened an officers' council, which agreed unanimously that 1) they must have passed Monterey, 2) it was time to turn around and retrace their steps back to San Diego, and 3) no one would be left behind hoping for a supply ship to arrive. The entire party headed back south.
On November 28, the party crossed the Monterey Peninsula south to Carmel Bay. A week later, while waiting for two Baja Christian Indians who got separated from Rivera's group, the expedition leaders discussed their next moves. They still did not believe they had found Vizcaíno's port of Monterey. On December 7, they decided to return to San Diego without waiting any longer for the missing men, or for a supply ship. On December 10, Portolà ordered his men to plant a large wooden cross where passing ships could see it, with a letter describing the expedition's travels buried at its foot. Crespí quoted part of the letter: "The cross was planted on a hill on the edge of the beach of the little bay which lies to the south of Point Pinos (pine-covered headland)."
Frustrated in their hunting and fishing efforts, men of the expedition had to eat seagulls and pelicans. On November 30, about a dozen Indians from the interior – apparently Rumsen people – visited, bringing pinole and seeds. The next day the party slaughtered a mule, but not everyone would eat it. The weather turned cold, and snow began to cover the hills.[17]
The exhausted men reached San Diego on January 24, 1770 "smelling frightfully of mules", but warmly welcomed by their fellow soldiers and friars. Apart from five men who had apparently deserted, every member of the party had survived their six-month journey. They told of large numbers of friendly Indians who lived along the coast, waiting to receive the Catholic gospel.[19] In total they had traveled around 1,200 miles (1,900 km) and become the first Europeans to survey San Francisco Bay and many other important strategic locations.[2] Yet friar Junípero Serra, who welcomed them back to San Diego, felt dismayed and incredulous that they had not found Monterey Bay. "You come from Rome without having seen the pope", Serra told Portolà.[20]
San Diego to Monterey (1770)
A second expedition to find
That afternoon, Portolà, Crespí and a guard walked over the hills to Point Pinos on the northern tip of the
Meanwhile, on April 16, the San Antonio, captained by
They returned to the wooden cross left on a hill the year before, and this time (perhaps on a clearer day) realized that the site did indeed overlook the place Vizcaíno had described. Portolà founded the
boarded the San Antonio and sailed out of Monterey Bay, headed back to Baja California New Spain.Interactions with Native Americans
For the most part, it was reported that interactions with Native American tribes in Alta California were peaceful without much conflict. Many were described as welcoming and helpful, as they offered guidance and supplies to the Spanish explorers. Friendly encounters with the native people had been a goal from the onset of the expedition, and the Spanish brought many items and trinkets with which they traded for supplies and used to create peaceful relations. They used valuable space to carry so many glass beads and other items, rather than food or more crucial supplies, in order to pacify the Native Americans, indicating that they were committed to creating peaceful relationships with the native people.[2] The long-term goal was to create settlements, introduce farming, and convert the inhabitants to Christianity, so peaceful coexistence was important during the expedition.[2]
Legacy
The Portolà expedition was the first land-based exploration by Europeans of what is now California. The expedition's most notable discovery was San Francisco Bay, but nearly every stop along the route was a first. It is also important in that it, along with the later
Three diaries written by members of the expedition survive, giving unusually complete insight into the daily movements and experiences: One by Portolà himself,[26] a record by Miguel Costansó, and a diary by Juan Crespí which is the most complete and detailed of the three.
When Portolà returned to New Spain in 1770,
California Historical Landmarks #2, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 92, 94, 375, 394, 655, 665, 727, 784, 1058, and 1059 are all related to the Portolá Expedition.
See also
- Timeline of the Portolà expedition
- The Californias
- Alta California
Notes and references
- ^ a b c Eldredge, Zoeth Skinner; Ayala, Juan Manuel de (1909). The March of Portolá and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco. Translated by Eusebius J. Molera. Illustrations by Walter Francis. San Francisco: California Promotion Committee.
- ^ JSTOR 25154307.
- ^ The Portolá Expedition of 1769-1770: Diary of Vicente Vila. Edited by Robert Selden Rose, University of California at Berkeley, 1911.
- ^ a b James J. Rawls & Walton Bean. California: An Interpretive History, 8th edition. McGraw-Hill, 2003, p. 35.
- ^ Zoeth Eldredge, "The March of Portolá and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco," p. 26.
- ^ Don DeNevi and Noel Francis Moholy. Junípero Serra: The Illustrated Story of the Franciscan Founder of California's Missions. Harper & Row, 1985, p. 70.
- ^ Maynard Geiger. The Life and Times of Fray Junípero Serra: The Man Who Never Turned Back. Academy of American Franciscan History, 1959, vol. 1, p. 210.
- ^ Maynard Geiger. The Life and Times of Fray Junípero Serra. Academy of American Franciscan History, 1959, vol. 1, pp. 210–211.
- ^ Breschini, Gary S. (2000). "The Portolá Expedition of 1769". Monterey County Historical Society.
- ^ Zoeth Eldredge, "The March of Portolá and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco," pp. 27–28.
- ^ On that same Pentecost day of May 14, 1769, Junípero Serra founded Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá in a mud hut, at the point of origin of the Rivera party's trek to San Diego.
- ^ Zoeth Eldredge & Juan Manuel de Ayala, "The March of Portolá and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco," p. 28.
- ^ Zoeth Eldredge & Juan Manuel de Ayala, "The March of Portolá and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco," p. 29.
- ^ a b Maynard Geiger. The Life and Times of Fray Junípero Serra. Academy of American Franciscan History, 1959, vol. 1, p. 232.
- ^ Zoeth Eldredge, "The March of Portolá and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco," p. 30.
- ^ James J. Rawls & Walton Bean. California: An Interpretive History, 8th edition. McGraw-Hill, 2003, p. 36.
- ^ a b Gary S. Breschini, "The Portolá Expedition of 1769," Monterey County Historical Society.
- ^ James J. Rawls & Walton Bean. California: An Interpretive History, 8th edition. McGraw-Hill, 2003, pp. 36–37.
- ^ Maynard Geiger. The Life and Times of Fray Junípero Serra. Academy of American Franciscan History, 1959, vol. 1, p. 237.
- ^ Gaspar de Portolá's letter to a friend, Sept. 1773. Charles E. Chapman, A History of California: The Spanish Period, 1921, vol. 1, p. 227.
- ^ Maynard Geiger. The Life and Times of Fray Junípero Serra. Academy of American Franciscan History, 1959, vol. 1, p. 246.
- ^ Don DeNevi and Noel Francis Moholy. Junípero Serra: The Illustrated Story of the Franciscan Founder of California's Missions. Harper & Row, 1985, p. 99.
- ^ Maynard Geiger. The Life and Times of Fray Junípero Serra. Academy of American Franciscan History, 1959, vol. 1, pp. 245–247.
- ^ The Founding of Monterey, Monterey County Historical Society
- ^ Carrico, Richard L. (Summer 1977). "Portolá's 1769 Expedition and Coastal Native Villages of San Diego County". The Journal of California Anthropology. 4 (1): 30–41.
- ^ Diary of Gaspar de Portolá During the California Expedition of 1769–1770. Edited by Donald Eugene Smith & Frederick J. Teggart. University of California at Berkeley, 1909.
Further reading
- Costansó, Miguel (June 1992). Browning, Peter (ed.). The Discovery of San Francisco Bay: The Portolá Expedition of 1769–1770 / El Descubrimiento de la Bahía de San Francisco: La Expedición de Portolá de 1769–1770 (in English and Spanish). Translated by Maria L. Wait. ISBN 978-0944220061. (The Diary of Miguel Costansó)
- Culleton, James. Indians and Pioneers of Old Monterey. Academy of California Church History, 1950.
- Williams, Jack S. and Davis, Thomas L. Sailors, Merchants, and Muleteers of the California Mission Frontier. Rosen Publishing Group, PowerKids Press, 2004.
- Journal of Fray Juan Crespi kept during the same voyage – dated 5th October, 1774. GEO. BUTLER GRIFFIN and Fray Juan Crespi. Publications of the Historical Society of Southern California , Vol. 2, No. 1, Documents from the Sutro Collection (1891)
External links
- Diary of Gaspar de Portolá During the California Expedition of 1769–1770. Edited by Donald Eugene Smith and Frederick J. Teggart. University of California at Berkeley, 1909. Portolá's original diary in Spanish, alongside the English translation.
- The Portolá Expedition of 1769–1770: Diary of Vicente Vila. Edited by Robert Selden Rose, University of California at Berkeley, 1911. Presents Vila's original diary in Spanish, alongside the English translation.
- Diary of the Portolá Expedition, 1769–70, by Miguel Costansó (archived link). SCVHistory.com.
- The Official Account of the Portolá Expedition of 1769–1770. Edited by Frederick J. Teggart, University of California at Berkeley, 1909. Spanish original alongside the English translation.