Ealy Explorations of the Pacific Coast
After the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs in Mexico one of
Hernan Cortes’s conquistadores known as Rodriguez Cabrillo was propositioned by
the Governor of Guatemala Pedro Alvarez. Antonio de Mendoza who was the first viceroy
of Mexico appointed by Spanish King Carlos V developed a particular interest in
the Pacific Coast, this led to Alvarez proposing Cabrillo an expedition to
explore the Pacific Coast. The focus of this expedition was to focus on Asian trade
(Conway, 2003). On June 27, 1542, Cabrillo embarked on his journey with three
ships and about 100 men, their mission was to explore and chart the Pacific
coastline and to search for the Strait of Anian (Conway, 2003). On September 28
Cabrillo and his fleet of ships anchored in Sandiego which he named San Miguel,
Cabrillo took the initiative to formally establish Alta California which was separate
from Baja California (Conway, 2003). In a report written by Cabrillo he claims
to have discovered a large bay which will later be known as Monterey, he was
also the one who named the Sierra Nevada’s because they were covered with snow
(Conway, 2003). On January 3, 1543 Cabrillo passed away due to an infection he
contracted because of broken arm he suffered during the voyage, he dying wis
was to continue the expedition and the newly appointed leader Bartolome Ferrelo
honored Cabrillo’s las wishes by continuing to explore the Pacific Coast, they explored
as far as southern Oregon but were not able to find a new anchorage and headed
back home to Navidad (Conway, 2003). This exploration by Cabrillo and his crew
helped pave the way for mapping out California’s coastline which eventually led
to the first European settlements in Alta California (Conway, 2003). In 1595
explorer Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeno was sent on a journey to explore the
California coast in search of potential harbors that could serve as a port for
California, Rodriguez Cermeno reached Drake’s Bay which later became known as
San Francisco However when he returned to Acapulco the viceregal government
distrusted his findings and propose a new expedition (Conway, 2003). A few years
later in 1602 explorer Sebastian Vizcaino proposed to Gaspar de Zuniga an
expedition to California, influenced by the belief that Alta California had
riches such as pearls, silver, and gold Zuniga approved and funded Vizcaino’s
expedition. Vizcaino’s objectives were to discover new ports and bays that
could be useful to them, and he was also specifically instructed to follow
Cabrillo’s route, not to rename any places already established and to not
explore the inland in search for Indians (Conway, 2003). On November 20, 1602, Vizcaino
reached San Miguel however in a report he made he claimed to have had difficulty
recognizing some of Cabrillo’s locations which led him to rename some of them
such as San Miguel became San Diego de Alcala (Conway, 2003). On December 16, 1602,
Vizcaino and his fleet of men reached Monterey Bay, while they were exploring Monterey,
they discovered a running river that they noticed from the ship and named it
Rio de Carmelo (Conway, 2003). On January 12, 1603, the reached Mendocino at which
point their decided to turn around and head home, on their way back due to the
poor condition of the crew Vizcaino decided not to stop in Monterey and sailed
right past it. When Vizcaino and his crew returned, they were honored and rewarded,
however not to long after Gaspar de Zuniga was replaced by Marquez de Montesclaros
who became distrustful of Vizcaino’s reports after he found out from one of the
crew members that he sailed past Monterey on their way back home. This led to
Vizcaino’s work being discredited and he was accused of forgery and hung as a
result (Conway, 2003). 167 years later
after Vizcaino was discredited and convicted of forgery the crown decided to
colonize Alta California and ironically enough, they decided on where the
establishments were going to build using Vizcaino’s description of Monterey Bayn
(Conway, 2003). “Monterey was joined to the triad by three colonial champions
(Conway, 2003, pp. 32)” the three champions were Jose de Galvez, Gaspar de
Portola, and a representative of the Franciscan Church Junipero Serra, it was
because of the efforts of these three that the establishment of Monterey became
possible. Finally on May 24, 1770, Monterey Bay was officially founded and
established by Spanish colonizers.
The Royal Presidio Chapel (San Carlos Cathedral)
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