harbor, so commodious, accessible, abundant in fresh water and wood, and
sheltered from all winds, that I considered it one of the best inland
ports that our Sovereign has for anchoring a fleet of vessels. I called
it Puerto de la Asumpta, having examined it the day of the festivity of
that saint[76].
To the southeast of this port[77] the canon continues, until it joins
the channel of the Indian village. Following a distance of three leagues
in an east-northeast direction, it enters another bay[78] with a depth
of thirteen brazas, diminishing to four where some rivers[79] empty and
take the saltiness of the water which there becomes sweet, the same as
in a lake. The rivers come, one from the east-northeast (this is the
largest, about two hundred and fifty yards wide), the other, which has
many branches, comes from the northeast through tulares and swamps in
very low land, the channels not over two brazas with sandy bars at their
mouths, where I found in sounding the water not more than a half braza.
This made me think they were not navigable, especially as on the second
occasion I entered them, I touched bottom both in the channels and on
the bars. The bay where these rivers empty, is another port larger than
the Asumpta, where any vessel may enter, but it would be difficult
to obtain wood, which is far from the shore. All the eastern coast is
covered with trees; that to the west is arid, dry, full of grasshoppers,
and impossible of settlement. This is all I have reconnoitered to the
north of Angel Island. To the southeast of said island following the
estero is as follows:
To the east of this island, at a distance of about two leagues, there is
another, steep and barren, without any shelter, which divides the mouth
of the channel in two[80], through which the sea enters to a distance of
about twelve leagues. The width of this channel is in some parts, one,
two, and three leagues; its depth is not over four brazas, its width
ample, but a pistol shot outside of the channel; its depth is not over
two brazas. The extreme end of this sound, eastward, forms with a point,
a pocket, which, at low tide is nearly dry[81]. In every part there are
seen poles driven in (the mud), with black feathers, bunches of tule,
and little shells, which I believe are buoys for fishing, since they are
in the water. I think it will be impossible to anchor for three leagues
inside of this slough, because it is so exposed to the weather that
strong cables and good anchorage are needed to hold against the strong
current from the north.
The northeast part of this slough is surrounded by high hills, and has
in its mouth a thick wood of oaks, and at the other end groves of
thick redwood trees. At the southwest of the coast is a small slough,
navigable only by launches[82], and on the coast two harbors[83] where
vessels can anchor. On the more eastern one there is an Indian village,
rough, like the ones in Monterey. This part seems to have better places
for missions, though I did not examine it except from a distance.
All the above stated in this report is what I observed, saw, surveyed,
and sounded, during the days, in which by your orders, I went to the
reconnoitering of this Port of San Francisco in its interior; and as
proof of it, I sign it in this new Port of San Francisco, at the shelter
of Angel Island, on September 7th, 1775.
Jose de Canizares.
Index of Places
Acapulco
Alcatraz Island
Almejas, El Rincon de las
Almejas, Punta del
Angel Island
Angel Point
Ano Nuevo, Punta de
Arroyo de San Francisco
Arroyo Seco
Baker's Beach
Barranca
Ballenas Bay
Bonita, Point
Brazas
California, Baja
California, Gulf of
Canada
Canada do los Osos
Canada do San Andres
Carmelo, Pt
Carmelo, bay
Carmelo, Rio del
Carquines, strait
Cerralbo, Bay of
Codo
Columbia river
Concepcion, Laguna de la
Concepcion, Point
Dieguenos
Drake's Bay
El Buchon
El Oso Flaco
Ensenada
Farallones de San Francisco
Farallones, Gulf of
Florida
Fort Point
Golden Gate
Golden Gate, strait
Guadalupe, lake
Islais creek
Jesus de los Temblores, Rio de
La Paz, Bay of
La Paz, port of
Lime Point
Lobos creek
Loreto, presidio of
Los Angeles, City of
Los Angeles, river
Napa slough
Mare Island
Mendocino, Cape
Mescaltitan
Mission bay
Montara mountains
Monterey, Bay of
Monterey, Port of
Monterey, presidio and mission of
Muertos, Punta de los
Navidad, Puerto de
Oakland Flats
Pajaro, Rio del
Pedernales, Point
Philippine Islands
Pilar Point
Pinos, Punta de
Porciuncula, Indulgence
Puerto Dulce
Punta del Angel de la Guarda
Presidio anchorage
Rancheria
Reyes, Punta de los
Reyes, Rio de los
Richardson's bay
Red Rock
Ross, Fort
San Blas
San Buenaventura, mission of
San Carlos, Point
San Clemente, island
San Corpoforo, canon
San Diego
San Diego, bay
San Diego, Founding of mission
San Diego, presidio of
San Elizario, Rio de
San Fernando, valley
San Francisco, Bahia o Puerto de
San Francisco, Bay of
San Francisco, Port of
San Francisco, creek
San Gabriel, valley
San Joaquin river
San Jose, Point
San Juan Capistrano, mission of
San Lorenzo, Rio de
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Rey, mission of
San Miguel (island)
San Nicolas, Isla de
San Pablo bay
San Pedro bay
San Pedro Point
San Pedro valley
Santa Ana, Rio de
Santa Barbara Channel
Santa Barbara Isla de
Santa Barbara presidio of
Santa Catalina, island
Santa Clara, river
Santa Inez, river
Santa Lucia, Sierra de
Santa Maria, mission of
Santa Rosa, river
Santa Susana, Sierra de
Sacramento, river
Sal, Point
Salines, river
Santiago, Point
Seal Rocks
Suisun bay
Tamalpais, mountain
The Brothers (rocks)
The Sisters (rocks)
Tomales bay
Velicata
Yerba Buena cove
Index of Persons
Aguilar, Martin
Aguirre, Juan B.
Alvarado, Juan Bautista
Amador, Pedro
Anza, Juan Bautista de
Arriaga, Julian de
Ayala, Juan Manuel
Bancroft, H. H.
Bodega y Quadra, Juan de la
Bolanos, Francisco
Bucareli, Antonio Maria
Bueno, Cabrera
Cabrillo, Juan Rodrigues
Canizares, Jose
Carrillo, Jose Raimundo
Cermenon, Sebastian
Coronado, Francisco Vasquez
Cortes, Hernando
Corvan, Toribio Gomez de
Costanso, Miguel
Cota, Pablo de
Crespi, Juan
Davidson, George
De Gali, Francisco
De Soto, Hernando
Drake, Francis
Estorace, Jorge
Fages, Pedro
Ferrelo, Bartolome
Figueroa, Rodriga de
Fletcher, Francis
Galvez, Jose de
Gomez, Fray Francisco
Griffin, George Butler
Heceta, Bruno de
Jiminez (Fortun)
Laut, Agnes C.
Legaspi, Miguel Lopez de
Lummis, Chas. F.
Maldonado, Gabriel
Manrique, Miguel
Mendoza, Antonio de
Monterey, Conde de
Morgana, Juan de
Oliveros, Jose Ignacio
Ortega, Jose Francisco
Palou, Fray Francisco
Perez, Juan
Parron, Fray Fernando
Pino, Miguel del
Portola, Gaspar de
Prat, Pedro
Rivera y Moncada, Fernando de
Salcedo, Felipe
Serra, Fray Junipero
Soberanes, Jose Maria
Vancouver, Captain George
Velasco, Luis de
Vila, Vicente
Vizcaino, Fray Juan
Vizcaino, Sebastian
Yorba, Jose Antonio
Zuniga y Asevedo, Gaspar de
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: Sierra de Santa Lucia.]
[Footnote 2: Audiencia, the highest judicial body.]
[Footnote 3: The system of encomienda conferred feudal rights upon the
discoverers. The Indians became vassals of Spanish lords.]
[Footnote 4: Vizcaino says he set out on the discovery of the coast of the South
Sea with two ships, a lancha, and a barcoluengo. A lancha was a small
vessel having no deck and but one mast, and propelled by sweeps. Vanegas
calls the vessel a fragata. A barcoluengo, or barcolongo, was a long
open boat.]
[Footnote 5: The second voyage of Vizcaino is of particular interest to
Californians for the reason that the names given by him to the various
geographical features of the coast still remain. The particulars of the
first voyage are taken largely from the publications of the Southern
California Historical Society of documents in the Sutro collection.]
[Footnote 6: Sutro Col. Pub. Southern California Hist. Socy.]
[Footnote 7: Prof. George Davidson identifies the Rio de los Reyes as Rogue River
in 42 deg. 25'.]
[Footnote 8: About Cape San Quintin, the latitude of their northernmost mission.]
[Footnote 9: Instruccion qua ha de observer el Teniente de Infanteria. Dn Pedro
Pages, 5 enero de 1769. Provincial State Papers; i, 38.9, Ms. Spanish
Archives of California.]
[Footnote 10: So-called from the cuera, a leathern jacket worn by them as a
defensive armor.]
[Footnote 11: Out West. March-July, 1902.]
[Footnote 12: Pancakes.]
[Footnote 13: Dead Men's Point. The name has disappeared from the modern maps,
but is found on all of the old ones. It is the foot of H street where
the cars for the Coronado ferry turn on to the wharf.]
[Footnote 14: I am well aware that this claim will be disputed by one whose
study of original documents and power of analysis make him perhaps the
greatest authority on early California History; but I am nevertheless
prepared to maintain my position.]
[Footnote 15: Carga, 275 lbs.]
[Footnote 16: Hence the presidial soldiers were called Soldados de Cuera and so
distinguished from soldiers of the regular army.]
[Footnote 17: Diario Historico de los viages de Mar y de tierra hichos al norte
de la California. Ms. Original in Sutro Library.]
[Footnote 18: The league is the Spanish league of 5,000 varas. 2.63 miles.]
[Footnote 19: They also gave it the name of Santa Ana, whose day, July 26th, they
had just observed.]
[Footnote 20: Sometimes called the Grand Pardon of Assisi--the great indulgence
of the Franciscans. Originally granted to St. Francis for the Church
of Our Lady of the Angeles of Porciuncula, it was, by apostolic indult,
expanded to accompany the child of St. Francis wherever he may be. It is
enough for him to erect an altar and that altar will be to him St.
Mary of the Angels, and he will there find the Porciuncula of the
revelations. Whoso confesses and receives the sacrament in the church of
Porciuncula is granted plenary remission of his sins in this world and
the next. This indulgence is only for August 2nd--that is, from the
afternoon of August 1st until sunset of August 2nd.]
[Footnote 21: It is to this incident that the city of Los Angeles owes its name.
The full baptismal name of the city is Nuestra Senora La Reina de los
Angeles--Our Lady the Queen of the Angels. It was founded in 1781, by
royal order, the second pueblo established in California.]
[Footnote 22: Rancheria is the name given to an Indian village or town.]
[Footnote 23: The Valley of the Bears.]
[Footnote 24: The diarists applied the word canada to either a canon or an open
valley.]
[Footnote 25: The word ensenada, much used by the Spanish explorers, means a
bight or open roadstead, not an enclosed and protected bay.]
[Footnote 26: "Transportar en Xamus al Modo que cominan las mujeres en
Andalucia," Crespi: Palou's Noticias de la Nueva California, ii. 181.]
[Footnote 27: The names given on this portion of the route have all disappeared,
but are here given as a suggestion to the Ocean Shore Railroad.]
[Footnote 28: The Fleas.]
[Footnote 29: It must be borne in mind that what they called the Bay or Port of
San Francisco was that stretch of water reaching from Point Reyes to
Point San Pedro and later known as the Gulf of the Farallones.]
[Footnote 30: Professor George Davidson says that what was seen by Portola from
the Montara mountains was the break in the Ballenos cliffs, a deep
narrow valley which runs straight from Ballenos bay to Tomales bay,
fourteen miles.]
[Footnote 31: The Golden Gate and Bay of San Francisco.]
[Footnote 32: The Bay of San Francisco continued to be called the "Estero," until
some time after Colonel Anza established the presidio and mission of San
Francisco in 1776.]
[Footnote 33: The present name, Canada de San Andres, was given by Rivera, Nov.
30, 1714.]
[Footnote 34: On November, 1774, Rivera came up the peninsula on an exploring
expedition and on the spot where he had camped with the first expedition
in 1769, he planted a cross to mark the place for a mission. In March,
1776, Col. Juan Bautista de Anza, coming to select sites for the
Presidio and Mission of San Francisco, notes this cross on the bank
of the Arroyo de San Francisco (now San Francisquito creek), about one
hundred paces above the great redwood tree, and says the plan for a
mission there was abandoned because the creek was dry in summer. I note
this explanation because an excellent authority has located Portola's
camp on Redwood creek.]
[Footnote 35: I give to Ortega the credit of discovering the Golden Gate and the
Straits of Carquinez. The testimony seems sufficient to me.]
[Footnote 36: Vizcaino to the King, May 23, 1603. Pub. Hist. Socy. of Southern
California, Vol. ii, Part 1.]
[Footnote 37: On the day of the Holy Innocents it was not possible to say mass.
We are sorry for it, because it is the only feast day in all the journey
up to the present that we have been without mass. We are stuck in a mud
hole and are unable to move from the place where we are all wet through,
and it is not possible to make a journada to a plain that is dry for
this is bubbling up water--Crespi, Diario.]
[Footnote 38: Crespi: Diario.]
[Footnote 39: Palou: Noticias de la Nueva California.]
[Footnote 40: Invernate--to winter.]
[Footnote 41: Manuel Orozco y Berra, Apuntes Airs. la Historia de la Geografia an
Mexico, Anales del Ministerio de Formento de la Republica Mexicana Tomo
VI, p. 269. Documents in the Archives of the Indies, Seville.]
[Footnote 42: This is a summary of the document. A full translation would be too
tedious for a work of this kind.]
[Footnote 43: On the Tres Marias Islands.]
[Footnote 44: Don Pedro Fages. Commandante of California, who had been recalled.]
[Footnote 45: Bancroft. Hist. of Cal., says Ayala sailed from Monterey, July
24th. That was to make the sailing fit the Bancroft theories.]
[Footnote 46: Braza--Fathom: Six feet.]
[Footnote 47: Ayala anchored inside Port Point--the Presidio anchorage.]
[Footnote 48: Richardson's Bay.]
[Footnote 49: Angel Island.]
[Footnote 50: Alcatraz--Pelican]
[Footnote 51: The Southern portion of the bay.]
[Footnote 52: Pt. San Pedro.]
[Footnote 53: That is: Pt. Almejas or Pt. San Pedro.]
[Footnote 54: Barranca: The dictionary definition is a ravine or gulch, but it
also means a high bluff or cliff and in that sense is used by these
explorers.]
[Footnote 55: i. e.: from Pt. Almejas.]
[Footnote 56: Cliff Rouse Rocks.]
[Footnote 57: Punta del Angel de la Guarda--Point Lobos.]
[Footnote 58: Seal Rocks.]
[Footnote 59: Bakers Beach.]
[Footnote 60: Lobos Creek.]
[Footnote 61: i. e.: Inside of Point San Jose--Fort Point.]
[Footnote 62: Tamalpais]
[Footnote 63: Point Bonita. The present name was given it in 1776.]
[Footnote 64: Golden Gate Strait.]
[Footnote 65: i. e.: The outer harbor; outside of the Golden Gate.]
[Footnote 66: Lime Point.]
[Footnote 67: Angel Island.]
[Footnote 68: The Presidio anchorage.]
[Footnote 69: This is the body of water between Pt. San Pedro, Pt. San Pablo, Pt.
Richmond and Tiburon Peninsula. The high farallon is Red Rock.]
[Footnote 70: The rocks are The Sisters and The Brothers.]
[Footnote 71: San Pablo Bay.]
[Footnote 72: Napa Slough. The marsh was evidently under water, and island number
one, with Mare Island, made one long island.]
[Footnote 73: Codo--1 1/2 feet.]
[Footnote 74: Mare Island. The division of the hills or canon is Carquines
Strait.]
[Footnote 75: Carquines Straits.]
[Footnote 76: The Assumption of the Virgin--August 15th. It is Southampton bay.]
[Footnote 77: That is, from Puerto de la Asumpta.]
[Footnote 78: Suisun Bay.]
[Footnote 79: The Sacramento and San Joaquin. Suisun Bay was long known as Puerto
Dulce--Freshwater Port.]
[Footnote 80: Yerba Buena or Goat Island. Canizaries marked it on the map (c) for
isla do Alcatraces, but that evidently was a mistake, as a comparison of
the entry in the Log under date of August 12, with the map will show.]
[Footnote 81: Oakland and Berkeley tide flats.]
[Footnote 82: Islais creek.]
[Footnote 83: Yerba Buena cove and Mission bay.]