DISCOVERY OF CALIFORNIA.
The first exploration of the Pacific coasts of North America was made
by the Spaniards, in the sixteenth century. After Hernando Cortes had
completed the conquest of Mexico, he commenced exploring the adjoining
seas and countries; no doubt, with the hope of discovering lands
richer than those which he had conquered, and which would afford new
fields for the exercise of his daring enterprise and undaunted
perseverance. He employed vessels in surveying the coasts of the
Mexican Gulf, and of the Atlantic more northerly. Vessels were built
upon the Pacific coast for like purposes, two of which as early as
1526, were sent to the East Indies.
The first expedition of the Spaniards, sent along the western coast of
Mexico, was conducted by Pedro Nunez de Maldonado, an officer under
Cortes. He sailed from the mouth of the Zacatula River, in July, 1528,
and was six months engaged in surveying the shores from his
starting-place to the mouth of the Santiago River, a hundred leagues
farther north-west. The territory he visited was then called Xalisco,
and inhabited by fierce tribes of men who had never been conquered by
the Mexicans. Flattering accounts of the fertility of the country and
of the abundance of the precious metals in it were brought back by the
expedition, and these served to excite the attention of the Spaniards.
When the expedition returned Cortes was in Spain, whither he had gone
to have his title and powers more clearly defined. He returned in 1530
with full power to make discoveries and conquests upon the western
coast of Mexico. From the opposition of his enemies, he was prevented
from fitting out an expedition before 1532. The most northern post
upon the Pacific coast, occupied by the Spaniards, was Aguatlan,
beyond which the coast was little known.
The expedition sent by Cortes to the north-western coast of Mexico was
commanded by his kinsman, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza. It sailed from
Tehuantepec in July, 1532, and consisted of two vessels; one commanded
by Diego Hurtado de Mendoza in person, and the other by Juan de
Mazuela. Mendoza proceeded slowly along the shore of the continent as
far as the 27° of latitude, where, his crew being mutinous, he sent
back one of his vessels with the greater part of his men, and
continued the voyage with the remaining vessel. Vague reports were
afterwards received that Mendoza's vessel was thrown ashore somewhere
to the northward, and that all on board had perished. The vessel which
was sent back, was stranded near the mouth of the River Vanderas, and
after the murder of the greater part of the crew, she was plundered by
Nuno de Guzman, Governor of Xalisco. About the middle of the next
year, Cortes received the news of the return of the vessel which
Mendoza had sent back, and he immediately despatched two ships under
the command of Hernando Grijalva and Diego Becerra, in search of the
other. These ships sailed on the 30th of September, 1533, but were
soon separated. Grijalva discovered the islands of St. Thomas, as he
called them--a group of islands about fifty leagues from the coast. He
remained there till the following spring, and then returned home.
Becerra proceeded north-westward; but his crew mutinied, and he was
murdered by Fortuno Ximenes. The mutineers, under Ximenes, then
steered directly west from the main land, and soon reached a coast not
known to them before. They landed, and soon after Ximenes and nineteen
men were killed by the natives. The rest of the men carried the vessel
over to Xalisco, where she was seized by Nuno de Guzman.
Soon after these unlucky expeditions, Nuno de Guzman sent out several
exploring parties in a northerly direction, one of which traced the
western shore as far as the mouth of the Colorado, and brought back
accounts of a rich and populous country and splendid cities in the
interior. When Cortes became acquainted with the seizure of his
vessels, a dispute arose between him and Nuno de Guzman, which almost
led to a battle between their forces. But no action occurred, and
Cortes, having heard of the newly discovered country, which was said
to abound in the finest pearls, embarked at Chiametla, with a portion
of his men, and set sail for the new land of promise. On the 3d of
May, 1535, the day of the Invention of the Holy Cross, according to
the Roman Catholic Calendar, Cortes arrived in the bay where Ximenes
and his fellow-mutineers had met their fate in the previous year. In
honor of the day, the place was called Santa Cruz, and possession of
it was taken in the name of the Spanish sovereign.
The country claimed by Cortes for Spain, was the south-east portion of
the peninsula, which was afterwards called California. The bay, called
by Cortes, Santa Cruz, was, perhaps, the same now known as Port La
Paz, about a hundred miles from the Pacific, near the 24th parallel of
latitude. Cortes landed on the shore of this bay, rocky and forbidding
as it appeared, with a hundred and thirty men, and forty horses. He
then sent back two of his ships to Chiametla, to bring over the rest
of his troops. The vessels soon returned with a portion of the troops,
and being again despatched to the Mexican coast, only one of them
returned. The other was wrecked on her way. Cortes then took seventy
men and embarked for Xalisco, from which he returned just in time to
save his troops from death by famine. A year was spent in these
operations, and the troops began to grow discontented. A few pearls
had been found on the coast, but the country was found to be barren,
and without attractions for Spaniards.
In the mean time, the wife of Cortes hearing reports of his ill
success, sent a vessel to Santa Cruz, and entreated him to return. He
then learned that he had been superseded in the government of New
Spain by Don Antonio de Mendoza, who had already entered the capital
as viceroy. Cortes returned to Mexico, and soon after, recalled the
vessels and troops from Santa Cruz.
The viceroy, Mendoza, had received some information concerning the
country north-west of Mexico, from de Cabeza-Vaca and two other
Spaniards, who had wandered nine years, through forests and deserts,
from Tampa Bay, Florida, until they reached Culiacan. They had
received from the natives, accounts of rich and populous countries
situated to the north-west. Mendoza, wishing to ascertain the truth of
the reports, sent two friars, according to the advice of Las Casas, to
make an exploration. They were accompanied by a Moor who had crossed
the continent with Cabeza-Vaca and his friends, and they set out from
Culiacan on the 7th of March, 1539.
Soon after the departure of the friars, Cortes sent out his last
expedition. It was commanded by Francisco de Ulloa, and consisted of
three vessels, well equipped. Sailing from Acapulco, on the 8th of
July 1539, Ulloa reached the Bay of Santa Cruz, after losing one of
his vessels in a storm. From Santa Cruz he started to survey the coast
towards the north-west. He completely examined both shores of the Gulf
of California, and discovered the fact of the connection of the
peninsula with the main land, near the 32° of latitude. This gulf
Ulloa named the Sea of Cortes. On the 18th of October, he returned to
Santa Cruz, and on the 29th again sailed with the object of exploring
the coasts farther west. He rounded the point now called Cape San
Lucas, the southern extremity of California, and sailed along the
coast towards the north. The Spaniards proceeded slowly, as they were
opposed by north-western storms, and often landed and fought with the
natives. In January, 1540, Ulloa reached the island under the 28th
parallel of latitude, near the coast, which they named the Isle of
Cedars. There he remained till April, when one of the ships, bearing
the sick and accounts of the discoveries, was sent back to Mexico. The
returning vessel was seized at Santiago by the officers of the
viceroy. The fate of the remaining vessel is uncertain. Some of the
writers of that day asserting that he continued his voyage as far
north as the 30° of latitude, and returned safely to Mexico; while one
asserts that nothing more was heard of him after the return of the
vessel he sent back.
In the mean time, the two friars and the Moor penetrated a
considerable distance into the interior of the continent, and sent
home glowing accounts of rich and delightful countries which they said
they had discovered. The inhabitants had, at first, been hostile, and
had killed the Moor; but in the end submitted to the authority of the
King of Spain. Mendoza, believing the accounts of the friars to be
strictly true, prepared an expedition for the conquest of the
countries they described. Disputes with the different Spanish
chieftains occupied some months, at the end of which Cortes returned
to Spain, in disgust. Mendoza despatched two bodies of troops, one by
land, the other by sea, to reconnoitre the newly discovered land, and
clear the way for conquest. The marine expedition was undertaken by
two ships, under the command of Fernando de Alarcon, who sailed from
Santiago on the 9th of May, 1540, and proceeding north-west along the
coast, he reached the head of the California Gulf, in August of the
same year. There he discovered the river now called the Colorado. The
stream was ascended to the distance of eighty leagues, by Alarcon and
some of his men, in boats; but all their inquiries were
unsatisfactorily answered, and it was determined to return to Mexico.
The vessels returned safely before the end of the year.
The land forces sent, at the same time, to the north-west, were
composed of infantry and cavalry, and commanded by Francisco Vasquez
de Coronado, who had been appointed governor of New Gallicia, in place
of Nuno de Guzman. The party left Culiacan on the 22d of April, 1540,
and took their way north, following the course described by the
friars. They found the route which had been represented as easy,
almost impassable. They made their way over mountains, and deserts,
and rivers, and, in July, they reached the country called Cibola by
the natives, but found it a half cultivated region, thinly inhabited
by a people destitute of the wealth and civilization they had been
represented as possessing. What had been represented as seven great
cities, were seven small towns, rudely built. A few turquoises and
some gold and silver supposed to be good, constituted the amount of
what had been termed immense quantities of jewels, gold and silver.
The Spaniards took possession of the country and wanted to remain and
settle there. But Vasquez refused to acquiesce; and after naming one
of the towns he visited, Granada, he started for the north-west, in
search of other countries. The region called Cibola by the
inhabitants, which Vasquez visited, is the territory now called
Sonora, and is situated about the head waters of the Rivers Yaqui and
Gila, east of the upper portion of the Gulf of California. The
movements of the Spaniards after leaving Cibola, in August, 1540, have
been the subject of very vague and contradictory accounts. All that is
certain is, that the greater part of the force soon returned to
Mexico, and that Vasquez, with the remainder, wandered through the
interior for nearly two years longer, when, being disappointed in his
expectations, he returned to Mexico in 1542.
In the spring of 1542, two vessels were placed under the command of
Juan Roderiguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese navigator of great reputation.
The two vessels sailed from Navidad, a small port in Xalisco, in June,
1542. They rounded Cape San Lucas, and proceeded north-west, along the
coast, as far as the 38th degree of latitude, when he was driven back,
and took refuge in a harbor of one of the San Barbara islands. There
Cabrillo died and the command devolved on Bartolome Ferrelo. Ferrelo
was a zealous and determined man, and he resolved to proceed with the
expedition. He sailed towards the north, and on the 26th of February,
reached a promontory near the 41st parallel of latitude, which he
named Stormy Cape. On the 1st of March, the ships reached the 44th
parallel, but they were again driven south; and the men being almost
worn out, Ferrelo resolved to go back to Mexico. He arrived at Navidad
on the 14th of April, 1543. The promontory called Stormy Cape by
Ferrelo, was the most northern portion of California visited by that
navigator, and it is probably the same which is now called Cape
Mendocino.
From all accounts that they had been able to collect, the Spaniards
concluded that neither rich and populous countries existed beneath the
40th parallel of latitude, nor was there any navigable passage between
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to be found in the same region. They,
therefore, ceased to explore the north-western territory for some time
after the return of Ferrelo in 1543.
Having thus given a somewhat detailed account of the discovery and
explorations of the territory now called California, it will be
sufficient to merely mention the various expeditions that visited it
prior to the first regular settlement. In the spring of 1579,
California was visited by Sir Francis Drake, the English navigator,
who landed on the shores of a bay supposed to be that of San
Francisco. He formally took possession of the country in the name of
Queen Elizabeth, and called it New Albion. He left California on the
22d of July, 1579. In the spring of 1596, Sebastian Viscaino, under
orders from the viceroy of Mexico, attempted to plant colonies on the
peninsula of California, but the country was soon abandoned on account
of the barrenness of the soil and the ferocity of the natives.
Viscaino visited the coast of Upper California in 1602, and discovered
and named some of the places Cabrillo had discovered and named long
before. The Port San Miguel of Cabrillo was named Port San Diego; Cape
Galera was named Cape Conception, the name now borne by it; the Port
of Pines was named Port Monterey. This was the last expedition made by
the Spaniards along the coast of California for more than a hundred
and sixty years.
Various attempts were made to establish colonies, garrisons, and
fishing or trading ports, on the eastern side of the peninsula of
California, during the seventeenth century, but all failed, either
from the want of funds, the sterility of the country, or the hostility
of the natives. The pearl fishery in the gulf was the principal bait
that attracted the Spaniards, and they succeeded in obtaining a
considerable quantity, some of which were very valuable.