Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Unimpressed Spanish colonial authorities ignored California for the next half century or
so, until they decided they needed to secure some ports on the Pacific coast, and sent Se-
bastián Vizcaíno to find them. Vizcaíno's first expedition was a disaster that didn't get past
Baja (Lower) California, but in his second attempt, in 1602, he rediscovered the harbor at
San Diego and became the first European to set foot in what Spaniards called Alta (Upper)
California.
Meanwhile, the English privateer Sir Francis Drake sailed up the California coast in
1579. He missed the entrance to San Francisco Bay, but pulled in near what is now called
Point Reyes to repair his ship. Coastal Miwok tribespeople believed the English mariners
to be the spirits of the dead returned from the afterworld. Drake quickly claimed their land
for Queen Elizabeth, named it Nova Albion (New England) and sailed on to other adven-
tures, journeying north up the Pacific coast to Alaska.
The distance between each of California's Spanish colonial missions equaled a day's jour-
ney by horseback. Learn more about the missions' historical significance and cultural in-
fluence at
www.missionscalifornia.com
.
Spain's Mission Impossible
In the 18th century, as Russian ships came to California's coast in search of sea-otter pelts,
and British trappers and explorers spread throughout the West, Spain finally grew worried
that its claim to the territory might be challenged. Conveniently, the Catholic Church was
anxious to start missionary work among the natives, so the church and Spanish crown
combined forces. For the glory of God and the tax coffers of Spain it was decided that
Catholic missions would be built across California.
On July 1, 1769, a sorry lot of about 100 missionaries and soldiers, led by the Francis-
can priest Junípero Serra and the military commander Gaspar de Portolá, limped ashore at
San Diego Bay. They had just spent several weeks at sea sailing from Baja (Lower) Cali-
fornia; about half of their cohort had died en route and many of the survivors were sick or
near death. It was an inauspicious beginning for Mission San Diego de Alcalá, the first in a
chain of 21 Spanish missions in Alta California.
Ostensibly, the presidios' purpose was to protect the missions and deter foreign in-
truders. The idea was to have Native American converts live inside the missions, learn
