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In-Depth Information
what came to be known as N
EW
S
PAIN
. By
the 1540s expeditions organized by him or
his successors were moving along the Pacific
coast. During the next two centuries Span-
ish ventures into what is now northwestern
Mexico and the West Coast of the United
States were sporadic. The name
California,
taken from chivalric romances, was applied
to the region, and Spanish expeditions
sailed along the peninsula known as Baja
(Lower) California and probed the shores of
Alta (Upper) California all the way to the
present-day state of Oregon. The hostility
of the indigenous peoples and the lack of
gold in accessible areas diminished incen-
tives for intensive exploration or settle-
ment. Periodic appearances in the region by
English, French, and Dutch mariners and,
much later, Russian settlers were enough,
however, to renew Spanish concern from
time to time. It was not until the latter half
of the 18th century that a serious commit-
ment to settle, defend, and evangelize Cali-
fornia was undertaken.
A major part of the effective occupation
of California was led by the Franciscan
missionary J
UNÍPERO
S
ERRA
. During the
1770s he founded a series of mission sta-
tions along the California coast. They
included San Diego, San Luis Obispo, San
Juan Capistrano, San Francisco de Asís,
Santa Clara de Asís, and San Buenaven-
tura. Many of these missions grew into
flourishing outposts for the instruction of
the local Indians, their training in produc-
tive labor, and the implantation of Spanish
culture. Aside from military garrisons, the
growth of a Spanish settler population was
tentative, but under Serra's successors,
some of his early foundations grew into
what would become the major cities of
modern California.
By the end of Spanish colonial rule in
1822 this last area of Spanish exploration
and conquest in the New World was still a
relatively remote and underdeveloped
region. It continued to be so under the
rule of the independent Mexican govern-
ment, and it was only after the area of
Alta California was ceded to the United
States in 1848 and gold was discovered
that the region moved into the spotlight of
world attention.
Calleja del Rey, Félix María (conde
de Calderón)
(1750-1826)
Spanish general and colonial official
Following an active combat career that
included the Algerian campaign of the
1770s and the siege of G
IBRALTAR
in 1780-
81, Calleja demonstrated his capacity as a
“scientific soldier” by service as director of
studies at the military college of Puerto de
Santa María. He accompanied the new
viceroy to N
EW
S
PAIN
in 1789 and rose in
rank and responsibility during the next 20
years. In addition to military operations
along the northern frontier Calleja under-
took an extensive program of mapping the
coastline of the viceroyalty and made
other contributions to the strategic plan-
ning of M
EXICO
's defenses. When the first
stage of the Mexican war of independence
began in 1810, Calleja, already a brigadier
general, threw himself vigorously into
thwarting the insurrection and was largely
responsible for the defeat of the promoter
of the rebellion, Father Miguel Hidalgo.
When the war was continued by the priest
José Morelos and other Mexican national-
ists, Calleja played an increasingly impor-
tant part in raising a royalist militia to
fight alongside the regular troops. This
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