Radiant As Is The Priestly Figure Of Junipero Drawn By Palou, The
Careful Investigator Will Find That The Impelling Factor In The
Occupation Of California Was Stern Military Necessity, Not Missionary
Zeal.
From the time of Cabrillo, Spain had claimed the coasts of the
Pacific up to forty-two degrees north latitude by right of discovery,
but more than two hundred years had passed and she had done nothing
towards making good this right by settlement.
The country was open to
colonization by any nation strong enough to maintain and protect its
colonies.
Before relating the story of Portola's march, let us consider for a
moment the situation of California in its relation to Spain and other
European nations, and we will then understand why Spain found it
necessary to occupy the country.
When Legaspi completed the conquest of the Philippines in 1565, he sent
his flagship, the San Pedro, back to New Spain under command of his
grandson, Felipe Salcedo, with orders to survey and chart a practicable
route for ships returning from the Islands. The San Pedro sailed from
Cebu, June 1, 1565, and took her course east-northeast to the Ladrones,
thence northward to latitude thirty-eight, thence sailing eastward,
following the Kuroshiwo, the Black Current of Japan, they made a
landfall on the coast of California about the latitude of Cape
Mendocino. A sail of two thousand five hundred miles down the coasts of
California and New Spain brought the voyagers to the port of Acapulco.
This route was charted by the priests on board the San Pedro, and for
nearly three centuries was the one followed by the galleons of Spain
sailing from Manila to Acapulco. The voyage across the Pacific was a
long one and ships in distress were obliged to put about and make for
Japan. A harbor on the coast of California in which ships could find
shelter and repair damages was greatly desired. A survey of the unknown
coasts of the South Sea, as it was called, was ordered, and it was also
suggested that the explorations be extended beyond the forty-second
degree of north latitude, it being held that the coast was a part of the
same continent as that of China, or only separated therefrom by the
narrow strait of Anian, which was believed to open in latitude
forty-two.
Up to this time the only exploration of the northern coast of California
was that of Juan Rodrigues Cabrillo, and continued after his death by
his chief pilot, Bartolome Ferrelo, in 1542-1543. Cabrillo sailed as far
north as Fort Ross, anchored in the Gulf of the Farallones, off the
entrance to the Golden Gate, and then sought refuge from the terrible
storms in San Miguel Island, Santa Barbara Channel, where he died.
Ferrelo took command and sailed up to Cape Mendocino, which he named in
honor of Don Antonio de Mendoza, first viceroy of New Spain.
On the 17th of June, 1579, Francis Drake, in command of the Golden
Hinde, took refuge in the bay under Point Reyes, now known as Drake's
Bay. He took possession of the country in the name of Queen Elizabeth,
and named it New Albion, because of the white cliffs which, Chaplain
Fletcher writes, "lie towards the sea," and also "that it might have
some affinity with our own country." It was in this place and at this
time that the first English service was held in America, by Master
Francis Fletcher, chaplain to Francis Drake. The "Prayer Book Cross" in
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, commemorates the event.
Drake remained in this bay thirty-seven days, refitted his ship,
supplied himself with wood and water, and sailed on July 23d to the
Southeast Farallones, where he laid in a store of seal meat, and on the
25th sailed across the Pacific for England by way of the Cape of Good
Hope.
In 1585, Captain Francisco de Gali, sailing for the Philippines, was
directed to sail, on the return voyage, as far north as the weather
would permit, and on reaching the coast of California, examine the land
and the harbors on his way homeward, make maps of all, and report all
that he accomplished. It does not appear from Gali's report that he
accomplished anything in particular. He reached the coast in latitude
37deg. 30' (Pillar Point), and noted that the land was high and fair; that
the mountains[1] were without snow, and that there were many indications
of rivers, bays, and havens along the coast.
In 1594, Captain Sebastian Cermenon, a Portuguese sailor in the service
of Spain, sailed for the Philippines with orders similar to those of
Gali. In an attempt to survey the coast, he lost his ship, the San
Agustin. It is supposed she struck on one of the Farallones and was
beached in Drake's Bay. From the trunk of a tree they constructed a
boat, called a viroco, and in this the ship's company of more than
seventy persons continued the homeward voyage. The little vessel reached
Puerto de Navidad in safety, and here the commander and part of the
company left it in charge of the pilot, Juan de Morgana, with a crew of
ten men, who brought it into Acapulco on the 31st of January, 1596; a
most remarkable voyage of nearly twenty-five hundred miles by
shipwrecked, sick, and hungry men, crowded into an open boat. With the
loss of the San Agustin, explorations of the California coast by laden
ships from the Philippines came to an end.
Sometime prior to the summer of 1595, the viceroy of New Spain, Don Luis
de Velasco, entered into an agreement with certain persons looking to
the exploration of the coasts of the Californias and the settlement of
the land. The consideration for this undertaking, which was to be at the
expense of the adventurers, was the privilege of pearl fishing and
trade, together with all the honors, favors, and exemptions usually
given to the pacifiers and settlers of new provinces.
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