Chapter 1

Produced by David A. Schwan

THE MARCH OF PORTOLA AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO

By Zoeth S. Eldredge

Log of the San Carlos and Original Documents Translated and Annotated

By E. J. Molera

Published by the Reception Committee of The California Promotion Committee

This Book is published with the approval and endorsement of the Executive Committee of the Portola Festival.

The March of Portola

and

The Log of the San Carlos

San Francisco

"Serene, indifferent of fate, Thou sittest at the Western Gate;

Upon thy heights so lately won, Still slant the banners of the sun;

Thou seest the white seas strike their tents, O warder of two continents,

And scornful of the peace that flies, Thy angry winds and sullen skies,

Thou drawest all things, small or great, To thee beside the Western Gate."

Table of Contents

Introduction The March of Portola and Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco Data regarding Portola after he left California Letter of the Viceroy of New Spain to Don Julian de Arriaga Causes that led to the Expedition of the San Carlos Log of the San Carlos Report of the Commander of the San Carlos Description of the Bay of San Francisco Report of the Pilot of the San Carlos

Illustrations

The March to Monterey (Frontispiece) Carrying the Sick Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco Departure of the San Carlos from La Paz Facsimile of signature of Governor Portola First Survey and Map of the Bay of San Francisco

Introduction

In the annals of adventure, there are no more thrilling narratives of heroic perseverance in the performance of duty than the record of Spanish exploration in America. To those of us who have come into possession of the fair land opened up by them, the story of their travels and adventures have the most profound interest. The account of the expedition of Portola has never been properly presented. Many writers have touched on it, and H. H. Bancroft, in his History of California, gives a brief digest of Crespi's diary. Most writers on California history have drawn on Palou's Vida del V. P. F. Junipero Serra and Noticias de la Nueva California, and without looking further, have accepted the ecclesiastical narrative. We have endeavored in this sketch to give, in a clear and concise form, the conditions which preceded and led up to the occupation of California.

The importance of California in relation to the control of the Pacific was early recognized by the great European powers, some of whom had but small respect for the Bull of Pope Alexander VI dividing the New World between Spain and Portugal. England, France, and Russia sent repeated expeditions into the Pacific. In 1646 the British Admiralty sent two ships to look in Hudson's Bay for a northwest passage to the South Sea, one of which bore the significant name of California. The voyage of Francis Drake, 1577-1580, was a private venture, but at Drake's Bay he proclaimed the sovereignty of Elizabeth, and named the country New Albion. Two hundred years later (1792-1793) Captain George Vancouver explored the coast of California down to thirty degrees of north latitude (Ensenada de Todos Santos), which, he says, "is the southernmost limit of New Albion, as discovered by Sir Francis Drake, or New California, as the Spaniards frequently call it." Even after the occupation and settlement by the Spaniards, so feeble were their establishments that, as Vancouver reports to the Admiralty, it would take but a small force to wrest from Spain this most valuable possession. But though the growing feebleness of Spain presaged the time when her hold upon America would be loosened, the standard of individual heroism was not lowered, and the achievements of Portola and of Anza rank with those of De Soto and Coronado. The California explorer did not, it is true, have to fight his way through hordes of fierce natives. The California Indians, as a rule, received the white adventurers gladly, and entertained them with such hospitality as they had to offer, but the Indians north of the Santa Barbara Channel were but a poor lot. In a country abounding in game of all kinds, a sea swarming with fish, a soil capable of growing every character of foodstuff, these miserable natives lived in a chronic state of starvation.

As in heroic qualities, so also in skill and judgment, Portola upholds the best traditions of Spain. The success of an expedition depends upon the character of the leader. Panfilo de Narvaez landed on the coast of Florida in April, 1528, with a well-equipped army of three hundred men and forty horses, just half the force he sailed with from Spain the previous June, and of the three hundred men whom he led into Florida, only four lived to reach civilization--the rest perished. That is but one example of incompetent leadership. When Portola organized his expedition for the march from San Diego Bay to Monterey, many of his soldiers were ill from scurvy, and at one time on the march the sick list numbered nineteen men, including the governor and Rivera, his chief officer. Sixteen men had to be carried, and to three, in extremis, the viaticum was administered; but he brought them all through, and returned to San Diego without the loss of a man.

There are two full diaries of this expedition, one by Father Crespi and the other by Alferez Costanso. There is, besides, a diary of Junipero Serra of the march from Velicata to San Diego Bay, a translation of which is printed in Out West magazine (Los Angeles), March-July, 1902. It is of small value to the student of history. There is a diary by Portola, quoted by Bancroft, and a Fragmento by Ortega, also used by Bancroft. These we have not seen. There are letters from Francisco Palou, Juan Crespi and Miguel Costanso, printed in Out West for January 1902. The diary of Father Crespi is printed in Palou's Noticias de la Nueva California. Documentos para la Historia de Mexico, re-printed San Francisco, 1874. The diary of Miguel Costanso is in the Sutro library. It has never been printed. It is prefaced by an historical narrative, a poor translation of which was published by Dalrymple, London, 1790, and a better one by Chas. F. Lummis in Out West, June-July, 1901. In Publications of the Historical Society of Southern California, Vol. II, Part 1, Los Angeles, 1891, a number of documents of the Sutro collection are printed, with translations by George Butler Griffin. These relate to the explorations of the California coast by ships from the Philippines, the two voyages of Vizcaino, with some letters of Junipero Serra, and diaries of the voyage of the Santiago to the northern coast in 1774.

The sketch here submitted is the result of much study of original documents, and the route of the expedition is laid down after careful survey of the physical geography where possible, and in other cases, by the contoured maps of the Geological Survey, following the directions and language as given by the diarists. Among the printed books consulted are Palou's Vida del Padre Junipero Serra and his Noticias de la Nueva California, above noted. The Conquest of the Great Northwest, Agnes C. Laut, New York, 1908; History of California by H. H. Bancroft; Treaties of Navigation, Cabrera Bueno, Translation, Dalrymple, London, 1790; The Discovery of San Francisco Bay, George Davidson, and Francis Drake on the Northwest Coast of America in 1579, the same author; Proceedings of the Geographical Society of the Pacific.

In view of the forthcoming Portola Festival, The California Promotion Committee, through its Reception Committee, appointed three of its members to compile a history of the first expedition for the settlement of California. In the endeavor to obtain further knowledge of the life and character of Portola, the committee has been enabled, through the efforts of one of its members, to have careful search made among the archives of Madrid, of the India Office at Saville, of the City of Mexico, and of Puebla, and while we have little to show, as yet, concerning Portola, we have received other documents of the utmost importance to the history of San Francisco: a chronicle of the events following the discovery of the Bay.

By royal edict, a maritime expedition for the exploration of the northwestern coasts of America sailed from San Blas early in the year 1775. This consisted of the frigate Santiago, under the commander-in-chief, Don Bruno de Heceta; the packet boat San Carlos, under Lieutenant Ayala, and schooner Sonora, under Lieutenant Bodega. To Lieutenant Ayala was assigned the exploration of the Bay of San Francisco, while the Santiago and the Sonora sailed for the north. Bodega discovered the Bay which bears his name, and Heceta (to spell his name as it is usually written) discovered the Columbia River. Bancroft (History of California), in giving Palou's Vida as authority for his short and incorrect account of Ayala's survey, says: "It is unfortunate that neither map nor diary of this earliest survey is extant." It is with pleasure we are permitted to present to the public these important documents, now printed for the first time, and only regret that the shortness of time allowed for their study may perhaps necessitate later some minor corrections.

We have also received from the Minister of Marine of Spain, Don Jose Ferrano, under date of July 14, 1909, a drawing of the paquebot, San Carlos, together with the record of her gallant commander, Don Juan Manuel de Ayala.

Ayala was born in Osuna, Andalucia, on the 28th of December, 1745. He entered the Marine Corps on the 19th of September, 1760, and was made Alferez de Fragata, October 10, 1767; Alferez de Navio, June 15, 1769; Teniente de Fragata, April 28, 1774; Teniente de Navio, February, 1776; and Capitan de Fragata, December 21, 1782.

When the order for the exploration of the northern coast was made, Ayala was one of the officers assigned to the work. He arrived in Vera Cruz in August, 1774, proceeded to the City of Mexico, and was ordered by Viceroy Bucareli to San Blas, where he was given command of the schooner Sonora. The squadron under Heceta had hardly got under way, when the commander of the San Carlos, Don Miguel Manrique, suddenly went mad. Ayala was ordered to the command of the packet-boat, and returned to San Blas with the unfortunate officer, to follow the squadron a few days later.

In December, 1775, Ayala conducted a reconnaissance on the coast of New Spain, and at its conclusion was placed in command of the Santiago, and until October, 1778, served the new establishments of California. In August, 1779, he was sent to the Philippine Islands in command of the San Carlos, returning to San Blas in 1781. In July, 1784, he returned to Spain, and on March 14, 1785, was retired, at his own request, the royal order granting him full pay as captain of frigate in consideration of his services to California. He died December 30, 1797.

Zoeth S. Eldredge, E. J. Molera, Charles H. Crocker,

San Francisco, August, 1909.--Committee.

THE MARCH OF PORTOLA AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO

By Zoeth S. Eldredge

The popular mind accepts the oft-repeated statement that the settlement of California was due to the pious zeal of a devoted priest, eager to save the souls of the heathen, supplemented by the paternal care of a monarch solicitous for the welfare of his subjects. The political exigencies of the day are forgotten; military commanders and civil governors sink into insignificance and become mere executives of the priestly will, while the heroic efforts of Junipero Serra to convert the natives, his courage in the face of danger, his sublime zeal, and his unwearied devotion, make him the impelling factor in the colonization of California.

Nor is the popular conception that the church led the way into California strange, when we understand that it is to the writings of Fray Francisco Palou, friend, disciple, and successor of Junipero, that all historians turn for the account of the occupation. Fray Palou details the glorious life of the leader with whom he toiled; he eulogizes the worthy priest, the ardent missionary, as he passed up and down the length of the land, founding missions, planting the vine, the olive, and the fruit tree in a land whose inhabitants had often suffered from hunger; giving aid and comfort to the sick and weary and consolation to the dying. Indeed, the pictures of the padres are fascinating. The infant establishments planted by the church grew rich and powerful, but so wise and gentle was the administration of the priests and so generous their hospitality, that life in California in the first quarter of the nineteenth century was an almost dolce far niente existence.

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 37 deg. 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. Preparations for the expedition were under way, when a dispute arose between the leader and his partners in the enterprise, and the matter was carried into the courts. Before a decision was reached, the leader died, and the judge ordered the other partners, among whom was one Sebastian Vizcaino, to begin the voyage to the Californias within three months. Under this order, Vizcaino applied to Viceroy Velasco, and received his permission to make the journey. This was the condition of affairs when, on October 5, 1596, Velasco was relieved and a new viceroy, Don Gaspar de Zuniga y Azevedo, Count of Monterey, took command. At Velasco's request, Zuniga made a careful examination of all matters pertaining to the expedition to the Californias, and the result was not favorable to Vizcaino. The new viceroy did not think that an enterprise which might involve results of such vast importance should be entrusted to the leadership of a person of such obscure position and limited capital. He also doubted if Vizcaino had the resolution and capacity necessary for so great an undertaking, and it appeared to him that if disorders should arise among his men through lack of discipline, or if the natives of the country to which he was going should repel him, the repute and royal authority of the king would be in danger. On the other hand, there was the decision of the court, the concession of the viceroy, and the fact that Vizcaino had already been at expense in the matter. Zuniga communicated his doubts to the former viceroy, who, in his perplexity, submitted the question to a theologian and a jurist, selected as the viceroy writes, from the number of those whose opinions were entitled to the greatest consideration. Their decision was that the concession of the viceroy had the force of an agreement and contract; that what was at first a favor had become a right, and that, as the captain had manifested no incapacity and had been guilty of no offense, the compact could not be varied. The audiencia[2], before whom Zuniga also laid the matter, was of like opinion. In view, therefore, of the length to which the affair had gone, the viceroy resolved not to annul the contract but to do all in his power to insure the success of the expedition. That Vizcaino's soldiers might respect and esteem him, the viceroy clothed him with authority and showed him the greatest honor. He required Vizcaino to furnish him with complete memorandums and inventories of the ships and lanchas he intended to take with him, with their sails and tackle, the number of people, and the provisions for them, arms, ammunition, and all other property, and he instructed the royal officers at Acapulco that the expedition must not be permitted to sail until it was fully provided with everything necessary for the voyage and the safety of the people. The Council of the Indies, on receiving Zuniga's report, ordered him to cancel Vizcaino's commission and select another leader for the expedition, but before this order could reach the viceroy, Vizcaino had sailed. The expedition consisted of the flagship San Francisco, six hundred tons; the San Jose, a smaller ship, under command of Captain Rodrigo de Figueroa, and a lancha. Vizcaino sailed from Acapulco in March, 1596. His first stop was at the port of Calagua on the coast of Colima, where he took on some of his people and stores, and to this point the watchful viceroy sent a personal representative to see that Vizcaino complied with all of his requirements, and to report on the conduct of his soldiers. From here Vizcaino sailed northwest to Cape Corrientes, thence northerly to the Islands of San Juan de Mazatlan. From Mazatlan he bore west-northwest across the Gulf of California and landed in a large bay which he named San Felipe, afterwards known as the Bay of Cerralbo. From here he went to La Paz bay, which he so named because of the peaceful character of the Indians, who received him hospitably with presents of fish, game, and fruits. This was, it is supposed, the place where Jimenez, the discoverer of California, lost his life in 1533, and where Cortez planted his ill-fated colony two years later. In entering the bay, the flagship ran on a shoal, and they were obliged to cut away her masts and lighten her of her cargo of provisions, a great part of which was wet and lost. Here Vizcaino landed and built a stockade fort, and leaving the dismantled flagship and the married men of his company under command of his lieutenant, Figueroa, he sailed on October 3rd, with the San Jose and the lancha and eighty men to explore the gulf. He encountered severe storms which separated his vessels, and not having proper discipline among his men, had trouble with the Indians of the coast, during which nineteen men were lost by the overturning of the ship's long boat. He turned back to La Paz, where his men, disheartened by the storms and the loss of their comrades, demanded to be returned to New Spain. His stock of provisions was running low, and putting the disaffected on the flagship and the lancha, he sent them back, and with the San Jose and forty of the more adventurous of the men, again sailed, on October 28th, for the headwaters of the gulf. For sixty-six days he battled against strong north winds, and only succeeded in reaching latitude twenty-nine; then yielding to the demands of his men, he sailed for the port of the Isles of Mazatlan.