Gaspar de Portolà
Ethnicity	Spanish (Catalan)

Gaspar de Portolà i Rovira (1716–1784) was a Spanish soldier, governor of Baja and Alta California (1767–1770), explorer and founder of San Diego and Monterey. He was born in Os de Balaguer, province of Lleida, in Catalonia, Crown of Aragon, of Catalan nobility. Don Gaspar served as a soldier in the Spanish army in Italy and Portugal. He was commissioned ensign in 1734, and lieutenant in 1743, and died in Spain in 1784.

California[link]

By 1767, Jesuit missionaries on the peninsula of Baja California had established approximately twenty-three missions over a period of seventy-two years. Rumors were circulating that the Jesuits had amassed a fortune and were becoming very powerful. As part of the nearly global suppression of the Jesuits, King Carlos III ordered the Jesuits expelled at gunpoint and deported back to Spain. Following the command of the king, the viceroy of New Spain ordered the arrest and deportation of all Jesuits in missions and Don Gaspar de Portolà was charged with the expulsion of the Jesuits from Baja. The missions were turned over to the Franciscans, and later to the Dominicans.

Spain was driven to establish missions and other outposts in Alta California out of fear that the territory would be claimed by either the English, who not only had colonies on the East Coast of the continent, but had recently conquered Canada, or the Russians whose fur hunters were pressing down from Alaska to the Pacific Northwest's lower reaches. Dispatches of January 23, 1768, exchanged between King Carlos and the viceroy, set the wheels in motion to extend Spain's control up the Pacific Coast and establish colonies and missions at San Diego Bay and Monterey Bay, which had been discovered and described in reports by earlier explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno, who had mapped the California coastline as far north as Monterey in 1602. In May, the Spanish Visitor General, José de Gálvez, organized a four part expedition, two by sea and two by land, and Portolà volunteered to command the expedition.

Statue of Gaspar de Portolà, by the sculptor Josep Maria Subirachs

All four detachments were to meet at the site of San Diego Bay. The first ship, the San Carlos, sailed from La Paz on January 10, 1769, and the San Antonio sailed on February 15. The first land party, led by Fernando Rivera y Moncada, left from the Mission San Fernando Velicata on March 24. With Rivera was Father Juan Crespí, famed diarist of the entire expedition. The expedition led by Portolà, which included Father Junípero Serra, the President of the Missions, along with a combination of missionaries, settlers, and leather-jacket soldiers, including José Raimundo Carrillo, left Velicata on May 15.

Portola 1769 - Commemorative plaque situated in Elysian Park, Los Angeles

Rivera reached the site of present day San Diego in May, established a camp in the area that is now Old Town and awaited the arrival of the others. Because of an error by Vizcaíno in determining the latitude of the San Diego Harbor one hundred and sixty-seven years earlier, the ships passed by it and landed first near present day Los Angeles before finding their way back. The San Antonio arrived on April 11 and the San Carlos, the first ship to leave La Paz, having met with fierce winds and storms on the journey, arrived on April 29. A third vessel was to follow with supplies, but it was probably lost at sea. The land expedition of Portolà arrived on June 29. After their arduous journeys, most of the men aboard ship were ill, chiefly from scurvy, and many had died. Out of a total of two hundred and nineteen men who left Baja California, little more than a hundred now survived.

Eager to press on to Monterey Bay, Portolà and his expedition, consisting of Father Juan Crespí, sixty-three leather-jacket soldiers and a hundred mules loaded down with provisions, headed north on July 14, 1769. Marching two to four leagues a day, they reached the site of present day Los Angeles on August 2. The following day, they marched out the Indian trail that would one day become Wilshire Boulevard to the present site of Santa Monica. Winding around to the area of later Saugus, now part of Santa Clarita, they reached the area to become Santa Barbara on August 19, and the present day San Simeon area on September 13. On October 1, Portolà's party emerged from the Santa Lucia Mountains and reached the mouth of the Salinas River.

After a march of some four hundred miles from San Diego and about one thousand miles from Velicata, they had reached the bay they were seeking. But fog obscured the shoreline, making the waters of the large, open Monterey Bay look like open ocean, and they failed to discern the coastline's semi-circular shape, described by Vizcaíno as round like an "O", even though members of the party had twice marched along its beach. The difficult journey had taken six months and they believed they had missed the harbor of Monterey. Having failed to find their goal, they marched on north to further explore the region and reached the area at the north end of the bay, which Portolà named Santa Cruz on October 18. Pushing on, they reached the San Francisco Bay area on October 31, and explored and named many localities in the region south of what would eventually become known as the Golden Gate. They then marched back to San Diego, again failing to find Vizcaino's harbor on their way south. Surviving on mule meat for most of the journey, they arrived on January 24, 1770.

One of Portolà's officers, Captain Vicente Vila, convinced him that he had actually been exactly on the Bay of Monterey when he placed his second cross at what later became Pacific Grove. After replenishing supplies at San Diego, Portolà and Father Serra decided on a joint expedition by land and sea to again search for the bay and establish a colony if they were successful. The San Antonio sailed on April 16, 1770. On board were Father Serra, Miguel Costanso, military engineer and cartographer, and Don Pedro Prat, army surgeon, along with a cargo of supplies for the new mission at Monterey. On April 17, after mustering what forces he could, Portolà's land expedition, which included Lt. Pedro Fages, twelve Catalonian volunteers, seven leather-jacket soldiers, five Baja California Indians, two muleteers, and Father Crespi serving as the expedition's chaplain, again marched north.

The expedition followed the same route they had the previous winter while returning to San Diego. After thirty-six days on the road, with only two days of rest, Portolà arrived at his second cross on May 24, 1770. He then saw that on a clear day and from a certain point of view the round harbor assumed the proportions described by the earlier enthusiastic explorers. Having recognized the bay, a Mass was conducted near the oak tree that the Franciscan missionaries with Vizcaíno had worshiped under in 1603, and possession was officially taken. On June 3, 1770, they laid the beginnings of the Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo and founded the Presidio of Monterey.

Governor Portolà's task was finished. He then left Captain Pedro Fages in charge, and on June 9 he sailed for San Blas, never to return to Upper California. In 1776, Portolà was appointed the governor of Puebla. After the appointment of his successor in 1784, he was advanced money for expenses and returned to Spain, were he served as commander of the Numancia cavalry dragoon regiment. On 7 February 1786 he was appointed King's Lieutenant for the strongholds and castles of Lérida. He died that same year, in October.

Legacy[link]

A 9 ft (2.7 m) statue in Pacifica, California was sculpted by the Catalan sculptor Josep Maria Subirachs and his associate, Francesc Carulla. It was given to the State of California by the Catalan government in 1988.

The city of Portola (Plumas County), the town of Portola Valley (San Mateo County), and the Portola Neighborhood of San Francisco were named for him. A number of schools in California are also named for him, including Portola Hills Elementary School in Portola Hills, Portola Elementary School in San Bruno, Portola Junior High School in El Cerrito, Gaspar de Portola Middle School in Tierrasanta, Portola Middle School in Tarzana, and Portola Middle School in Orange. The school in Orange is close to the spot where the expedition crossed the Santa Ana River, and the school has a sixty foot mural depicting the Portola Expedition.

Portola Parkway running through Irvine and Lake Forest (though not connected as of 2008), is also named after Gaspar de Portolà. It is said Portola used the route Portola Parkway now runs on. Portola Drive, which runs parallel to and near the Monterey Bay shoreline, is the main street of the Pleasure Point area of Santa Cruz County.

In World War II, the United States liberty ship SS Gaspar de Portola was named in his honor.

Further reading[link]

• Crespí, Juan; Alan K Brown; (2001). A Description of Distant Roads: Original Journals of the First Expedition into California, 1796–1770. San Diego: San Diego State University Press. ISBN 1-879691-64-7. 

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Biography of Gaspar de Portolà at the San Diego Historical Society website
• Early Exploration of San Diego: 1542 to 1769 at the California History & Culture Conservancy website
• Portolà's History and Statue in Pacifica, California
• Spanish exploration of the Northwest Coast of North America website article
• Sweeney Ridge, Golden Gate National Recreation Area Portola Discovery Site in San Mateo County, California
• A map and timeline of Gaspar de Portolà's 1769 expedition.

v t e Governors of California Pre-statehood de Portolà Fages Rivera de Neve Fages Roméu Arrillaga Borica Alberní Arrillaga J. Argüello Solá L. Argüello Echeandía Victoria P. Pico Zamorano / Echeandía Figueroa Castro Gutierrez Chico Gutierrez Alvarado Carrillo Alvarado Micheltorena P. Pico Flores A. Pico Ide Sloat Stockton Frémont Kearny Mason Smith Riley Statehood Burnett McDougall Bigler J. Johnson Weller Latham Downey Stanford Low Haight Booth Pacheco Irwin Perkins Stoneman Bartlett Waterman Markham Budd Gage Pardee Gillett H. Johnson Stephens Richardson Young Rolph Merriam Olson Warren Knight P. Brown Reagan J. Brown Deukmejian Wilson Davis Schwarzenegger J. Brown Pre-Statehood list Statehood list Statehood list by time in office Statehood list by age

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Juan Bautista de Anzac
56th Spanish governor of New Mexico
In office 1778–1788
Preceded by	Francisco Trevre
Succeeded by	Fernando de la Concha
Personal details
Born	July 6/7, 1736 Fronteras, Sonora, present Mexico
Died	December 19, 1788 Arizpe, Mexico
Profession	explorer and Governor of New Mexico

Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto (July 6/7, 1736^[1] – December 19, 1788) was a Novo-Spanish explorer and Governor of New Mexico for the Spanish Empire.

Early life[link]

Juan Bautista de Anza was born in Fronteras, Sonora, (near Arizpe, into a military family on the northern frontier of New Spain. He was the son of Juan Bautista de Anza I. In 1752 he enlisted in the army at the Presidio of Fronteras. He advanced rapidly and was a captain by 1760. He married in 1761. His wife was the daughter of Spanish mine owner Francisco Pérez Serrano. They had no children. His military duties mainly consisted of forays against hostile Native Americans such as the Apache during the course of which he explored much of what is now Arizona.

California expeditions[link]

The Spanish began colonizing Alta California in 1769. This involved a long sea voyage against the prevailing winds and the California Current. The problem was to find a land route. De Anza heard of a California Indian called Sebastian Tarabal who had fled from Mission San Gabriel to Sonora and took him as guide.

In 1772 he proposed an expedition to Alta California to the Viceroy of New Spain. This was approved by the King of Spain and on January 8, 1774, with 3 padres, 20 soldiers, 11 servants, 35 mules, 65 cattle, and 140 horses, he set forth from Tubac south of present day Tucson, Arizona. The expedition took a southern route along the Rio Altar (Sonora y Sinaloa, New Spain) then paralleled the modern Mexico/California border and crossed the Colorado River at its confluence with the Gila River. This was in the domain of the Yuma tribe with which he established good relations. He reached Mission San Gabriel Arcangel near the California coast on March 22, 1774, and Monterey, California, Alta California's capital, on April 19. He returned to Tubac by late May 1774. This expedition was closely watched by Viceroy and King and on October 2, 1774, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and ordered to lead a group of colonists to Alta California. The Spanish were desirous of reinforcing their presence in Alta California as a buffer against Russian colonization of the Americas advancing from the north, and possibly establish a harbor that would give shelter to Spanish ships. The expedition got under way in October 1775 and arrived at Mission San Gabriel in January 1776, the colonists having suffered greatly from the winter weather en route.

Juan Bautista de Anza, from a portrait in oil by Fray Orsi in 1774

The expedition continued on to Monterey with the colonists. Having fulfilled his mission from the Viceroy, he continued on with Father Pedro Font and a party of twelve others exploring north and found the first overland route to San Francisco Bay. In de Anza's diary on March 25, 1776, he states that he "arrived at the arroyo of San Joseph Cupertino (now Stevens Creek), which is useful only for travelers. Here we halted for the night, having come eight leagues in seven and a half hours. From this place we have seen at our right the estuary which runs from the port of San Francisco."^[2] Pressing on, de Anza located the sites for the Presidio of San Francisco and Mission San Francisco de Asis in present day San Francisco, California on March 28, 1776. He did not establish the settlement; it was established later by José Joaquín Moraga. While returning to Monterey, he located the original sites for Mission Santa Clara de Asis and the town of San José de Guadalupe (modern day San Jose, California), but again did not establish either settlement.

{In 1781 the Yuma revolted against the Spanish. Although there were punitive expeditions, they could not re-establish their position at the Yuma crossing and de Anza's route was blocked, thereby slowing the growth of California.)

Nuevo México - New Mexico[link]

On his return from this successful expedition in 1777 he journeyed to Mexico City with the chief of the lower Colorado River area Quechan (Yuma) Native American tribe who requested the establishment of a mission. On August 24, 1777, the Viceroy of New Spain appointed Anza as the Governor of the Province of Nuevo México, the present day U.S. state of New Mexico.

Governor de Anza led a punitive expedition against the Comanche Native Americans who had been repeatedly raiding Taos in 1779. With his Ute Tribe and Apache Native American allies, and around 800 Spanish soldiers, he went north through the San Luis Valley, entering the Great Plains at what is now Manitou Springs, Colorado. Circling "El Capitan" (current day Pikes Peak), he surprised a small force of the Comanche near present day Colorado Springs. Pursuing them south down Fountain Creek, he crossed the Arkansas River near present day Pueblo, Colorado. He found the main body of the Comanche on Greenhorn Creek, returning from a raid in Nuevo México, and won a decisive victory. Chief Cuerno Verde, for whom Greenhorn Creek is named, and many other leaders of the Comanche were killed.^[3]

In late 1779, Anza and his party found a route from Santa Fe to Sonora, west of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. His various local military expeditions against tribes defending their homelands were often successful, but the Quechan (Yuma) Native American tribe which he had established peace with earlier rebelled, and he fell out of favor with the military commander of the Northern Frontier, the frontier-general. In 1783 Anza lead a campaign against the Comanche on the eastern plains and by 1784 they were suing for peace. The last of the Comanche chiefs eventually acceded and a formal treaty was concluded on 28 February 1786 at Pecos Pueblo.^[4] This paved the way for traders and the development of the Comanchero trade.

Map of the route, Juan Bautista de Anza travelled in 1775-76 from Mexico to today's San Francisco

de Anza tomb site, Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Arizpe

Juan Bautista de Anza remained as governor of Nuevo Mexico (New Mexico) until 1787 when he returned to Sonora. He was appointed commander of the Presidio of Tucson in 1788 but died before he could depart and take office. Anza was survived by his wife.

Juan Bautista de Anza died in Arizpe Mexico, and was buried in the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Arizpe. In 1963, with the participation of delegations from the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco, he was disinterred and reburied in a new marble memorial mausoleum at the same Church.

Legacy[link]

The primary legacy is the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail in California, administered by the US National Park Service, for hiking the route of de Anza's expedition exploring Las Californias^[5] In the San Fernando Valley the trail crosses the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve, and in the San Gabriel Valley the trail is in the Puente Hills just north of Whittier, California.^[6][7]

A building named the Juan de Anza House in San Juan Bautista, California is a National Historic Landmark, however it was constructed circa 1830 with its connection unclear. The "Juan Bautista de Anza Community Park" is in Calabasas, California, and "De Anza Park" is in Ontario. A 20-foot (6.1 m) statue of De Anza, built in 1939, is located in Riverside, California at the corner of Market and 14th Streets.^[8]

Dorr Bothwell's statue of Juan de Anza in Riverside, California

Another statue stands in Lake Merced park, San Francisco.^[9]

The De Anza spelling is also the namesake of streets, schools, and buildings in his honor including: De Anza Boulevards in San Mateo and Cupertino, De Anza Park in Sunnyvale, De Anza College in Cupertino, De Anza High School in Richmond, Juan De Anza K-5 in the Wiseburn Elementary School District of Hawthorne, De Anza Middle School in Ontario, De Anza Middle School in Ventura, De Anza Elementary School in El Centro, and the De Anza School in Baldwin Park, the landmark De Anza Hotel in San Jose, and the historic De Anza Hotel in Calexico — all in California.

Using just Anza in his honor are: Anza Street in San Francisco and Lake Anza in Tilden Regional Park above Berkeley in the Berkeley Hills. The town of Anza, California, is a small town of 7,000 people on Today descendants of Juan Bautista de Anza are found in Mexico City, Mexico. Highway 371 in the mountains south of Palm Springs.

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Anza and the Northwest Frontier of New Spain, J. N. Bowman and R. F. Heizer, Southwest Museum Papers Number Twenty, Highland Park, Los Angeles, California, 1967, Hardback, 182 pages.
• Anza and Cuerno Verde, Decisive Battle, Wilfred Martinez

External links[link]

	Biography portal
	New Spain portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Juan Bautista de Anza

• Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail - Official U.S. National Park Service website.
• U.of Oregon: "Diary of Juan Bautista de Anza" - de Anza online resources.
• An Interactive Study Environment on Spanish Exploration and Colonization of "Alta California" 1774-1776
• Ninth Grade Social Studies Students HyperStudio Projects Using Web de Anza Resources - an interesting high school project

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009)

Juan Bautista Alvarado
Governor of Alta California
In office 1836–1837
Preceded by	Nicolas Gutierrez
Succeeded by	Carlos Antonio Carrillo
Governor of Alta California
In office 1838–1842
Preceded by	Carlos Antonio Carrillo
Succeeded by	Manuel Micheltorena
Personal details
Born	(1809-02-14)February 14, 1809 Monterey, California
Died	July 13, 1882(1882-07-13) (aged 73) Rancho San Pablo, California
Spouse(s)	Dona Martina Castro

Juan Bautista Valentín Alvarado y Vallejo (February 14, 1809 – July 13, 1882) was a Californio and twice Governor of Alta California from 1836 to 1837, and 1838 to 1842.

Early years[link]

Alvarado was born in Monterey, Alta California, to Jose Francisco Alvarado and María Josefa Vallejo. His grandfather Juan Bautista Alvarado accompanied Gaspar de Portolà as an enlisted man in the Spanish Army in 1769. His father died a few months after his birth and his mother remarried three years later, leaving Juan Bautista in the care of his grandparents, the Vallejo family. He and Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo grew up together in the Vallejo household. They were both taught by William Edward Petty Hartnell, an English merchant living in Monterey.

In 1827 the eighteen-year-old Alvarado was hired as secretary to the territorial legislature. In 1829 he was briefly arrested along with Vallejo and another friend, José Castro, by soldiers involved in the military revolt led by Joaquín Solis. In 1831 he built a house in Monterey for his mistress, Juliana Francisca Ramona y Castillo, whom he called “Raymunda”, to live in. Over the years, the pair had a total of five illegitimate daughters, all of whom he recognized, but he never married their mother. During this period Alvarado began drinking heavily. One of his daughters claimed that Raymunda had refused to marry Alvarado because of his excessive drinking.

Alvarado was in favor of secularizing the missions and he was appointed to oversee the secularization of Mission San Miguel by José María de Echeandía, even though he had already been replaced as governor. The new governor, Manuel Victoria rescinded the order and wanted Alvarado and Castro arrested. The pair fled and were hidden by their old friend Vallejo, who was now adjutant at the Presidio of San Francisco. However, Victoria's rule proved to be unpopular and he was overthrown by Echeandía and replaced by Pío Pico at the end of 1831. Secularization of the missions resumed in 1833.

In 1834 Alvarado was elected to the legislature as a delegate and appointed customs inspector in Monterey. Rancho El Sur, south of Monterey, was granted to Alvarado by Governor José Figueroa on October 30, 1834.

After Figueroa's death in September 1835, Nicolás Gutiérrez was appointed as interim governor in January 1836, to be replaced by Mariano Chico in April, but he was very unpopular. Thinking a revolt was coming, Chico returned to Mexico to gather troops, but was reprimanded for leaving his post. Gutierrez, the military commandant, re-assumed the governorship, but he too was unpopular. Now a senior member of the legislature, Alvarado and Castro, with political support from Vallejo and assistance from a group of Americans led by Isaac Graham, staged a revolt and forced Gutierrez to relinquish power. The Americans wanted California independence, but Alvarado instead preferred staying a part of Mexico, albeit with greater autonomy.

Governor Alvarado[link]

Alvarado, at age 27, was then appointed governor, but the city council of Los Angeles protested. Alvarado, Castro, and Graham went south and negotiated a compromise after three months, avoiding a civil war. However, the city council of San Diego then voiced its disagreement with Alvarado's revolt. This time, the Mexican government was involved and there were rumors that the Mexican Army was ready to step in. Alvarado was able to negotiate another compromise to keep the peace.

Mexico reneged on the agreement, however, and appointed Carlos Antonio Carrillo, who was very popular among the southerners, governor on December 6, 1837. This time, civil war broke out and after several battles, Carrillo was forced out. Mexico finally relented and recognized Alvarado as governor.

Alvarado married Doña Martina Castro on August 24, 1839 in Santa Clara, but didn't attend his own wedding having his half-brother, Jose Antonio Estrada, stand in for him. Though he claimed to be detained in Monterey on official business, it was rumored he was actually drunk and unable to function. After the wedding, Alvarado lived with his bride in Monterey, but continued on with mistress, Raymunda, who lived nearby.

The process of secularization of the missions was in its final stages, and it was at this time that Alvarado parceled out much of their land to prominent Californios via land grants. Though he took no land for himself, he did however, trade his Rancho El Sur to John B.R. Cooper in exchange for Rancho Bolsa del Potrero which he subsequently sold back to Cooper. He purchased Rancho El Alisal near Salinas in 1841 from his former tutor William Hartnell.

In April 1840 a report of a planned revolt against Alvarado by a group of foreigners, led by former ally Isaac Graham, caused the governor to order their arrest and deportation to Mexico City for trial. They were eventually, however, acquitted of all charges in June 1841. Also in 1841, political leaders in the United States were declaring their doctrine of Manifest Destiny, and Californios grew increasingly concerned over their intentions. Vallejo conferred with Castro and Alvarado recommending that Mexico send military reinforcements to enforce their military control of California.

Tensions between Northern and Southern California[link]

In response, Mexican president Antonio López de Santa Anna sent Brigadier General Manuel Micheltorena and 300 men to California in January 1842. Micheltorena was to assume the governorship and the position of commandant general. In October, Before Micheltorena reached Monterey, American Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones mistakenly thought that war had broken out between the United States and Mexico. He sailed into Monterey Bay and demanded the surrender of the Presidio of Monterey. Micheltorena's force was still in the south and the Monterey presidio was undermanned. As such, Alvarado reluctantly surrendered, and retired to Rancho El Alisal. The next day Commodore Jones learned of his mistake, but Alvarado declined to return and instead referred the commodore to Micheltorena.

Micheltorena eventually made it to Monterey, but was unable to control his troops, a number of which were convicts. This fomented rumors of a revolt, and by 1844, Alvarado himself became associated with the malcontents and an order was made by Micheltorena for his arrest. His detention, however, was short-lived as, Micheltorena was under orders to organize a large contingent in preparation for war against the United States. All hands would be required for the task at hand.

This turned out to backfire on him, as on November 14, 1844, a group of Californios led by Manuel Castro revolted against Mexican authority. José Castro and Alvarado commanded the troops. There was no actual fighting, however; a truce was negotiated and Micheltorena agreed to dismiss his convict troops. However, Micheltorena reneged on the deal and fighting broke out this time. The rebels won the Battle of Providencia in February 1845 at the Los Angeles River and Micheltorena and his troops left California.

Pío Pico was installed as governor in Los Angeles and José Castro became commandant general. Later, Alvarado was elected to the Mexican Congress. He prepared to move to Mexico City, but Pico declined funding for the transfer, and relations between northern and southern California deteriorated further.

John C. Frémont arrived in Monterey at the beginning of 1846. Afraid of foreign aggression, Castro assembled his militia, with Alvarado second in command, but Frémont went north to Oregon instead. An unstable political situation in Mexico strained relations among the Californios and it seemed that civil war would break out between north and south.

An independent California[link]

On June 14, 1846, a group of foreign settlers staged the Bear Flag Revolt, capturing the town of Sonoma and General Mariano Vallejo. On July 7, Commodore John D. Sloat occupied Monterey, declaring to the citizenry that the Mexican-American War had begun. Pico, Castro, and Alvarado set aside their differences to focus on the American threat, but by the end of August, Pico and Castro would flee to Mexico, and Alvarado would be captured. Following his release, Alvarado would spend the remainder of the war on his estate in Monterey.

After the war, he was offered the governorship, but he declined, instead retiring to his wife Martina's family estate at Rancho San Pablo in 1848.^[1] Alvarado did not participate in the California Gold Rush, instead concentrating his efforts at agriculture and business. He opened the Union Hotel on the rancho in 1860, but his businesses were mostly unsuccessful. After Martina's death in 1876, Alvarado wrote his Historia de California. He died on his ranch in 1882 and is buried at Saint Mary Cemetery in Oakland.

Alvarado's adobe house, at the foot of Alvarado Street in downtown Monterey, survives as a California Historical Landmark. Alvarado Street in San Francisco's Noe Valley is named after him. Portions of the Rancho San Pablo adobe are incorporated into the current City of San Pablo government campus and Alvarado Park within Wildcat Canyon Regional Park is named in his honor.

References[link]

"Juan Alvarado - Biographic Notes". Inn-California. http://www.inn-california.com/Articles/biographic/jbalvaradobio.html. Retrieved 2006-12-27. 

v t e Governors of California Pre-statehood de Portolà Fages Rivera de Neve Fages Roméu Arrillaga Borica Alberní Arrillaga J. Argüello Solá L. Argüello Echeandía Victoria P. Pico Zamorano / Echeandía Figueroa Castro Gutierrez Chico Gutierrez Alvarado Carrillo Alvarado Micheltorena P. Pico Flores A. Pico Ide Sloat Stockton Frémont Kearny Mason Smith Riley Statehood Burnett McDougall Bigler J. Johnson Weller Latham Downey Stanford Low Haight Booth Pacheco Irwin Perkins Stoneman Bartlett Waterman Markham Budd Gage Pardee Gillett H. Johnson Stephens Richardson Young Rolph Merriam Olson Warren Knight P. Brown Reagan J. Brown Deukmejian Wilson Davis Schwarzenegger J. Brown Pre-Statehood list Statehood list Statehood list by time in office Statehood list by age

Francisco de Ulloa
Died	1540 (1541)
Nationality	Spanish
Occupation	Explorer

Route of the 1539 voyage by Francisco de Ulloa from (Acapulco) along the west coast of Mexico

Francisco de Ulloa (pronounced: [fɾanˈθisko de uˈʎoa]) (died 1540) was a Spanish explorer who explored the west coast of present-day Mexico under the commission of Hernán Cortés. The reports of his expeditions along the Baja California peninsula are credited with being influential in the perpetuation of the 17th century cartographic misconception of the existence of the Island of California.

Exploring career[link]

It is not known whether Ulloa accompanied Cortés on his first expedition to the New Spain. By the account of Bernal Díaz del Castillo, he came to Mexico later while transporting letters to Cortés from his wife. According to some early historians, Ulloa was influential in helping subdue the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan by naval power.

In 1539, at the private expense of Cortés, he embarked on an expedition in three small vessels, sailing north from Acapulco to explore the Pacific Coast, and to seek the mythical Strait of Anián that supposedly led to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, proving the existence of the Northwest Passage. The expedition left on July 8 sailing northwards along the coast and reaching the Gulf of California six weeks later. Ulloa named it the "Sea of Cortés" in honor of his patron. When one of his ships was lost in a storm Ulloa paused to repair the other two ships, and then resumed his voyage on September 12, eventually reaching the head of the Gulf.

Unable to find the Strait of Anián, Ulloa turned south and sailed along the eastern coast of the Baja California peninsula, landing at the Bay of La Paz. After taking on supplies of wood and water Ulloa rounded the tip of the peninsula with great difficulty and sailed northward along the western shore in the Pacific Ocean.

The progress of his small ships was hampered by the fierce winds and high seas he encountered, eventually forcing him to turn back to New Spain. The voyage eventually reached 28 degrees north near the Isla de Cedros.

Although his discoveries lent support to the fact that Baja California was a peninsula, his reports were used to create maps depicting California as an island. According to Díaz del Castillo, Ulloa was stabbed to death by a sailor after his return in 1540. By other accounts, his ship was lost without a trace during the return voyage from Baja California. Supposedly his ship was swept inland with a tsunami, later becoming known as the Lost Ship of the Desert. ^[1]

See also[link]

• Fortún Ximénez
• Hernando de Alarcón
• Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo
• History of the west coast of North America

References[link]

1. ^ LOST SHIP OF THE DESERT: A Legend of the Southwest - Harold O. Weight Calico Press 1959 [1].

External links[link]

• Catholic Encyclopedia Francisco de Ulloa
• AmericanJourneys.org Francisco de Ulloa