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Captain Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo
Captain Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo of Spain is credited as being the first European to discover California. Watch this video to learn about his exploration of California in 1539.
THE SAME YEAR THAT CORONADO RETURNED TO MEXICO,
A MAN NAMED JUAN RODRIGUEZ CABRILLO
WAS CHOSEN TO TAKE SHIPS TO EXPLORE
THE COAST OF WHAT IS TODAY CALIFORNIA.
CABRILLO WAS A CONQUISTADOR
WHO HAD HELPED SPAIN DESTROY THE KINGDOM OF THE AZTECS IN MEXICO,
BUT HIS GREATEST TALENT WAS FOR SAILING AND SHIPBUILDING.
CABRILLO'S EXPEDITION SAILED NORTH FROM MEXICO IN JUNE OF 1542,
IN SHIPS BUILT IN HIS OWN SHIPYARDS.
BY LATE SEPTEMBER,
THEY WERE ANCHORED IN WHAT IS NOW SAN DIEGO BAY IN CALIFORNIA.
FROM SAN DIEGO, THEY CONTINUED ON NORTH.
THE SAILORS MADE MAPS OF THE COASTLINE
AND STOPPED OCCASIONALLY TO TRADE WITH THE NATIVE TRIBES
WHO LIVED NEAR THE SHORE.
CABRILLO'S SHIPS HAD JUST SAILED PAST
THE BEAUTIFUL SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS
WHEN CABRILLO BECAME ILL, FORCING THEM TO TURN BACK.
A SHORT TIME LATER, HE DIED ON A SMALL REMOTE ISLAND.
AFTER THAT, THE NEW LEADER OF THE EXPEDITION
TURNED THE SHIPS AROUND AND THEY SAILED NORTH AGAIN.
THIS TIME, THE SPANISH EXPLORERS
MAY HAVE GOTTEN AS FAR AS TODAY'S STATE OF OREGON.
BY THEN, THEY HAD EXPLORED OVER 2,000 MILES,
OR 3,300 KILOMETERS, OF UNKNOWN COASTLINE,
AND SUPPLIES WERE RUNNING LOW,
SO THEY DECIDED TO GO NO FURTHER
AND SAILED BACK TO MEXICO.
THEY, TOO, HAD FOUND NO RICHES.
Transcript
Jedediah Smith
More than two hundred years after Cabrillo came to California, another famous explorer, Jedediah Smith, became the first United States citizen to cross the Mojave Desert into what is now California.
Watch this video to learn about the places that Jedediah Smith explored.
JEDEDIAH SMITH QUICKLY ROSE TO THE STATUS OF CAPTAIN
IN THE TRAPPER BRIGADES.
HE PACKED A LIFETIME OF EXPERIENCES
INTO A 12-YEAR PERIOD.
IN 1826, HE WENT SEARCHING
FOR THE MYTHICAL BUENAVENTURA RIVER
AND BECAME THE FIRST WHITE MAN
TO TRAVERSE THE LAND FROM THE ROCKIES TO CALIFORNIA.
HE ALSO WAS THE FIRST TO CROSS THE GREAT BASIN,
THE FIRST TO CROSS THE SIERRA NEVADAS FROM WEST TO EAST,
AND THE FIRST TO VENTURE OVERLAND
FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.
THIS WAS HIS MOST REMARKABLE JOURNEY
THROUGH THE MOJAVE DESERT IN 1827,
NORTH THROUGH THE CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS
TO THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY, OREGON, BY 1828,
THEN EAST ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS
TO THE FLATHEAD RIVER OF MONTANA
AND SOUTH IN 1829 TO PIERRE'S HOLE, IDAHO.
HIS LIFE WAS CUT SHORT JUST TWO YEARS LATER
WHEN HE WAS KILLED BY COMANCHE INDIANS
WHILE LEADING A WAGON TRAIN TO SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO.
THE FUR TRADE ALSO ATTRACTED CAPTAIN BENJAMIN BONNEVILLE,
A FRENCH-BORN U.S. ARMY OFFICER.
WHILE HIS ORDERS CALLED FOR COLLECTING INFORMATION
ON GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, AND TOPOGRAPHY,
CAPTAIN BONNEVILLE PURSUED THE FUR TRADE.
HE JOINED FORCES
WITH VETERAN MOUNTAIN MAN JOE WALKER
IN THE SUMMER OF 1833.
BONNEVILLE SENT WALKER OFF TO FIND A TRAIL
FROM UTAH TO CALIFORNIA.
WALKER'S ROUTE FOLLOWED THE HUMBOLDT RIVER TO THE SIERRAS,
WHICH THEY CROSSED IN A TERRIBLE 20-DAY TREK.
THEY BECAME THE FIRST WHITE MEN TO SEE THE BEAUTY
OF WHAT IS NOW YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK.
- [singing] AMERICA
AMERICA
GOD SHED HIS GRACE
ON THEE
AND CROWN THY GOOD
WITH BROTHERHOOD
FROM SEA
TO SHINING SEA
Transcript
Father Junipero Serra
Spanish missions are a big part of California's history. In 1769 Father Junipero Serra took a trip by land and ocean from New Spain (present day Mexico) on a "sacred expedition." He built California's first mission in San Diego. Watch this video to learn more about Father Junipero Serra.
[MUSIC PLAYING] We are at Mission San Diego de Alcalá. It is the second site where the mission was established. It was the first mission to be founded by Father Junipero Serra, the first of nine that he personally founded, and the first of 21 that were founded by the Franciscan padres. It is basically the seeds of what is now the state of California.
And the padres came here or originally with the intention of evangelizing the Indians. When Father Serra came to California, July 1, 1769, he was part of a strategy of the King of Spain to colonize the Californias. Father Serra had in mind in his objective in coming to the Californias, as Father Presidente or Father President of all the Franciscans, was to evangelize the Indians.
Of course, the formula sort of worked pretty good for Spain because as the padres converted the Indians, the Indians became subjects of the crown of Spain. Therefore, it was baptism and citizenship. Even though the padres didn't intend that, the government of Spain was very happy to make that assessment and take the benefits of that. And that's basically what happened when the padres got here.
San Diego de Alcalá is east of downtown San Diego a few miles and is the second location for the mission. The first was on Presidio Hill on the coast overlooking the Bay. It was the birthplace of Christianity on the west coast of the United States and continues as an active parish church.
The structures have gone through several transitions over the years. This is the fifth church built on the site. The original was destroyed in an Indian attack in 1775.
In 1812, the fourth church here was under construction. Unlike many of the other missions, it survived that earthquake.
During secularization, when Mexico gained independence from Spain, the properties were sold off but returned to the church by a proclamation by Abraham Lincoln in May of 1862. By that time the property was a shambles with very little left of the earlier church. It was rebuilt in 1931, modeled on what the architects believed was the 1813 church.
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