1542 - Cabrillo and Orange County? San Juan Capistrano Visitor Series Part 1

Way back in 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo led the first European expedition to what is now the coast of California. For context, at about this time Queen Elizabeth I of England was 9 years old, the first contact between Japan and the West occurred when a Portuguese trading vessel that intended to trade with China was blown off course and landed in Japan and Michelangelo had just completed his last fresco in the Sistine Chapel. While sailing along the coast of California, Cabrillo and the men under his command may very well have been the first Europeans to observe what is now Orange County.

Cabrillo, who was from Spain, came to North America in 1514 and participated as a conquistador (soldier) with Hernán Cortés in the Spanish wars of conquest over the Aztecs and later with Pedro de Alvarado in the conquest over the indigenous groups living in what is now Guatamala. For his services as a conquistador, his superior made him a encomendero, rewarding him with land as well as Indians to provide the labor to develop that land, mostly in farming and mining.* By about 1536, Cabrillo was living with his wife and two sons on his encomienda in modern-day Guatamala.
There has been considerable debate concerning the birthplace of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo. The confusion dates back to 1601, when a Spanish historian claimed Cabrillo was from Portugal. Historian Dr. Wendy Kramer recently discovered documents relating to a court case in which Cabrillo was involved, including the one above, where he is consistently identified as being from what is now the city Palma del Río in Córdoba, Spain. Dr. Kramer's research and historical analysis are of the highest quality and worth reading.

Not even two decades after Spain established the colony of New Spain (Mexico), there were indications and strong rumors that trade routes might exist in the northern frontier that would make China and southeast Asia more accessible to trading ships from Spain or New Spain. One of these persistent rumors was the existence of the fabled Strait of Anián, or Northwest Passage, which the Europeans believed could serve as a convenient northern sea route from Europe to Asia. Such trading possibilities prompted the Spanish leadership to fund the construction of a fleet of ships and a subsequent expedition northward up the coast of California. Cabrillo was selected to lead. After more than 3 years of building the fleet on the Pacific coast of Guatamala (in Iztapa) and El Salvador (in Acajutla), and a series of subsequent setbacks, the expedition was finally ready to begin the journey northward in June of 1542. Sailing from the western coast of New Spain, Cabrillo commanded 3 ships including the 200-ton galleon San Salvador up the California coast, possibly as far north as the mouth of the Russian River north of San Francisco.    

The Maritime Museum of San Diego finished building a full size replica of Cabrillo's galleon, San Salvador, in 2015. The original was built in Guatamala and El Salvador by in the late 1530s for the purpose of exploring the Pacific. During the expedition, the crew would be made up of sailors, slaves and a priest. It's incredible to think that members of the expedition called this "home" for a year or more.  

While wintering at one of the islands off of the coast of southern California (probably San Miguel or Santa Rosa Island in the Channel Islands), parties were routinely sent off the ships to obtain freshwater from springs located near the anchorage. About Christmastime, 1542, one of these watering parties encountered resistance from the Indians living on the island.** Cabrillo saw and heard the struggle from his ship and went ashore to help. While landing, he slipped and likely broke a leg on some rocks on shore. The wound became infected and Cabrillo died a little less than 2 weeks later. He was buried on the island sometime in early January of 1543. 

 Cabrillo's grave site was never located, but a possible headstone was discovered in 1901, somewhere on the southeastern portion of Santa Rosa Island, southeast of Beecher's Bay (as of this writing, Wikipedia incorrectly identifies San Miguel Island as the source of the stone). The well-known 20th century California anthropologist Robert Heizer believed the stone to be Cabrillo's headstone. In contrast to the stone's discovery on Santa Rosa Island, researchers analyzing the known textual evidence tend to conclude that Cabrillo was buried somewhere on San Miguel Island. Though Heizer attempted to reinterpret this textual evidence from the perspective that Cabrillo was actually buried on Santa Rosa Island, the location of Cabrillo's burial remains uncertain. Still, it's intriguing to look out across the Pacific to the Channel Islands in wonder at the fact that Cabrillo is still out there - a conquistador who conquered with Cortés, traveled the Pacific on a galleon, and ended up buried in California.

   
Three images of what may be Cabrillo's headstone that marked his grave. If genuine, this is the oldest known non-Indian artifact (or relic) in California and the lone artifact from Cabrillo's journey to California. This stone was found on the southeast portion of Santa Rosa island and was very likely moved from its original location. It was also used as a metate, or grinding stone. Notice the human figure and the possible initials "JR" for "Juan Rodriguez," which is also how Cabrillo signed his name during his lifetime. Also notice the cross in the top left portion of the stone. More information on this stone can be found at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology (source of image on the left) and in the book California's Oldest Historical Relic? by Robert F. Heizer (source of two images on the right). 

Cabrillo's crew continued to explore the coast of California, headed far up the coast into northern California and nearly sank in a storm, but finally returned to New Spain in April of 1543. Unfortunately, the primary report of their journey, written after they returned, is now lost. The only record of this report is a summary (or relation) made by a friar in about 1559. It’s a fascinating read and you can download it here: Relation of the Voyage of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo 1542-1543. One portion contains what is very likely the first recorded reference to lands within what is today Orange County:

"On the Tuesday following, October 3 [1542], they left San Miguel [San Diego], and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday sailed on their course some eighteen leagues along the coast, where they saw many valleys and plains and many smokes and sierras inland. At nightfall they were close to some islands which are about seven leagues from the mainland, and as the wind died out they could not reach them that night. Saturday, the 7th, at daybreak, they reached them, and named them 'San Salvador' and 'Vitoria' [sic, probably "Victoria," named after two of the ships on the expedition]...The Sunday following, the 8th, they came to the mainland in a large bay, which they named 'Baia de los Fumos' ["Bay of the Smoke," very likely San Pedro Bay] on account of the many smokes they saw there."


The path north from San Diego is a little more than 60 miles, or 18 leagues, to Dana Point. From Dana Point, or near there, Cabrillo probably went west to Catalina, where he likely landed in Avalon Bay. From Catalina, he probably commanded his ships northeast to San Pedro Bay, about 24 miles, or 7 leagues, away.

A couple clues from the above excerpt can be used to approximate Cabrillo's route. After heading north up the coast from San Diego for 18 leagues, they turned west to what is probably Catalina Island and then headed northeast to what is probably San Pedro Bay. A distance of 18 mid-16th century Spanish "leagues" was probably about 65 miles, which is exactly how far it is from San Diego to Dana Point. It's possible that Dana Point was the natural turning point towards Catalina because the coast trends from northwest to west at Dana Point. From Dana Point, Catalina (and Avalon Bay, where Cabrillo likely landed) is due west and San Pedro Bay is not visible. From Catalina it would have made sense to bear northeast towards the closest point on land, which is approximately San Pedro Bay. Describing the islands as "about seven leagues from the mainland" makes sense if this refers to the distance between Catalina and San Pedro Bay, which is about 7 leagues, or 26 miles. There's no way to know for sure, but it's an intriguing possibility that this little reference to "valleys [San Juan Valley included?] and plains and many smokes and sierras [Santa Ana Mountains?] inland" includes the first record of lands within what is now Orange County.


The two above sketches are among the earliest depictions of the Dana Point coastline that I'm aware of. They appeared in a publication called the Coast Pilot that was written by George Davidson, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, in 1889. This is the coastline Cabrillo and the members of his expedition may very well have seen sometime between October 5-6 of 1542. The outlines of the mountains are very much the same today as they were in 1889 and generally as they were in 1542. This very scene may have been the inspiration behind the line "where they saw many valleys [San Juan Valley included?] and plains and many smokes and sierras [Santa Ana Mountains?] inland" in the surviving summary of the voyage. I added all of the text identifying points of interest. For all of the times I've contemplated the mystery of the mountains and the past while looking up at Old Saddleback, it's amazing to think Cabrillo and his crew may have done the same way back in October of 1542.

Even though San Juan Capistrano would not exist for over 200 years after Cabrillo's visit, the possibility that he recorded an observation of San Juan Valley qualifies this to be the first in a chronological series of primary sources describing San Juan Capistrano and the surrounding valley that I intend to post on this blog. Thanks for reading!
Notes:
* From the second paragraph: This system of the Spanish ignoring the people who were already living in the New World when giving away land there but then remembering that those same people existed when forcing them into servitude became known as the encomienda system. In return for losing their land and being forced into servitude, the former Spanish soldiers would "repay" the Indians by providing for their protection and attempting to convert them to Christianity. This system is the cousin of the Alta California Mission system which was established over 200 years later in 1769. Given the superior technology of the Spanish, which was largely provided by the transmission of ideas for over 1,500 years along the chain of China-European trade (like gunpowder), along with their Christian worldview, it's not surprising that the they considered themselves as superior to the New World inhabitants (most humans in the same circumstances would) and sought to convert them to Christianity. Furthermore, given the genetic predisposition of Old World conquerors to resist Old World diseases (thanks natural selection over millennia!) and the genetic predisposition of New World inhabitants to die from Old World diseases, it's not surprising that the arrival of people from the Old World was disastrous for the people of the New World. In other words, what happened to the New World inhabitants was from a socio-political angle unethical, from a biological angle inevitable and simultaneously from any angle, tragic.

 ** From the fourth paragraph: It's unlikely we'll ever know exactly why the island inhabitants attacked the watering party, but the history of the region points to three common, though certainly not comprehensive, explanations. First, there were likely only enough natural resources to support the local population. An increasing frequency of usage of the available resources, such as fresh water, by the members of Cabrillo's expedition could have upset the availability of resources for the local inhabitants. This would have especially been a problem given that the expedition stayed for an extended period of time while wintering near the island. Second, Old World diseases were often disastrous for New World populations. If disease was wreaking havoc in the local population, they may have decided to fight back. Third, it was common for Indian women to be sexually assaulted in efforts of conquest by the Spanish. The expedition was made up entirely of men, all of whom were apart from their homes for a long period of time. If sexual violence did occur, it could explain why the Indians fought back. And, of course, this incident could have been a result of a combination of these and/or other factors.
Sources are either linked above or listed below:

Heizer, Robert F. 1972. California's Oldest Historical Relic? Berkeley: Robert H. Lowie Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley.
Please see the following links for more on the San Juan Capistrano Visitor Series:

Part 5: The Otter Trade and the First U.S. Citizens in Orange County
Part 6: The Great Stone Church (A future post)
Part 9: Secularization and End of the Mission Era in Capistrano (A future post)
Part 10: Richard Henry Dana at Dana Point

Please see the following links for Mission San Juan Capistrano - Dating the Artifacts Series: