The March of Portola and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco — John Shaqi
The March of Portola and the Discovery of the Bay of San FranciscoEldredge, Zoeth Skinner
History
The March of Portola and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco
Eldredge, Zoeth Skinner
California -- History; California -- History -- To 1846; Portolá's Expedition, Calif., 1769-1770; San Francisco Bay (Calif.)
On Saturday, November 4th, being the day of San Carlos Borromeo, in
whose honor they had come to establish a royal presidio and mission in
the Port of Monterey, and also the day of the king, Don Carlos III (que
Dios guarde), the holy sacrifice of the mass was celebrated "in this
little valley, beach of the Port (without the least doubt) of my father
San Francisco." The men feasted liberally on the mussels which abounded
on the nearby rocks, and which were pronounced large and good, and,
in better spirits than they had been for some time, they took up their
march at one o'clock in the afternoon. Proceeding a short distance up
the beach, they turned into the mountains on their right, and from the
summit beheld the immense estero o brazo del mar. Then descending into
the Canada de San Andres, they turned to the south and southeast, and
traveling two leagues camped in the canada at the foot of a hill, very
green with low brush, and having a cluster of oaks at its base. The next
two days they traveled down the canada, coasting the estero, which they
could not see for the low hills (lomeria) on their left, noting the
pleasant land with its groves of oak, redwood (palo colorado), and
madrono. They saw the tracks of many deer and also of bears. The Indians
met them with friendly offers of black tamales and atole, which were
gladly received by the half-starved Spaniards. They begged the strangers
to go to their rancherias, but the governor excused himself, saying
that he must go forward, and dismissed them with presents of beads and
trinkets. On the 6th, they reached the end of the canada, which suddenly
turned to the east, and saw that the estero[32] was finished in a
spacious valley. To the canada they gave the name of San Francisco[33].
Traveling a short distance towards the east, they camped on a deep
arroyo, whose waters came down from the sierra and flowed precipitately
into the estero. They were on the San Francisquito creek, near the site
of Stanford University[34].
Having failed to get through to Point Reyes by the ocean beach route,
Portola now sent Ortega around by the contra costa giving him four
days in which to explore the country and find the port containing the
supply-ship.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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