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.)
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account