The March of Portola and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco

The March of Portola and the
Discovery of the Bay of San
Francisco

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Title: The March of Portolá
Author: Zoeth S. Eldredge
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This eBook was produced by David A. Schwan
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The March of Portolá and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco

by Zoeth S. Eldredge

-

The Log of the San Carlos
and
Original Documents Translated and Annotated

by E. J. Molera

Published by the Reception Committee of The California Promotion
Committee

This Book is published with the approval and endorsement of the
Executive Committee of the Portolá Festival.

The March of Portolá
and
The Log of the San Carlos

San Francisco
-
"Serene, indifferent of fate, Thou sittest at the Western Gate;

Upon thy heights so lately won, Still slant the banners of the sun;
Thou seest the white seas strike their tents, O warder of two continents,
And scornful of the peace that flies, Thy angry winds and sullen skies,
Thou drawest all things, small or great, To thee beside the Western
Gate."

Table of Contents
-
Introduction The March of Portolá and Discovery of the Bay of San
Francisco Data regarding Portolá after he left California Letter of the
Viceroy of New Spain to Don Julian de Arriaga Causes that led to the
Expedition of the San Carlos Log of the San Carlos Report of the
Commander of the San Carlos Description of the Bay of San Francisco
Report of the Pilot of the San Carlos

Illustrations
The March to Monterey (Frontispiece) Carrying the Sick Discovery of
the Bay of San Francisco Departure of the San Carlos from La Paz
Facsimile of signature of Governor Portolá First Survey and Map of the
Bay of San Francisco

Introduction
In the annals of adventure, there are no more thrilling narratives of
heroic perseverance in the performance of duty than the record of
Spanish exploration in America. To those of us who have come into
possession of the fair land opened up by them, the story of their travels
and adventures have the most profound interest. The account of the
expedition of Portolá has never been properly presented. Many writers
have touched on it, and H. H. Bancroft, in his History of California,
gives a brief digest of Crespi's diary. Most writers on California history
have drawn on Palou's Vida del V. P. F. Junipero Serra and Noticias de
la Nueva California, and without looking further, have accepted the
ecclesiastical narrative. We have endeavored in this sketch to give, in a
clear and concise form, the conditions which preceded and led up to the
occupation of California.
The importance of California in relation to the control of the Pacific

was early recognized by the great European powers, some of whom had
but small respect for the Bull of Pope Alexander VI dividing the New
World between Spain and Portugal. England, France, and Russia sent
repeated expeditions into the Pacific. In 1646 the British Admiralty
sent two ships to look in Hudson's Bay for a northwest passage to the
South Sea, one of which bore the significant name of California. The
voyage of Francis Drake, 1577-1580, was a private venture, but at
Drake's Bay he proclaimed the sovereignty of Elizabeth, and named the
country New Albion. Two hundred years later (1792-1793) Captain
George Vancouver explored the coast of California down to thirty
degrees of north latitude (Ensenada de Todos Santos), which, he says,
"is the southernmost limit of New Albion, as discovered by Sir Francis
Drake, or New California, as the Spaniards frequently call it." Even