Early Explorers & Discoverers of San Francisco Bay
by Maria Rieger, History Center Researcher

In 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who had fought in Mexico with famous conquistador Hernan Cortes, sailed out of the port of Navidad, in current Guatemala, and led the first European expedition to explore what is now the west coast of the United States. He discovered San Diego, explored the uncharted coast of California and is credited to have sailed as far north as Oregon, but he bypassed the entry of the port of San Francisco. In July of 1595, Sebastian Cerme–o, sailing out of Manila and looking for ports for their galleons, was shipwrecked near current Point Reyes. He and 70 men with him built a flat boat to return to Mexico. They called the area the Port of San Francisco and subsequent mapmakers kept the name. In June of 1579, Francis Drake the navigator and pirate, is said to have reached a harbor in the upper coast of the Bay Area, near Point Reyes, (now called Drake's Bay) but the location, time and even the probability of the event is in doubt. Many historians dispute his ever having reached this area. The position variously reported on contemporary accounts includes a range between 48 and 42 degrees of latitude north, which would include most of Washington State, all of Oregon and only a sliver of the north of California, not close to the Bay Area. There is another Drake Bay in Oregon, state that also alleges to be the true location of Drake's visited harbor.

In May of 1602 Sebastian Vizcaino, sailed out of Acapulco with three vessels, worked his way up the coast of Baja California and arrived at the port of San Diego (which he named) on November 10, 1602, a voyage of six months and five days! He then came up the coast and discovered the Monterey harbor, which he also was the first to name, in honor of the then Viceroy of Mexico, the Count of Monterey. They then returned to Acapulco, after many tribulations, with only a few survivors, including Vizcaino. He discovered not much more than Cabrillo had 60 years before, but he did, however, chart the coast of California with such accuracy that his maps were used until about 1790.

In October 1769, the Portola expedition set camp in what is now Pacifica. Don Gaspar de Portola was a Catalan nobleman from the north of Spain, who, had been appointed Governor of Las Californias from 1768- 1770. He was an able organizer and a good leader, and volunteered to lead the first expedition arriving by land into Alta (upper) California in 1769. In search of the Bay of Monterey, the expedition with 63 soldiers and Fattier Crespi arrived into the Bay Area In October 1769.

They were woefully short on food at that time and sent Sergeant Jose Ortega with some scouts North up the peninsula. They did not discover the Golden Gate but were amazed to see a large body of water, a great inland bay, and a vast harbor unknown to the world. They saw this from a rise on the hills (the current Sweeney Ridge) and historians credit Jose Ortega as the first white man to see the San Francisco Bay.

On November 23, 1774, Don Fernando de Rivera y Moncada, military commander of Alta California, and Padre Francisco Palóu came up from Monterey, surveyed the SF Peninsula and planted a cross beside the Golden Gate, the first white men to stand there. They buried a message at its feet explaining their location and indicating this would be a good place for a Presidio. They returned to Monterey and, although their expedition was successful, nearly 2 years elapsed before either the Mission or the Presidio of San Francisco could be established.

Early in August 1775, the packet boat San Carlos under the command of Juan de Ayala, a Spanish naval officer, passed through the Golden Gate and sailed into the Bay of San Francisco, the first European ship to enter the Bay. He set anchor off Angel Island and sailed around the bay in search of the Anza expedition. He was disappointed not to find the expedition anywhere in the area but he sent a letter to the viceroy in Mexico City giving a full account of the geography of the Bay, and praising the good weather and the friendliness of the native people. Finally, in late March of 1776, Juan Bautista de Anza, Jose Joaquin Moraga, Padre Pedro Font and a few soldiers arrived to the Golden Gate, where the locations for the Presidio and, Mission were chosen. They found the cross put there by Rivera in 1774. Recent research indicates that at the time of their arrival there were only 160 native people in the whole San Francisco peninsula area, divided into 3 different tribes.