2.1: The Spanish Conquest and Empire

The Spaniards were the first Europeans to colonize the New World, preceding the English by more than 100 years. From their first settlements in the Caribbean Islands, Hispaniola, and Cuba, they soon began the exploration and settlement of the American continents. In 1519 Hernan Cortés led an expedition of soldiers from Cuba to confirm rumors of a powerful and wealthy kingdom on the western mainland of present-day Mexico. Cortés led his men in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire. The epic adventure took two years and was made possible by the assistance of hundreds of thousands of Indians who resented Aztec tyranny, and by the use of new weapons, animals (such as the horse and dog), and most importantly, by the new diseases brought by the Europeans, such as influenza, smallpox, and a more virulent form of syphilis. By 1521, the Spanish had established a foothold in central Mexico. Almost immediately, Cortés began sending out expeditions to find other wealthy kingdoms.

The Spanish consolidation of political, religious, and military power over the former Aztecs, their vassals, and outlying tribes was rapid and quite
remarkable. Within 50 years of the conquest—aided by a rapid depopulation of the Indians due to disease and mistreatment—the Spanish constructed an efficient government to exploit the labor and wealth of this land, which they called New Spain. The cultural transformation of this new colony would take hundreds of years, as the Indian population continued to outnumber the Españoles. Gradually a mestizo, or mixed, culture emerged with various degrees of mixture between ancient Indian and Spanish Catholic life. The complexity of New Spain’s evolution in terms of racial and ethnic identity is a point that scholars are now exploring in great depth.

Political control of this caldron of subjugated people led to the creation of a complex bureaucracy controlled by the Spanish peninsulares and assisted by American-born mestizos and criollos. At the top was the Spanish king’s representative, the viceroy, who was to implement the royal edicts and endless administrative decrees flowing from the Council of the Indies in Spain. Under the viceroy, the military and the church had their complex administrative organizations for the control and conversion of the Indians. The Spaniards occupied all of the positions of power. Soon, converted Indians and the children of the conquest—the mestizos, who were of mixed Indian and Spanish descent—began to serve as lower-level administrators in the army, courts, and town councils. Given the tremendous distances involved, the size and diversity of the indigenous populations, and the relatively small Iberian-born population, the Spanish Empire in the New World was a remarkable achievement—one that lasted more than 300 years.

Spain’s Exploration of the Californias

California was one of the last frontiers to be colonized by the Spanish government, as a result of a change in the dynastic rulers in Spain as well as the perception of threats from other European powers. Hernan Cortés, the conqueror of the Aztecs, was an important leader in the early exploration of Baja California. His initiatives began the process of conquest that would lead to settlement. For almost 10 years, while expanding the empire, Cortés labored to build oceangoing vessels on the west coast of Mexico in order to look for Otro Méjico—another golden kingdom—and perhaps to discover a northwest passage, a sea route around North America. In 1532, he sent two ships north but they never returned. In 1533, two more ships left and landed on the Baja California peninsula at La Paz, where they encountered rumors of fabulous pearl fisheries further north. Cortés himself set out in 1534 and named the Baja California peninsula—which he thought to be an island—“Santa Cruz.” He and his men found some pearls but mostly desert lands and inhospitable Indians. In 1539, he sent Francisco de Ulloa with three vessels to search for new kingdoms further north. Ulloa sailed up the Gulf of California, later renamed the Sea of Cortés, to the mouth of the Colorado River.

The name “California” probably derives from a European adventure novel published in 1500 by the Spaniard Garcí Ordóñez de Montalvo. His book, Las Sergas de Esplandián (The Exploits of Esplandián), tells the story of a mythical island inhabited by Amazons and ruled by Queen Calafia. Literary scholars regard this book as a justification of the triumph of Spanish imperialism. In the book, the Amazons and their queen are dark-skinned women who fight with weapons of gold, the only metal available in their land. To aid in their battles, they trap and domesticate griffins (mythical dragon-like birds) and feed them male captives, as well as their own male children. Queen Calafia, with her Amazons and griffins, appears at the siege of Constantinople and fights on the side of the Muslims. Later on, however, she converts to Christianity, marries a man, and returns with him to her native island of California. The island of Queen Calafia is described in the novel as being “at the right hand of the Indes” and the early explorers, including Cortés, expected to find it within 10 days of sailing off the Mexican coast. Thus the name came to be applied to the Baja California peninsula.

While the Spanish explored Baja California before 1540, more than 200 years passed before Alta California became a Spanish colony. It finally became known to the Western world as a result of the international rivalries of the European powers. Initially, the Spanish king hoped that the exploration of the western coast of the continent north of New Spain would lead to the discovery of a northwest passage. This would enable Spain to outmaneuver its rivals in trade with the Orient. In the late 16th century, the Spanish needed a suitable port on the Pacific coast to provision the valuable Manila galleons as they made their way south to Acapulco laden with riches from the Philippines. In the 17th century, the Spanish monarchy anxiously tried to prevent other European powers from settling in the vast territories that Spain had claimed. In the east, French explorers and trappers threatened to encroach on presentday Louisiana and Texas. In the northwest, the Russians and British showed interest in expansion. As a result, the Spanish crown slowly moved to finance the exploration and settlement of its remotest frontier possessions, Texas and Alta California. Other considerations motivated new settlement on the frontier,

Map \(2.1\) Missions, Presidios, and Pueblos in Alta California During the Spanish Era, 1769-1821

including a desire by the Spanish Catholic church to expand their missionizing endeavors as far north as possible. By the late 18th century, Baja California had already been colonized with missions and military outposts (called presidios) and Alta California seemed to be the next logical step in the conquest of souls.

Early Maritime Exploration and Encounters

In 1542, an expedition led by the Portuguese navigator Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo set sail from Navidad on the northwest coast of Mexico to explore the northern territories. On September 28, he discovered a “very good harbor,” which he named San Miguel because it was the feast day of that saint. Anchoring near the mouth of the harbor, which was later renamed San Diego by Sebastián Vizcaíno, Cabrillo’s men explored the bay with a small boat. A shore party rowed toward a group of curious Kumeyaay Indians but as the Spanish neared land, most of them ran off. Only three natives remained to inspect the strange newcomers. Cabrillo’s men gave these three some gifts, and through hand motions the Indians communicated that they knew of other strange men like them who had been seen inland. This news may have been related to Francisco Vásquez de Coronado’s expedition into New Mexico in 1540.

Cabrillo continued north and a group of sailors who went ashore at Catalina Island were met by local Gabrielino (Tongva) men. The women fled to the interior. Later, the natives paddled their canoes out to the Spanish ship and received beads and other manufactured items. Leaving Catalina and sailing north along the coast, Cabrillo named prominent geographical features as he went. North of Point Conception, the expedition landed at San Miguel Island (which they named Isla de la Posesión). Cabrillo had an accident and broke his arm, but despite this injury he ordered the crew to continue north. Sailing against the current and the prevailing winds, they reached a point near San Francisco without ever discovering the entrance to the great bay, and finally had to turn back due to bad weather and Cabrillo’s failing health. Cabrillo died as they reached San Miguel Island. After burying Cabrillo on the island, the sailors proceeded as far north as the present southern border of Oregon and then, because of severe storms, returned to their home port of Navidad (located near present-day Puerto Vallarta on the west coast of Mexico).

The next European visitor to California was Francis Drake, an English pirate who was later given a royal commission and knighthood for his war against the Spanish. In 1578, Drake’s ship, The Golden Hind, raided Spanish settlements in Chile and Peru and sailed up the Pacific Coast so heavily laden with treasure that the ship’s seams began to leak. On June 17, 1579, they put into a harbor probably somewhere near the present-day San Francisco and stayed five weeks while they repaired the ship. Drake named the area Nova Albion, or New England, because the white cliffs reminded him of the white cliffs of Dover in his homeland. While on land, the sailors traded with the native people and Drake wrote brief descriptions of the Indians, probably the Coastal Miwoks.

Following Drake, captains of Manila galleons entered the bays along California’s coast seeking fresh water, food, and wood for repairs. The Spanish had begun their conquest of the Philippines in 1564 and immediately began sending treasure ships laden with silks and spices back to Spain via Mexico. As the galleons set sail from Manila to New Spain, they followed currents and prevailing winds, traveling north to Japan and then west. The galleons struck the American coast near Mendocino and then sailed south. The first galleon to sight the California coast took 129 days to make the passage, and in the process many of the crew died from scurvy. For the next several hundred years, as regulated by the Spanish crown, a Manila galleon annually passed down the California coast. In 1595, Sebastián Rodríguez Cermeño sailed a galleon along the California coast to map it and to search for possible ports. Landing in Drake’s bay, which he named “La Baya de San Francisco,” Cermeño stayed a month and traveled inland to trade with the local Miwok Indians for food and supplies. Unfortunately, his treasure ship was wrecked in a storm and his men had to build a small launch to return down the coast to Mexico. Because of this disaster, the Spanish government forbade galleons from use in further coastal explorations.

An intensification of rivalry over the Asian trade and the need to find ports for the galleons along the Pacific Coast led the king to commission an exploration by Sebastián Vizcaíno, a Basque merchant in Acapulco who had sailed on several galleons but was not a professional sailor. Vizcaíno sailed with three ships from Mexico in 1602 and, because he was sailing against the current and winds, took four months to reach California. He entered the bay named San Miguel by Cabrillo on November 10 and, since the name of his flagship was the San Diego de Alcalá and the feast day of this saint was on November 12, he renamed the harbor San Diego. The expedition stayed 10 days, during which they refitted their ships, buried crew members who had died from scurvy, set up a tent church, and sent an expedition inland to scout the territory.

Vizcaíno’s ships continued north to Catalina Island, and then to a bay he named Monterey, after the Conde de Monterey, Viceroy of Mexico. While anchored in the bay, he noted the ideal conditions for a galleon port. It had tall trees for repairs (unlike San Diego) and plenty of game and fish. His exaggerated praise of Monterey as a fine harbor later convinced the Spanish authorities that it should be the main port of a proposed colony. Vizcaíno continued north as far as Cape Mendocino, when storms and the illness of his crew convinced him to turn back. Although Vizcaíno described the potential ports he had explored in California, changes in galleon design, allowing more space for supplies, meant that the treasure ships bypassed California for the next 165 years.

The First California Colony

In 1769, alarmed by British and Russian interest in their northern frontier possessions, the Spanish government decided to establish permanent settlements there, in order to secure their claims and block any claims by other powers. The energetic new administrator, the Visitor-General José de Gálvez, was determined to reorganize the northwestern frontier and expand it by settling Alta California. He commissioned two land and two sea expeditions to converge on the harbor of San Diego; all were to be under the command of Captain Gaspar de Portolá, while Father Junípero Serra was to be in charge of the founding of missions. The first contingent arrived on April 11, 1769, when the ship San Antonio, commanded by Juan Perez, anchored in San Diego bay. That same day, as remembered in Kumeyaay lore but not noted by the Spanish, an earthquake shook the mountains and the sun was partially eclipsed—portentous signs, perhaps, that the world as they knew it was about to pass away.

A few weeks later a second ship arrived, the San Carlos, commanded by Vicente Vila. This early collection of soldiers, sailors, Indians from Baja California, priests, and a doctor brought the colonists to a few more than 100. When they arrived, most of the sailors were sick with typhus, a debilitating disease transmitted by lice and fleas. Within the next few weeks more than half of the men died on shore in a tent camp. On May 14, the first overland expedition of soldiers arrived at San Diego, commanded by Captain Fernando de Rivera y Moncada. Father Juan Crespí and a contingent of Christianized Indians from the southern missions accompanied the soldiers, marching overland up the Baja California peninsula from Loreto. Soon after their arrival, the commanders decided to abandon the beach and find a more permanent settlement. Pedro Fages picked the new location, a hill overlooking the bay and the nearby river. This became the site of the first settlement in California, eventually a fortified presidio with a temporary mission located within the walls.

Finally, on July 1, 1769, the expedition led by Captain Gaspar de Portolá with Father Junípero Serra arrived. Besides a contingent of soldiers, they also brought 44 Christianized natives from Baja California. As Father Serra celebrated his first mass under an outdoor ramada on July 16, 1769, only 126 of the 219 explorers and settlers who had arrived during the past months remained alive. Those who were left had something to celebrate: A few days before Father Serra’s mass, Portolá took a group of soldiers north to establish a settlement in Monterey and the San Antonio returned to Mexico for supplies, leaving a group of about 40 people in San Diego.

The first report of a Spanish settler’s encounter with the native people was written by Miguel Costansó, an engineer and mapmaker. He described his impressions of the Indians when a Spanish expedition set out to find water:

These Indians (the Kumeyaay) stopped every little while upon some height, watching our men, and showing the fear which the strangers caused them by the very thing they did to hide it. They thrust one point of their bows down in the soil, and grasping it by the other end they danced and whirled about with indescribable velocity. But, as soon as they saw our men draw near, they again withdrew themselves with the same swiftness.

Finally, the Spaniards communicated their peaceful intent by burying their own weapons in the dirt and giving gifts of ribbons, glass, and beads. The Kumeyaay then indicated where to find good water, and the Spaniards began walking up the San Diego river valley. They soon reached another Indian village, where they met with a warm reception. Later, Costansó wrote that the Kumeyaay “are of haughty temper, daring, covetous, great jesters, and braggarts, although of little valor; they make great boast of their powers and hold the most respect for the most valiant.” This evaluation of the character of the local natives presaged the tortured path that Spanish–Indian relations would follow throughout California.