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Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo led the first European expedition to explore what is now the west coast of the United States. Cabrillo departed from the port of Navidad, Mexico, on June 27, 1542. Three months later he arrived at "a very good enclosed port." That port is known today as San Diego bay. Historians believe he anchored his flagship, the San Salvador, on Point Loma's east shore near Cabrillo National Monument. Cabrillo later died during the expedition, but his crew pushed on, possibly as far north as Oregon, before thrashing winter storms forced them to back to Mexico. More information about Cabrillo and the expedition is presented below.
Cabrillo National Monument, established in 1913, commemorates Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo's voyage of discovery. A heroic statue of Cabrillo looks out over the bay that he first sailed into on September 28, 1542. A film, "In Search of Cabrillo," and an exhibit hall present Cabrillo's life and times each day at the Visitor Center. Ranger-led programs about Cabrillo are usually available on weekends and on many weekdays during summer months.
Cabrillo was a Conquistador in his youth. Conquistador is the name applied to the mostly Spanish soldiers who explored, conquered, and settled in the New World. We know little of Cabrillo's early years until 1519 when his name appears in the ranks of those who served in the army of famous conquistador Hernan Cortes. In the terrible battles between the Aztecs and the Spanish, Cabrillo fought as a captain of crossbowmen.
Metal weapons, good tactics, and great bravery made the conquistadors formidable opponents. The Aztecs, however, were also very brave and they greatly outnumbered the Spanish. Ultimately what tipped the scales in the favor of the Spanish was small pox. Small pox, a disease previously unknown in the New World, swept through the Aztec defenders and killed perhaps a quarter of their population. Everywhere the Spanish went, advanced disease went before them, making it possible for a relatively few Europeans to conquer the New World.
After the defeat of the Aztecs, Cabrillo joined other Spanish military expeditions in what is today southern Mexico, Guatemala, and San Salvador. Eventually Cabrillo settled in Guatemala. There he received encomienda's --long term leases for land uses such as gold mining and farming, along with the right to use forced Indian labor for these projects. The king of Spain granted encomiendas as a reward for services to the crown.
By the mid-1530's, Cabrillo established himself as a leading citizen of Guatemala's primary town, Santiago. Later, in 1540, an earthquake destroyed Santiago. Cabrillo's report to the crown on the earthquake's destruction is the first known piece of secular journalism written in the New World. Meanwhile, in 1532, Cabrillo traveled to Spain where he met Beatriz Sanchez de Ortega. The two married that year and Cabrillo returned with her to Guatemala where she bore two sons.
As the Cabrillo family grew, so did his wealth and reputation as a ship builder. Using a port on Guatemala's Pacific Coast, Cabrillo imported and exported goods in the developing trade between Guatemala, Spain and other parts of the New World. The ships he used for this trade were constructed in Guatemala using skilled labor and ideas Cabrillo brought back from Spain and the physical labor of Native Americans. Some of these ships would play a vital role in Spain's early efforts to explore the Pacific.
The Governor of Guatemala, Pedro de Alvarado, selected Cabrillo to build and provision ships to explore the Pacific because of his skills as a leader and businessman. Alvarado planned to use the ships to establish a trading route between Central America and the Spice Islands off of Asia. When Alvarado died during an Indian uprising, his business partner, the Viceroy of New Spain, Antonio de Mendoza, prompted Cabrillo to lead one of two expeditions to explore the Pacific. Cabrillo accepted and soon set out to explore the coast north and west of New Spain (Mexico). Meanwhile, the other expedition, led by Ruy Lopez de Villalobos, sailed directly across the Pacific to the Philippines. While this expedition did reach the Philippines, Villalobos was killed in a mutiny and the hungry, disheartened crew eventually surrendered to a Portuguese garrison in the Spice Islands.
The Cabrillo expedition sailed out of the port of Navidad, near modern day Manzanillo, on June 24, 1542. Accompanying Cabrillo were a crew of sailors, soldiers, Indian and probably black slaves, merchants, a priest, livestock and provisions for two years. Three ships, the flagship built by Cabrillo himself, were under his command. A model of Cabrillo's flagship, the San Salvador, is on display inside the Exhibit Room of Cabrillo National Monument.
This partial map, from a 1565 Paolo Forlani tinted copperplate world map made in Venice, suggests the route for which Cabrillo searched. Among other details, it depicts North America and Asia as one land mass, a large river with head waters in Siberia emptying into the Gulf of California, and the island of Cipango (Japan) only a few hundred miles west of the coast of California. The expedition, of course, did not discover such a coastline, but some who returned felt they had come near to their goal. This caused many 16th century map makers to draw maps like this, filling in the blanks with their best guesses.
Cabrillo also sought seven fabulously wealthy cities known as Cibola that some believed were near the Pacific coast beyond New Spain and the possibility of a route connection the North Pacific to the North Atlantic -- the Straits of Anian.
One hundred and three days into the journey, Cabrillo's ships entered San Diego bay. He probably landed at Ballast Point (visible from the Cabrillo NM visitor center) where he claimed the land for Spain. Cabrillo described the bay as "a closed and very good harbor," which he called San Miguel. The name San Miguel was changed to San Diego 60 years later by another explorer, Sebastian Vizcaino.
The expedition continued north to Monterey Bay and may have reached as far north as Point Reyes before storms forced the ships to turn back. Interestingly, the expedition failed to sight San Francisco Bay, which remained undiscovered until 1769. Discouraged by foul weather, Cabrillo decided to winter in the Channel Islands. There, after a fall incurred during a brief skirmish with natives, Cabrillo shattered a limb and died of complications on January 3, 1543. Following Cabrillo's death, the disheartened crew again sailed north -- this time under the leadership Bartolome Ferrer. The expedition may have reached a latitude as far north as the Rogue River in Oregon but thrashing winter winds and spoiled supplies forced them to return to Mexico.
So What?
While Cabrillo's contemporaries considered the expedition a failure, it left behind our first written glimpse of the west coast of North America. The expedition also helped to dispel myths and misconceptions and allowed Cabrillo's contemporaries to proceed with the difficult task of colonizing the expanded Spanish Empire. President Woodrow Wilson memorialized Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo by creating Cabrillo National Monument in 1913.
Want to Learn More? -- References.
- "Cabrillo", by Harry Kelsey -- Thoroughly researched, intended for an academic oriented readership, 260pp.
- "Cabrillo", by Nancy Lemke -- Very readable, accurate information, but less thorough than Kelsey, 110pp.
- "Desoto, Coronado, Cabrillo" -- Well illustrated, readable, account of early Spanish exploration of North American, 112pp.
These titles are available from the Cabrillo National Monument Foundation.
Other National Park Service Areas with web sites
relating to early Spanish Explorers:
Page updated 03/19/2000
