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From Father Font's Diary, March
27, 1776
"I said Mass... We set out from the little arroyo at seven o'clock
in the morning, and shortly after eleven halted on the banks of
a lake or spring of very fine water near the mouth of the port of
San Francisco... We again ascended the sand hills, descended to
the arroyo, and crossed high hills until we reached the edge of
the white cliff, which forms the end of the mouth of the port, and
where begins the great estuary containing islands. The cliff is
very high and perpendicular, so that from it one can spit into the
sea...
"We saw the spouting of whales, a shoal of dolphins or tunny fish,
sea otter, and sea lions. On this elevation, the commander decided
to erect a cross, ordering it made at once so that he might set
it up the next day...This place and its vicinity has abundant pasturage,
plenty of firewood, and fine water, all good advantages for establishing
here the presidio or fort which is planned. It lacks only timber,
for there is not a tree on all those hills, though the oaks and
other trees along the road are not very far away... Here and near
the lake there are yerba buena and so many lilies that I
had them almost inside my tent..."
[yerba buena translates as "good herb", and is a fragrant wild mint
(Satureja douglasii).]
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Thursday, March
28 - Here Father Font makes a most prophetic statement,
"...This mesa affords a most delightful view, for from it one
sees a large part of the port and its islands, as far as the
other side, the mouth of the harbor, and of the sea all that
the sight can take in as far as beyond the Farallones. Indeed,
although in my travels I saw very good sites and beautiful country,
I saw none which pleased me so much as this. And I think that
if it could be well settled like Europe there would not be anything
more beautiful in all the world, for it has the best advantages
for founding in it a most beautiful city, with all the conveniences
desired, by land as well as by sea with that harbor so remarkable
and so spacious, in which may be established shipyards, docks,
and anything that might be wished."
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From Anza's Diary - March
29, 1776
"...At a quarter past seven I packed up our equipage and sent
it back by the same route over which we had come with orders
to await me at the arroyo of San Matheo. Then, with a party
of five soldiers and my father chaplain, I continued to explore
the district which I had not covered to the southeast, and the
region which overlooks the estuary that runs to the south and
inland from the port. I again went to the lake with the spring
which I mentioned yesterday, and likewise to the spring which
I called Los Dolores..."
(Above) A detail of the map drawn
by Father Font, showing the San Francisco Bay and peninsula.
He numbered the campsites and indicated the route traveled,
as well as the islands, mountains and creeks.
Courtesy of Herbert Bolton, Anza's California Expeditions
(Right) The Golden Gate Bridge and Fort Point during the
1976 Anza reenactment
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Photo: Benjamin and Winston Elstob
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Around the time of Anza's expeditions, Russia
sent several exploratory, as well as otter and
seal hunting, expeditions to the North American
coast that Spain had claimed. It was not until
1799, however, that the Russians made a serious
effort towards a more permanent base in Sitka,
Alaska. The colony at Sitka was not doing well
in 1806, and Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov sought
help from the Presidio of San Francisco. Entering
the port of San Francisco on March 28, 1806, on
the "Bostonian" ship Juno, he quickly learned
that trade was forbidden with anyone outside the
Spanish Empire.
He turned his attention to Doña Concepción
Argüello, nicknamed Concha, daughter of the comandante,
Don José Darío Argüello, and Doña
María Ignacia Moraga de Argüello, a niece
of Don José Joaquín Moraga.
Rezanov wrote to his superiors, "...Associating
daily with and paying my addresses to the beautiful
Spanish señorita, I could not fail
to perceive her active, venturesome disposition
and character, her unlimited and overweening desire
for rank and honors, which, with her age of fifteen,
made her, alone among her family, dissatisfied
with the land of her birth...
"I proffered my hand, she accepted... If the Russian
government had thought earlier of this part of
the world, and estimated adequately its potentialities,
and if it had pursued continuously the far-reaching
plans of Peter the Great, who, with insignificant
resources, dispatched the expedition commanded
by Bering, it is safe to say that Nueva California
would never have been Spanish territory, the Spaniards
having only turned their attention to it since
1760... Should fate decree the completion of my
romance...I shall be in a position to serve my
country once again, as by a personal examination
of the harbor of Vera Cruz, México, and
by a trip through the interior parts of America."
Rezanov's proposal of marriage was a shock to
Concha's parents. Because of the difference in
religions (Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic),
they sought the counsel of the Mission padres,
and they decided to leave the final decision to
the Pope in Rome. Not being able to bring about
the marriage immediately, Rezanov did, however,
win the approval of house of Comandante Argüello,
and the food and supplies he needed were ordered
from the Pueblo of San José (at
the time it was the agricultural center of the
area.)
Returning on the Juno to Sitka, Rezanov
restored the colony to good health, but his plans
were cut short by his death in 1807 when he fell
from his horse in Siberia. Heartbroken, Concha
waited in vain for her suitor to return. She wore
the habit of a nun, and dedicated herself to teaching
both Spanish and Indian children and comforting
the sick. In 1851, when the Dominican Sisters
opened a convent nearby, she was among the first
novices to join, at the age of 60. She is buried
in the convent's cemetery in Benicia, and her
father is buried at the Mission Dolores. Their
story is told world-wide.
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A Lonely
Outpost
From the Archivo General de la Nación,
México comes the following note:
Royal Presidio and Port of San Francisco,
3 May 1777
I note the families that feel useless in these
settlements and wish clearance from my Lt. Col.
and Governor Don Felipe de Neve, to wit: Maria
Carmen del Valle, Widow of the deceased Juan Salvio
Pacheco, Ygnacio Pacheco, Bartolo, María
Gertrudis, and Bárbara [her children];
Maria Ángela Chumacero, Widow of Domingo
Alviso, Joseph Francisco, Xavier, Ygnacio, [María]
Loreta [her children]; Pedro Pérez de la
Fuente, and Nicolás Berryessa [both in
the capacity of settlers]. These families request
your respectful permission to leave these lands
because they are lonely all day and do not have
anything in these settlements to sustain them;
and the last settlers named ask permission to
leave, first, because they feel useless; and second,
because they have no parents, and are very young
and lonely all day.
Josef Joaquín Moraga (rubric)
As it turns out, records show that the families
that asked to leave did instead remain in northern
California.
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Founder of a Presidio, a Pueblo,
and Missions:
José Joaquín Moraga
Captain Anza selected José Joaquin Moraga
as his second in command for the 1775-76 colonizing
expedition. At the time, Moraga was Alférez
or Second Lieutenant at the Royal Presidio of Fronteras.
He was about 34 years old when he was ordered to join
the expedition as it left Sonora, a veteran
with over 18 years of service to the king. Lt. Moraga's
journey to San Francisco was not straightforward.
When the expedition continued onwards from Mission
San Gabriel, After the expedition reached Mission
San Gabriel, Moraga and a small group of soldiers
had to backtrack in search of several deserters. He
captured the deserters near the Colorado River and
returned them to Mission San Gabriel before hurrying
on to rejoin the expedition. Once the colonists were
safely in Monterey, Anza took Father Font and Lt.
Moraga with him to explore the area of San Francisco
and select a site for the presidio and mission. Anza
then returned to New Spain to report on the success
of the expedition, knowing that Moraga was to stay
in Alta California and assume responsibility for bringing
the settlers to San Francisco. After considerable
delays, Moraga and the colonists left Monterey on
June 17, 1776, reaching the future site of Mission
San Francisco de Asís on June 27, where
they began the task of building the mission, the presidio,
and their new homes. In time, he also founded the
Mission of Santa Clara de Asís (January
1777) and the Pueblo of San José (November
1777). Moraga's wife, María del Pilar León,
and their only son, Gabriel, joined him in 1781. Gabriel
enlisted in 1783, marrying Ana María Bernal
in 1784. José Joaquín Moraga was commander
of the Presidio until his death in 1785. He is buried
at Mission Dolores in a marked grave at the foot of
the altar.
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Presidio Pasado (Presidio
Past), an interpretive drawing of the Royal Presidio
of St. Francis circa 1792.
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Recreation Area |
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On the CD: San Francisco
Waves crashing at Fort Point, and Sea Lions
in the bay; Marcha Real; Mission Bells; ¡Ay
Susanita!; Cable Car Bells.
On March
27, 1776, Father Font, Captain Anza, Lt. Moraga
and the exploratory group of soldiers arrived
in San Francisco and made their way to the area
near today's Fort
Point. Father Font noted the abundance of
sea life and made a prediction that the area would
make a beautiful settlement and port. Anza selected
the sites for the future Presidio
and Mission
and then, together with his core honor guard and
Font, made his way back to Sonora. He left the
rest of the task to Moraga and the colonists.
Moraga led a group of colonists and soldiers to
the area of today's Mission
Dolores on June 27 and there on the 29th,
Father Palóu celebrated the first Mass.
On September 17, the Presidio was dedicated,
with the crew of the supply ship San Carlos
on hand for the ceremonies. These included the
singing of the Te Deum, accompanied by
peals of bells and repeated salvos of canons,
muskets. The Mission was formally dedicated in
early October with similar revelry, fulfilling
one of the main purposes of the expedition. The
Spanish had placed a sign of occupation on their
northwest outpost. The Marcha Real was
their Spanish national anthem. After 1849, sounds
of the Gold Rush (e.g. Oh Susana!) were
heard in San Francisco. The sounds of Mission
Bells have given way to those of the Cable
Cars, but those of bygone days still resound.
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Additional Resources
San Francisco Recreation & Parks Dept.
- McLaren Lodge, 501 Stanyan Street, San Francisco,
CA 94117;
tel.: 415-831-2700,
web: sfgov.org
California State Library, Sutro Library - 480 Winston
Drive, San Francisco, CA 94132;
tel.: 415-731-4477,
web: library.ca.gov
Golden Gate National Recreation Area - Fort Mason, Building
201, San Francisco, CA 94123;
tel.: 415-561-4700,
web: nps.gov/goga
Presidio Trust - 34 Graham Street, San Francisco, CA
94129;
tel.: 415-561-5300,
web: presidio.gov
Presidio Visitors Center - 50 Moraga Avenue, San Francisco,
CA 94129;
tel.: 415-561-4323,
web: nps.gov/prsf
Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores)
- 3321 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94114;
tel.: 415-621-8203,
web: missiondolores.org
California Historical Society - 678 Mission Street,
San Francisco, CA 94105;
tel.: 415-357-1848,
web: californiahistoricalsociety.org
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Don Garate
as Anza
at the Presidio
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Photo: Greg Smestad
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Look at the illustrations below made by artist and historian David
Rickman. Which do you think best depicts Anza's travels in the area
of San Francisco? What part of the expedition is the other illustration
showing then? What can you find in these spots today that Anza could
have seen?
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