Sixty years after Juan Cabrillo became the first European to discover California, in 1601 soldier and merchant Sebastián Vizcaíno was given the task by the Conde de Monterrey, the Spanish Viceroy in Mexico City, to survey Alta California and find safe harbors for Spain's profitable Manila galleons that were now swinging across the Westward Trade Winds from the Philippines to Mexico by a route discovered by Andrés de Urdaneta.
On May 5, 1602, Vizcaíno departed Acapulco with three ships, his flagship the San Diego and the San Tomás and the Tres Reyes. On November 10, Vizcaíno sailed into Cabrillo's old San Miguel Bay and renamed it San Diego, after his flagship. Moving up the California Coast, he rediscovered (and renamed) some of Cabrillo's discoveries and then some, including the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, Point Conception, the Santa Lucia Mountains, Point Lobos, Carmel River and Monterey Bay, which he came upon and landed on this spot on December 16, 1602. He named the bay, which he described in glowing terms as being sheltered on all sides, after his patron: El Puerto de Monterey. As with most expeditions of this period, supplies and crew health were poor. The San Tomás was sent back to Acapulco with sick crew while the remaining ships continued North. At Cape Mendocino, the remaining two ships were scattered by a storm; the Tres Reyes ended as far North as Cape Blanco, the first European discovery of Oregon. After the storm, Vizcaíno turned his ships back. Most of his crew had succumbed to starvation and scurvy by the time they returned to Acapulco. Like Cabrillo before him, Vizcaíno had helped Europeans discover a large part of California, and many of his names remained. More importantly, his mostly accurate surveys provided groundwork for future Spanish settlement of California.
While Spanish Mexico quickly became interested in settling Alta California, local politics prevented further exploration of the region until 1768, when, facing Russian encroachment from Alaska, Visitador of New Spain José de Gálvez decided to settle Alta California, sending Gaspar de Portolá and Junípero Serra to settle San Diego and Monterey. After a difficult founding of Mission San Diego de Acala, Serra boarded the San Antonio to reach Monterey by sea. On May 31, 1770, after a difficult month, the San Antonio reached the spot described by Vizcaíno 168 years earlier. On Pentecost Sunday, June 3, 1770, Junípero Serra held a large ceremony here under a large oak tree: "The men of the land and sea expeditions coming from different directions met here at the same time, we singing the divine praises in our launch, while the gentlemen on land sang in their hearts."
A large cross was erected "the standards of our Catholic monarch were also set up, the one ceremony…accompanied by shouts of 'Long live the Faith!' and the other by 'Long live the King!' Added to this was the clangor of the bells, the volleys of the muskets, and the cannonading from the ship."
The Celtic cross seen here was erected by James A. Murray in 1905 to commemorate Vizcaíno and Serra's landing spot. In the middle is an image of Serra, and at the bottom an image of Mission Carmel. This cross is located at the front of Monterey's Presidio.
Interestingly, someone has been vandalizing old monuments related to Serra recently, including cutting down another cross and decapitating some statues.
Monterey State Historic Park, Monterey, California
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