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The Portolá expedition was a Spanish voyage of exploration in 1769–1770 that was the first recorded European exploration of the interior of the present-day California. It was led by Gaspar de Portolá , governor of Las Californias , the Spanish colonial province that included California, Baja California , and other parts of present-day ...
The Portolá expedition was the brainchild of José de Gálvez, visitador (inspector general, a personal representative of the king) in New Spain. On his recommendation, King Charles III of Spain authorized Gálvez to explore Alta California and establish the first permanent Spanish presence there. [1]
Portola Drive, which runs parallel to and near the Monterey Bay shoreline, is the main street of the Pleasure Point area of Santa Cruz County. Portola Avenue is also a north-south street located in Palm Desert in the Coachella Valley. In World War II, the United States liberty ship SS Gaspar de Portola was named in his honor.
His reports of the expedition were later published widely, including translations into English and German. On January 24, 1770, the 74 hungry and exhausted men of the Portolá expedition — including Costansó — returned to San Diego, to a warm welcome from their fellow soldiers and friars.
The 1772 Fages expedition saw the Golden Gate, but from the opposite side of the bay, in the vicinity of modern Oakland. Also on the 1774 trip, Palóu named a long valley formed (unknown to the explorers) by coastal California's largest earthquake fault , just south of modern San Francisco.
After establishing a base at San Diego on July 14, 1769, the expedition headed northbound. The expedition made camp in San Pedro Valley and on November 1, 1769, Portola made Ortega the chief scout and sent him along with other men north to locate San Francisco Bay within three days. The following day on November 2, some of the troops were out ...
All told, the expedition traveled in the future state of California through the present-day coastal counties of San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, and San Francisco. In 1772, Crespí accompanied Captain Pedro Fages on an exploration of areas to the east of San Francisco Bay.
Pedro Fages (1734–1794) was a Spanish soldier, explorer, and first lieutenant governor of the province of the Californias under Gaspar de Portolá.Fages claimed the governorship after Portolá's departure, acting as governor in opposition to the official governor Felipe de Barri, and later served officially as fifth (1782–91) governor of the Californias.