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You are here: Home / Timeline: European Exploration and Settlement of California (Infographic)

Timeline: European Exploration and Settlement of California (Infographic)


1533: Spanish ships reach the tip of Baja California.

1535: Hernán Cortez reaches Baja California.

1539: Francisco de Ulloa confirms that Baja California is a peninsula.

1542: Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo arrives in San Diego Bay. He later sails as far as the Oregon coast.

1579: Francis Drake lands near San Francisco.

1602: Sebastián Vizcaíno sails into Monterey Bay.

1741: Vitus Bering arrives in Alaska.

1768: James Cook rounds Cape Horn.

1769: Gaspar de Portolá and company arrive in San Diego, establish first Alta California presidio and mission. Portolá later reaches Monterey by land. Cook arrives in Tahiti.

1770: First presidio and mission established at Monterey.

1774: Juan Bautista de Anza leads first expedition overland to Monterey from Tubac.

1776: Second Anza expedition brings settlers to northern Alta California.

1777: Pueblo of San José founded – first Spanish town in Alta California.

1781: Founding of the Pueblo of Los Ángeles (Nuestra Señora, Reina de los Ángeles de la Porciúncula)

 

I’m Dr. Damian Bacich, and I started the California Frontier Project. Learn more about me and the project here.

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