250 and Counting

Category: Spanish Exploration

  • August 5, 1775: Open Up That Golden Gate

    Cover art for August 5, 1775: photo of a drawing by Walter Francis depicting the ship San Carlos entering the bay of San Francisco on August 5, 1775. via Wikimedia. Out of frame this Photoprint reads: "Drawn for 'The Beginnings of San Francisco'".

    Meanwhile, three thousand miles away from the action…

    …the Spanish were exploring the West Coast and claiming a lot of territory in their name. It was largely exploration and planting flags, although there were some colonies established as well.

    But what’s interesting about the bit of exploration we’ll be looking at today is that, even though the Spanish had been up and down the coast for a couple of hundred years, it wasn’t until 1769 that they realized that the strait leading into San Francisco Bay was even there. Possibly because it was frequently fogged in, possibly because the area was considered hazardous to navigate.

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

  • June 9, 1775: Exploring the West Coast

    Cover art for June 9, 1775: Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, artist unknown, circa 1785.

    We’ve spent all our time on the East Coast; let’s take a side quest to the West Coast to see what the Spanish are up to.

    We have two main players here: Bruno de Heceta, after whom at least two locations on the West Coast are named (and they’re pronounced differently, go figure), and Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra.

    They sailed together, each in charge of a ship, and made it almost to Canada before Heceta headed back to Mexico and Bodega y Quadra continued on up to Alaska. Their goal was to find Russians, and in that respect they failed, but they did manage to claim a lot of territory for Spain.

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed