Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail

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Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail Arizona and California

Map of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail Courtesy of the National Park Service Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail traces the route followed in 1775-1776 by Spanish commander Juan Bautista de Anza II, who led almost 300 colonists on an expedition from Mexico to found a presidio and mission near San Francisco Bay. The trail, which is over 1200 miles long and today can be traveled via an auto tour, commemorates, preserves, and invites visitors to explore elements of the Spanish colonization plan for its northern most territory. Visitors can experience key remains of Spanish colonization: the presidio or fort (military), the mission (religious), and the pueblo or town (civilian). Many of the sites along the trail are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.   In 1774, Juan Bautista de Anza, a captain on the Spanish frontier stationed at the Tubac Presidio, requested permission from the viceroy of New Spain, Antonio Maria Bucareli, to prove that a land route from Mexico to Alta (Upper) California was possible. Spain was in need of an overland route to Alta California, because existing sea routes were too dangerous, and the Spanish needed to secure their outposts in this area from Russian and English exploration and colonization. Bucareli granted Anza permission, and with the help of American Indian guides, Anza identified an overland route in 1774. With the success of this first expedition, Anza gained permission to recruit potential settlers for a second colonizing expedition. By October of 1775, Anza had convinced nearly 300 people to take their chances on a new life. He persuaded people to join him on a colonizing expedition to Alta California by telling them stories of lush resources, plentiful land, and new opportunities. A culturally diverse mix of peoples of American Indian, European, and Afro-Latino ancestry put their trust in Anza and became a part of the expedition. The settlers, their military escorts, and the 1,000 head of livestock included in the expedition traveled to presidios, missions, and through the countryside for about five and a half months until they reached their final destination. By June 27, 1776, Lt. Moraga, one of the main lieutenants on the expedition, led the settlers into the area that is now San Francisco. Anza had decided on this site as the final destination on March 28, 1776, after exploring while the rest of the group recuperated from the journey in Monterey. Anza made sure that the settlers reached their final destination and that Spain successfully established its outpost in Alta California. Anza’s expedition changed the course of California history, and descendants of the expedition live on today. Artist's rendition of Juan Bautista de Anza Courtesy of the National Park Service, Artist David Rickman   Travelers can explore the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail and experience this historic expedition. Commemorating the trailhead of the United States portion of the Anza Trail from Mexico is the Anza Trailhead Room with its exhibit on the expedition, located on the second floor of the 1904 Nogales Courthouse in Nogales, Arizona, where the National Historic Trail begins. Today, Nogales high school students study the trail's and their community's history through the Anza Trail Ambassadors program, coordinated by the Santa Fe Ranch Foundation in partnership with the national Park Service. Moving north along the trail from Nogales, historic stops include Tumacácori National Historical Park, the Tubac Presidio State Historic Park, and Mission San Xavier del Bac. On October 17, 1775, as the expedition made its way from Nogales toward the Tubac Presidio, where they planned to make final preparations for their journey, Father Pedro Font held mass for the expedition at the Tumacácori mission. The mission, now preserved in Tumacácori National Historical Park, also contributed a small herd of cattle to the expedition. Over the next few days, the expedition members prepared for their journey at the Tubac Presidio. Here, the group gathered over 1,000 head of cattle, horses and mules to transport food supplies and tools, to provide food on the journey, and to help establish new herds once the expedition members settled at their new home in Alta California. By October 23, 1775, the Anza Expedition began the journey from Tubac Presidio. Visitors can explore the remains of the presidio and sometimes catch a re-enactment of the expedition’s passage through Tubac at Tubac Presidio State Historic Park. About 45 miles north of Tubac is the Mission San Xavier del Bac. On the night the group departed the Tubac Presidio, the expedition experienced the only death en route when Maria Ignacia Manuela Pinuelas Feliz died from complications from childbirth. The expedition stopped at Mission San Xavier del Bac to bury her, mourn her death, and to celebrate three marriages of the expedition’s members. Visitors can see the over 200 year old mission church that was started here in 1783. Saguaro National Park Courtesy of the National Park Service Continuing north and northwest, the expedition passed through the areas that are now Saguaro National Park and Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. At Saguaro National Park, visitors can experience the desert much as it was at the time of the expedition. The wild vegetation, including cacti, ocotillo, creosote, ponderosa pine, oak, and Douglas fir, provided the raw materials used by the local American Indians and the Anza expedition. Traveling north from the vicinity of Saguaro National Park, the Anza expedition camped about five miles from the Casa Grande ruins. On October 31, 1775, Father Font and Anza took a side trip to visit this 14th century Puebloan ruin and to check the accuracy of previously recorded descriptions and measurements of the site. Continuing on their journey, the Anza expedition safely crossed the Colorado River with the help of Palma, their American Indian guide, and his Yuma tribe. Yuma Crossing State Historic Park preserves the site of this crossing. After safely fording the river, the expedition continued north into what is now California. Once in California, the expedition moved northwest through what is today the 600,000 acre Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. After crossing the desert, the expedition traveled up Coyote Canyon and made camp along Coyote Creek from December 20 to 22, 1775. With water provided by the creek and a little pasturage close by, the expedition’s animals recovered and the settlers could recuperate. The campsites within the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park are marked with the California Historic Landmark plaques. Anza Borrego Desert State Park Courtesy of Rich Luhr, Flickr's Creative Commons Rested and ready to go, the expedition moved on from the desert northwest toward the Pacific coastline. En route to the Monterey area, the expedition passed by Franciscan missions and by the presidio in what is today known as El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park. Some soldiers of the original garrison were members of the expedition. On January 4, 1776, the expedition reached the Spanish empire in Alta California at the Mission San Gabriel Arcangel. This mission is still a working parish with a museum and gardens. By March 2, 1776, the expedition reached Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, where the travelers rested for a day before continuing north to Mission San Antonia de Padua. Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa is now restored and has a museum. Mission San Antonia de Padua is a working parish and informational exhibits can be found on the grounds of Fort Hunger Liggett nearby. Mission San Francisco De Asis (Mission Dolores) in San Francisco Courtesy of the National Park Service Six months after leaving the Tubac Presidio, the expedition reached the Monterey Presidio on March 10, 1776, where the group rested. The Royal Presidio Chapel, where Anza delivered the expedition travelers, is a National Historic Landmark that has been in continuous service since 1794. The mission is open for tours. As the travelers rested and became familiar with the Monterey area, Anza set off to determine the location of the new San Francisco presidio and mission. By March 28, 1776, he decided on the area that would best suit the new presidio and mission; and by June the settlers moved from Monterey to San Francisco. These settlers built the beginnings of the Presidio of San Francisco and the Mission de San Francisco de Asis. The site of the Presidio of San Francisco site is now part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Visitors can explore Fort Point; the site of the original presidio around Pershing Square; a remnant of the presidio comandante’s house; many trails; and a visitor’s center. Nearby, the Mission de San Francisco de Asis, or Mission Dolores, is the oldest intact building in San Francisco and stands as a lasting testament to the legacy of Anza’s expedition. Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail covers over 1200 miles of rich and diverse history. The historic sites, stops, and views are plentiful - travel it today to discover and explore an important chapter in American history.

https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/american_latino_heritage/juan_bautista_de_anza_national_historic_trail.html  ^^^

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://anzahistorictrail.org/

  

 

 

The 1775-1776 Expedition

In 1773, Juan Bautista de Anza, captain of the Tubac Presidio in Sonora (now southern Arizona) was commissioned by the Viceroy of New Spain, to find an overland route from Sonora to California. This land route would be a more reliable means for supplying the Spanish outposts in California than the current method of resupply by ship. An overland trail would also help the Viceroy fulfill the king’s order to begin colonizing Alta California in answer to recent explorations along the west coast of North America by Russia and England.

In January 1774, Anza’s group, which included a small group of soldiers, servants and a priest departed Tubac for California. For many weeks the party journeyed across unexplored deserts and mountain ranges. Along the way, the expedition encountered a number of Native American groups, forming an important alliance with the Yuma tribe along the Colorado River.

The Anza party reached San Gabriel Mission, near today’s Los Angeles, on March 22, 1774. Anza had completed his instructions to find a land route to California!

When Anza returned home to Sonora, he learned that the Viceroy was very pleased with his accomplishment. In fact, the Viceroy asked him to organize and lead a new California expedition as soon as it was practical. This second expedition would include a much larger and diverse group of people, including women and children, and settlers as well as soldiers.

In March 1775, Anza assumed the responsibility of recruiting families and organizing supplies for this first colonizing expedition to Alta California. He spent many months preparing the newly recruited families for the difficult journey. Then, on October 23, 1775, the group left Tubac. For nearly five months they traveled by horseback, mule, and on foot; arriving at the Presidio of Monterey on March 10, 1776.

The trip had often been difficult and the colonists had endured lack of water and food, life threatening weather conditions, debilitated and dying animals, and roads that often seemed impassable due to rain, mud, sand or snow. At least twice the expedition was hampered by desertion of servants or military personnel. Nonetheless, only one woman died (due to childbirth complications) and four babies had been born. Without the help of Native American tribes they met along the way, the expedition may not have been so successful.

In June 1776, the colonists, led by Anza’s second in command, Lieutenant José Joaquin Moraga, were given permission to continue their journey to San Francisco Bay and build there the presidio and mission for which the colonists had left their homeland.

Edited May 4, 2023 by Goofy Footer

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https://www.nps.gov/juba/planyourvisit/maps.htm

 

Map: The Anza Expedition 1775-1776

In 1776, while American patriots fought for their independence from England, Spanish Lt. Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza led more than 240 men, women, and children some 1,800 miles to establish a settlement at San Francisco Bay. These families were the first colonists to come overland across the frontier of New Spain into present-day California.

 

The Anza Trail in Southern Arizona
The Santa Cruz Valley in Southern Arizona is the cradle of this rich chapter in American history and one of the premier places the experience the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail in the United States. It is the homeland of the Tohono O'odham people. Water once flowed in the river year-round at specific locations like the Tohono O'odham village of Tumacácori where a permanent source of water was present even in the driest years. The Spanish colonized the Sonoran Desert in the late 1600s and the area, know as the Pimería Alta, was the northern frontier of the Spanish empire into the late 1700s. The Story Map below introduces you to the history, environment, and recreational opportunities found in this beautiful landscape.

 

The Anza Trail in Imperial County

The Yuha Desert in Imperial County provides trail visitors some of the best opportunity to experience the Anza Trail Historic Corridor as the expedition would have experienced it. While this area was the most treacherous part of the journey because of the lack of water, it is also one of incredible beautiful and has been occupied by indigenous peoples for hundreds of years. The Story Map below follows the expedition as they crossed the Colorado River and entered the deserts of what is now upper Baja California and Imperial County in the throes of winter.

 

 

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https://anzahistorictrail.org/county/imperial-ca/

Imperial County, CA

Across the Desert to San Sebastian

Anza followed the Colorado River south into what is now Mexico. The 1775/76 colonizing expedition remained south of the present border for several days to rest before crossing the desert in three groups (plus a fourth with the cattle). They looped back into what would become Imperial County, California 132 years later. They then continued north to the San Sebastian Marsh, turned west and followed San Felipe Creek.

 

Points of Interest

Mission Purísima Concepción - Expedition Camp #42

Expedition Campsite

Expedition Camp #42 was just south of Pilot Knob. Along their way, Font and Anza paused at a granite bluff to view the Colorado River plain on December 4, 1775. Nearby, in 1780, Father Garcés founded Mission Purísima Concepción, only to have it destroyed by the Quechan uprising of July 1781. In the process, Father Garcés, Fernando de Rivera y Moncada, and many soldiers and settlers were killed. The mission site (32°43.833’N 114°36.937’W) is probably where the St. Thomas Indian Mission stands today (on Picacho Rd, Fort Yuma, 1 mile South of Winterhaven).

 

San Sebastián Marsh/San Felipe Creek - Expedition Camp #49

Expedition Campsite

San Sebastián Marsh is the site of prehistoric villages and represented a stable water source in the desert environment. It was a campsite for both the 1774 and 1775-76 expeditions. Named for Anza’s Indian guide, Sebastián Tarabal, it is located 18 miles northwest of Westmoreland in the vicinity of the junction of state highways 86 and 78. Ironically, the nearby Salton Sea, formed when a canal broke in 1905, is today a 35 mile long desert oasis and includes a National Wildlife Refuge.

 

Santa Olalla - Expedition Camps #43-46 (Baja California)

Expedition Campsite

Although these camps in Baja California are not part of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, they are marked as Ruta Histórica (Hwy 2). Camp #44 (Santa Olalla) was where Anza wrote a letter to Viceroy Bucareli during the 1774 expedition, telling of its difficulties and the trustworthiness of the Quechan and their chief (Palma). During the 1775/76 expedition, the second fandango was held here, and Anza wrote five letters. In one to Bucareli, he tells of two births, the one death, and the expedition’s difficulties. It was here that the local natives (probably the Cocopah and Cajuenches tribes) gave the colonists fish and watermelons which Anza thought improved the health of those who were sick. It was also here that the expedition split up into three groups to cross the desert without depleting the watering holes.

 

Wells of Santa Rosa (Yuha Well) - Expedition Camps #47 and #48

Expedition Campsite

The well, called Santa Rosa de las Lajas (Flat Rocks) by Anza, was used on March 8, 1774. On December 11-15, 1775, the three divisions of Anza’s colonizing expedition used this site as the first good watering spot beyond the Colorado River. It is about 7 miles northwest of Mexico’s Mount Signal, on the southwest side of Dunaway Rd. in the Yuha Desert. California State Historic Landmark No. 1008 plaque is found at the Eastbound Sunbeam Roadside Rest Area, between Drew and Forrester Rds., on I-8 near Seeley. The Vista de Anza Historical Marker is found off Hwy 98 northwest of Calexico, 6 miles south of Coyote Wells. Camp #48 was near the Plaster City OHV (Off-Highway Vehicle) area. (See Father Font’s map in new window)

 

Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge

Vista de Anza Historical Marker

Found off Hwy 98 northwest of Calexico, 6 miles south of Coyote Wells. Camp #48 was near the Plaster City OHV (Off-Highway Vehicle) area.

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https://anzahistorictrail.org/county/san-diego-ca/

San Diego County, CA

San Gregorio to Coyote Creek

The expedition followed the San Felipe Creek (and Wash) from the marsh at San Sebastián to the Borrego Sink. Their horses and mules exhausted, some people continued on foot, and often there were two or three children on a horse. They opened wells at the Borrego Sink and continued onward under intense cold. Following the Coyote Creek, they passed into today’s Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and encountered people of the Cahuilla tribes.

 

Points of Interest

Presidio of San Diego and Mission San Diego de Alcalá - Camp #67

Expedition Campsite

Although not an official part of the National Historic Trail, Anza, Font and a group of soldiers diverted here to offer their assistance after the expedition reached Mission San Gabriel (near Los Angeles). Members of the Kumeyaay (KumeYAAY) tribe had revolted, killing a priest and had burned the Mission San Diego. While there (January 11-February 8), Font used his quadrant to measure the altitude of the Sun and thus determine the latitude of the San Diego Presidio (32°44.5´N). Such readings, taken throughout the journey, were amazingly accurate and can be verified today using modern electronic Global Positioning Systems.

 

Ocotillo Wells - Expedition Camps #50 and #51

Expedition Campsite

After camping along a portion of the San Felipe Wash, they passed through a gap in the clay hills on December 19, 1775. Anza called the previous night’s camp (at the Wash) Los Puertecitos, or the Little Passes. It is commemorated with California Historic Landmark No. 635, located on state highway 78, 1.6 miles east of the town of Ocotillo Wells. Nearby, the Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area has a marked trail that allows hikers to explore the area. Continuing northwest, Camp #51 was at San Gregorio, and is probably today’s Borrego Sink located on another portion of the Wash about four miles southeast of the Borrego Valley airport. To the northwest of the airport, a peak named Font’s Point can be seen that affords panoramic vistas of the expedition’s path (access off of S-22).

 

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park - Expedition Camps #52 and #53

Expedition Campsite

From December 20 to 22, 1775, Camp #52 was made along the Coyote Creek at El Vado (The Ford). With plentiful water from the creek and a little pasturage nearby, the animals recovered and the colonists could rest. The site is within Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (33° 20.6´N, 116° 23.6´W), six miles northwest of Borrego Springs at the entrance to the Horse Camp. A short distance to the east is the Desert Gardens portion of the park created by the Anza-Borrego Foundation and Institute. Traveling up the creek and canyon, the expedition’s next camp (#53) was at Santa Catarina, situated at Lower Willows (33° 22.28´N, 116° 26.38´W). The campsites are both marked with California Historic Landmark plaques. The park itself is the largest California State Park, and contains two stretches of Anza’s route. These trails provide a rare opportunity to precisely follow in the footsteps of the expedition surrounded by terrain that has changed little since Anza’s passage. Portions of the park’s trails are open to 4-wheel drive vehicles from the south and north, but closed at Middle Willows, so there is no through-driving. The park’s Visitor Center (200 Palm Canyon Dr., Borrego Springs) features interpretive exhibits on the desert environment and the local Native tribe.

 

California Historic Landmark No. 635

Mission San Diego

Mission San Gabriel

Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area - has a marked trail that allows hikers to explore the area.

Pacific Crest Trail

San Diego Presidio

 

[paulmbowers 236]

21 hours ago, Goofy Footer said:

Without the help of Native American tribes they met along the way, the expedition may not have been so successful.

And they have since come to regret this action....

Edited May 5, 2023 by paulmbowers