San Franciscans would be familiar with the name. In tribute to him, de Anza crops up here and there in town and street names, statues, schools, a college, parks and even a National Historic Trail from San Francisco to the Arizona-Mexican border. In fact, Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto is considered to be the first European to see San Francisco Bay. But, who was Juan Bautista de Anza?
Early Alta California
Born in 1735 in Fronteras, in the Mexican State of Sonora, that makes de Anza a contemporary of George Washington. De Anza has another tie to George Washington and the colonialists in significant dates.
Things were quite different in the New Spain of de Anza's territory at that time than they were back east. De Anza established the first Spanish settlement in what is today California in the Presidio of San Diego, a fort established by the Spaniards in 1769 and under Mexican control until 1835.
A successful California explorer
Already a captain in the Spanish army by age 24, de Anza was challenged to find a land route to California, one which would avoid the long sea voyage. Eager to fulfill what had been his own father's dream, de Anza employed a chief Indian guide and, with the blessings of the King of Spain, headed north via present-day Arizona. This rough journey was the first colonizing mission to Northern California. The exploration was actually hoping to ward off settlements by southward expanding Russians.
Interesting...1776
In 1775, diaries tell us that the small military group set out, numbering way more in horses, mules and cattle than men. Accompanied by a couple of hundred more as settler families, they did eventually reach San Gabriel (present day Los Angeles) Monterey and San Jose and then the Bay Area itself in the spring of 1776. The Presidio and the Mission San Francisco de Asis, present day Mission Dolores, were all within this expedition's tracks.
Explore de Anza Trail
Connecting the 18th century to the 21st century, the 1,210 mile-long Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail along deserts, rivers, woodlands, shorelines, grasslands and mature urban communities can be followed by car today from Nogales, Arizona to its terminus at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California.
Sources:
National Park Service
University of Oregon
Comments