Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo was a Portuguese explorer who played a significant role in the early European exploration of the west coast of North America. Most of his early life remains shrouded in mystery, but he is believed to have lived in Spain and participated in the conquest of the Aztecs under Hernán Cortés. Cabrillo gained prominence as a captain of crossbowmen and later settled in Guatemala, where he became a wealthy and respected citizen. In 1542, he led an expedition up the Pacific coast of Mexico, becoming the first European to discover parts of present-day California, including what he initially named San Miguel, now known as San Diego.
Cabrillo's journey was marked by encounters with Indigenous peoples, whom he reportedly treated fairly, establishing a foundation for future interactions. His expedition aimed to find wealth and trade routes, but despite not discovering gold cities or a passage to the Atlantic, it provided vital geographical insights. Cabrillo's legacy is complex; while some view his expedition as a failure due to its inability to fulfill its primary goals, it laid the groundwork for subsequent exploration and the establishment of missions in California, marking the start of European colonization in the region. Cabrillo died in early 1543, and his final resting place remains uncertain, with several locations speculated as possible burial sites.
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Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
Portuguese explorer
- Born: c. 1500
- Birthplace: Probably Portugal
- Died: January 3, 1543
- Place of death: At sea, off San Miguel Island (now in California)
After taking part in the Spanish conquest and settlement of Central America, Cabrillo led an expedition north to explore Alta California and claim that area for Spain. He provided valuable information on the indigenous peoples and on the geography, flora, and fauna of what is now the west coast of the United States.
Early Life
Very little is known about the early life of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (wawn rawd-REE-ghahz kah-BREE-yoh). Most historians believe that he was born in Portugal but lived most of his early years in Spain. As a young man in about 1520, he very likely sailed from Spain to Cuba with Spanish soldier Pánfilo de Narváez . When Narváez was sent to Veracruz, Mexico, to arrest Hernán Cortés, Cabrillo was imprisoned by Narváez for disloyalty but was freed by Cortés at Veracruz.
The first historical record of Cabrillo, from 1519, documents his release from his incarceration by Cortés. He is listed as a captain of crossbowmen in the army of Cortés during the conquest of the Aztecs in Mexico. He was part of the later expeditions that conquered southern Mexico, Guatemala, and San Salvador (now in El Salvador). Cabrillo then made his home in Guatemala, becoming a leading and wealthy citizen in the town of Santiago. Most of his wealth came from gold mining and from trade with the Central American Indians, with whom he had a reputation of fair treatment.
In 1532, Cabrillo returned to Spain. While there he met and married Beatriz Sanchez de Ortega. The couple returned to Guatemala, where their two sons were born. When an earthquake destroyed Santiago in 1540, Cabrillo wrote a report to the Spanish government about the disaster, the first known piece of secular journalism from the Americas.
Life’s Work
In 1541, Cabrillo was serving under Pedro de Alvarado, who had been a trusted lieutenant of Cortés but was now independent as the adelantado (frontier governor) of Guatemala. Alvarado’s nephew, Juan de Alvarado, led an expedition up the west coast of Mexico, with Cabrillo as a captain. Juan de Alvarado was killed when a warhorse fell on him during a skirmish with Indians. Cabrillo assumed command of the expedition, but it was delayed for several months, partly to settle the estate of Alvarado. Cabrillo’s own finances were in disarray because of the disaster at Santiago, and he may have considered abandoning the expedition.
In the spring of 1542, Antonio de Mendoza, the viceroy of New Spain, summoned Cabrillo to Navidad and confirmed his appointment to continue the expedition, giving Cabrillo the assurance that he would have the financial backing required for such an expedition. Navidad was on the west coast of Mexico, near what is now Manzanillo. In addition to his flagship, the San Salvador, which Cabrillo built himself, he was given the Victoria and the San Miguel to complete his flotilla. A planned companion expedition west to the Philippines failed when its leader was killed in a mutiny after reaching the Philippines. The plan had been for a reunion of the two expeditions at a nonexistent strait that the Spanish believed connected the north Pacific and the north Atlantic Oceans.
Cabrillo was now ready for his major undertaking, which spanned a period of only six months. In June of 1542, his flotilla sailed north up the west coast of Mexico. Cabrillo’s chief pilot was Bartolome Ferrelo. Like similar expeditions, the primary goal of Cabrillo’s expedition was wealth, particularly gold, but also the spoils from Indian trade. After exploring the coast of Baja California, on September 28, Cabrillo reached a beautiful bay that he named San Miguel, marking the European discovery of Alta, or upper, California. A later explorer, the Spaniard Sebastián Vizcaíno, renamed the bay San Diego in 1602-1603.
After six days at San Miguel, on an island that still bears that name, Cabrillo sailed north and reached what is now Santa Monica, California, on October 9, Santa Barbara on October 13, and Point Conception on October 17. At various points along the coast and on islands such as Santa Cruz, Catalina, and San Clemente, Cabrillo carried out the established ritual for claiming land in the name of the king of Spain.
North American Indians, such as the Chumash of the Santa Barbara Channel, watched the Spanish with much curiosity. They often came out in their canoes to greet the visitors and to trade with them. At one point Cabrillo was so impressed by the numbers of fine canoes that he named the place Pueblo de las Canoas (town of canoes). Cabrillo’s trade with the Chumash seems to have continued his earlier reputation for fairness.
Adverse winds delayed the flotilla, and not until November 11 did they advance north of Santa Maria. They reached Monterey Bay and continued north, but they missed San Francisco Bay because they were likely blown out to sea at that point along the coast. Near Point Reyes, just north of San Francisco Bay, storms again forced the expedition south to San Miguel, in the Channel Islands near Santa Rosa Island, where they planned to winter.
On January 3, 1543, six months and six days after leaving Navidad, Cabrillo died on board the San Salvador, anchored off San Miguel. He had lost his footing during a skirmish with Indians on the island and broke bones in his leg. He was taken to the ship and, realizing he was dying, tried to update the log of the expedition. He turned command over to his pilot, Ferrelo, urging him to continue the expedition. The log was completed and later published by Ferrelo.
On January 19, the discouraged crew, led by Ferrelo, again sailed north, perhaps reaching the Rogue River in Oregon. On their return trip, they again missed San Francisco Bay, which was not discovered until 1769. With the ships in need of serious repair and short on supplies, Ferrelo arrived back in Navidad on April 14, 1543.
The exact burial spot of Cabrillo is unknown. Most historians believe it is on San Miguel Island, where a monument was built in 1937. Other possibilities include Santa Rosa Island, where a stone was found in 1901 that could have been Cabrillo’s grave marker, or Santa Cruz Island, or even as far south as Catalina Island, off the coast of what is now Los Angeles.
Significance
Some believe the Cabrillo expedition was a failure because the explorers did not find gold-laden cities or a connecting route to the Atlantic Ocean, though given the crew’s courage of sailing into the unknown and given the magnitude of what was discovered in terms of geography, the expedition was successful to some degree. Later explorers had much to gain from Cabrillo’s and, later, Ferrelo’s journeys along the California coastline to Oregon, even though Cabrillo missed places such as the San Francisco Bay.
Also, contact with the American Indian tribes of the western coastal region paved the way for the establishment of Roman Catholic missions, beginning in 1769, from San Diego to San Francisco. The missions marked the beginning of European colonization of California.
Bibliography
Bancroft, Hubert. History of California. Vol. 1. New York: Arno Press, 1967. Offers the most detailed coverage of Cabrillo’s and other early explorations of California.
Cabrillo National Monument Foundation. An Account of the Voyage of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo. San Diego, Calif.: Cabrillo Historical Association, 1999. An excellent account of the voyage of Cabrillo, including a foldout map of the expedition.
Kelsey, Harry. Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo. San Marino, Calif.: Huntington Library, 1986. An illustrated biography with the best account of Cabrillo’s life before his journey. A good discussion of the voyage and the attempt to continue it after Cabrillo’s death. Speculates about Cabrillo’s death and burial in a way that is different from most accounts.
Lavender, David. De Soto, Coronado, Cabrillo: Explorers of Northern Mystery. Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, 1992. Includes a brief account of Cabrillo’s journey, a full-color map of the route, a color drawing of Cabrillo’s flagship, and an illustrated description of the American Indians encountered by Cabrillo.
Lemske, Nancy. First European Explorer of the California Coast. San Luis Obispo, Calif.: 1991. A detailed examination of Cabrillo’s expedition. Includes several maps and illustrations of ship travel and American Indian life during Cabrillo’s time.
Lowrey, Woodbury. The Spanish Settlements Within the Present Limits of the United States. New York: Russell and Russell, 1959. Provides a chapter on the discovery of Alta California based on the expedition of Cabrillo as recorded in his log.
Wagner, Henry R. Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo. San Francisco: California Historical Society, 1941. A good account of Cabrillo’s journey, including Wagner’s translation of Cabrillo’s log, which was first published in 1543 and is attributed to Cabrillo’s chief pilot, Bartolome Ferrelo. A 1929 publication by Wagner includes a facsimile of the original log in Spanish.