Cabrillo National Monument

Cabrillo National Monument marks the spot where Portuguese explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo became the first European to set foot in California in 1542. Located at the tip of San Diego's Point Loma Peninsula, Cabrillo National Monument is a more than 140-acre historical site that stands on the grounds of the Fort Rosecrans Military Reservation. Among other features, Cabrillo National Monument is home to Old Point Loma Lighthouse and a series of tide pools that offer a glimpse into the diverse marine ecosystems found along the San Diego coastline. As a reminder of the dawn of European exploration into the American West, Cabrillo National Monument commemorates both the discovery of California and the beginning of a period of settlement that would eventually pave the way for the United States' growth into a sprawling nation stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Background

For his discovery of California, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo is remembered as one of the most important early European explorers of North America. Little is known of Cabrillo's early life. He first appears in the historical record in 1519. At that time, he was serving as a captain of crossbowmen under famed Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. As part of Cortés's army, Cabrillo helped Spanish forces conquer the Aztecs and establish a colonial stronghold in the Americas. After Cortés defeated the Aztecs, Cabrillo participated in a series of military expeditions in southern Mexico, San Salvador, and Guatemala. It was in Guatemala that Cabrillo eventually settled and established himself as one of the leading citizens of the town of Santiago. Over time, he grew wealthy as a successful shipbuilder and importer/exporter and became a major player in the developing business of Pacific trade.

In the mid-sixteenth century, Pedro de Alvarado, the governor of Guatemala, decided to establish a trade route between Central America and the Spice Islands in Asia. To that end, de Alvarado commissioned Cabrillo to build a fleet of ships to be used for traveling this new trade route. Although the ships were built, de Alvarado died before trade could commence. Shortly thereafter, Antonio de Mendoza, the viceroy of New Spain, asked Cabrillo to lead one of two planned exploratory expeditions into the Pacific using his ships. While Ruy López de Villalobos took charge of an expedition to the Philippines, Cabrillo was tasked with exploring the coast to the north and west of what then accounted for New Spain.

Cabrillo and crew set sail in a trio of ships on June 24, 1542, and landed at Point Loma Peninsula in what is now San Diego, California, 103 days later. On land, the expedition continued northward to Monterey Bay and possibly as far as Point Reyes near San Francisco before bad weather forced Cabrillo and his men to retreat to the Channel Islands off the coast of modern-day Santa Barbara for the winter months. While there, Cabrillo suffered a broken limb during a brief clash with Native Americans and died of his injuries on January 3, 1543.

Overview

In 1852, the federal government designated the southern tip of Point Loma Peninsula as a military reservation. Some years later, a defensive installation called Fort Rosecrans was built on the site. In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson declared about half an acre of the land surrounding Fort Rosecrans as a national monument in honor of Cabrillo and his historic landing. Cabrillo National Monument, as the site became known, was operated by the US Army until the National Park Service assumed control in 1933. At that point, landscape architect Thomas Vint took on the task of improving the grounds by constructing a new paved road leading to the monument, widening the nearby Bayside Trail, building a comfort station, and installing water and sewer systems. In 1949, a 14-foot (4.3-meter) tall sandstone statue of Cabrillo created by Alvaro DeBree for the Golden Gate International Exposition ten years earlier was moved to the site. Through the 1950s and 1960s, the monument was gradually expanded to include a total of more than 140 acres of land. This expansion served the dual purpose of allowing for the preservation of both former military buildings and Point Loma Peninsula's natural rocky intertidal shoreline. After suffering years of damage because of exposure to the ocean air, the original Cabrillo statue was replaced with a replica in 1988. Officials at Cabrillo National Monument subsequently oversaw the reconstruction of a historic cistern on the site in 2004.

Visitors can see and explore several sights at Cabrillo National Monument. Among the most notable is the original Point Loma Lighthouse. Built in 1855, Point Loma Lighthouse played a pivotal role in guiding ships into San Diego Bay until it was decommissioned in 1891 after it was rendered ineffective by increasingly thick fog. A new light station was built at the base of the bluff and remains an active Coast Guard facility today. The Lighthouse Assistant Keeper's Quarters also was renovated and opened to the public in 2005.

Located just south of the lighthouse is Whale Overlook, a viewing platform from which visitors can catch glimpses of gray whales as they pass offshore while traveling from Alaska to their nursery grounds in Mexico from December through March. The lighthouse also marks the beginning of the Bayside Trail, which winds along the shoreline and provides visitors with spectacular views of San Diego Bay and the city itself.

Other features of Cabrillo National Monument include a visitor center, a military museum housed in a historic radio station building, and the Coastal Tidepool Trail, which offers visitors close-up views of the rocky intertidal zone and the nearby tide pools where an array of marine life-forms can be seen in their natural habitat. Visitors can participate in a number of special programs while touring the monument. Some of these programs include a talk about sixteenth-century navigation and a nature walk that highlights the monument's unique flora and fauna. In addition, Cabrillo National Monument shares space on the Point Loma Peninsula with Point Loma Naval Base and Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.

Bibliography

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"Cabrillo National Monument." U.S. News & World Report, travel.usnews.com/San‗Diego‗CA/Things‗To‗Do/Cabrillo‗National‗Monument‗51683. Accessed 22 Jan. 2018.

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