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No Europeans had even seen California in 1519. The Wikipedia page you linked talks about New Spain (i.e. Mexico), but the first spaniard to see CA was Cabrillo
by AlotOfReading 6y ago
No Europeans had even seen California in 1519. The Wikipedia page you linked talks about New Spain (i.e. Mexico), but the first spaniard to see CA was Cabrillo in 1542. The first European settlements of any note would settled by the Portolá expedition in 1769.
- TedDoesntTalk 6y agoYou might be correct. However, there were settlements in Mexico in the 1500s, not just explorers. They were miners, traders, etc. My point is not undermined -- there were many non-English settlements before the 1620 Pilgrims. Of note: "In the late 1560s, however, the able Viceroy Martin Enriquez stepped in to throw the weight of the royal government behind the effort to better (or more actively) defend the Spanish towns, mines, and ranches. In 1569, Enriquez declared all-out war ("war by fire and blood"-- guerra a fuego y sangre) against the Chichimecs and began establishing presidios in the Far North, with the result that by 1590, the presidio was a major frontier institution, a symbol of the King's authority in the Far North." https://californiamissionsfoundation.org/articles/the-presidios-of-alta-california/ https://californiamissionsfoundation.org/articles/the-presid... Unfortunately, it does not explain "Far North", but it is definitely distinct from Alta California (San Diego) if you read further. So I would guess this means the Baja, but I don't really know.
- AlotOfReading 6y agoThe "far north" is contextual. That part is talking about an area historically known as La Gran Chicimeca [1]. It's only a few hundred miles from Mexico City. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Gran_Chichimeca https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Gran_Chichimeca
- nudpiedo 6y agoDon't forget the Low California (Baja California) already discovered in 1533 and a settlement in 1535 by Hernan Cortes.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]