If you think about the structure and condition of SF Bay, as well as the abilities and limitations of sailing vessels at the time- San Francisco was the only pl

If you think about the structure and condition of SF Bay, as well as the abilities and limitations of sailing vessels at the time- San Francisco was the only place in all of Northern California that was realistically accessible for a Spanish settlement supported by supplies coming from at sea. The author is incorrect about the other areas in SF Bay that could be "alternatives for bay area capitals." The rest of the areas marked are naturally very shallow tidal mud flats and peat bogs, and are only nowadays navigable by boats due to a combination of dredging, and building raised structures out into the bay with landfill. SF is the only viable location for a protected natural deepwater port, which is likely why the Spanish settled there first. There may be a few small rocky points on the Marin peninsula that would have worked for docking a ship (e.g. near Sausulito), but these had very little build-able flat land, and lack reliable drinking water- a big problem Marin faces to this day. Those areas also face massive tidal currents right up to the shore, which would be dangerous for an unpowered sailing vessel. As an SF Bay sailor, this is what I know about deeply... the author getting it so wrong makes me question the reasoning in the rest of the article, which I know nothing about.