Was "El Norte" (the Spanish settlement of California) only along the coast, or did they never lay full claim to the land? Curious as to why it doesn't really sh

Was "El Norte" (the Spanish settlement of California) only along the coast, or did they never lay full claim to the land? Curious as to why it doesn't really show on this visualization. There's an excellent book about settlement patterns in the US called American Nations, by Colin Woodward. His theory is essentially that we don't pay nearly enough attention to the different influences of the competing original colonies, and that if you examine the history in this light there are all kinds of interesting narratives that you can draw. E.g., tidewater slavery != deep south slavery in fairly significant ways, because of the origin of each of those colonies (british gentry vs progeny of barbados slave owners) - and yet we generally make no distinction at all.