Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo

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Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
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Bornc. 1497
Palma del Río, Córdoba, Spain
DiedJanuary 3, 1543
San Miguel Island, California
OccupationsNavigator and explorer
SpouseBeatriz Sánchez de Ortega

Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo or Juan de Palma (Palma del Río, 1497 – January 3, 1543) was an Iberian sailor and explorer known for having carried out one of the first European expeditions along the west coast of North America in the service of the Spanish Crown, sailing near the coast of the present-day state of California and taking part in the founding of the city of Oaxaca, in Mexico.

Biography

Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo's birthplace has been the subject of controversy, which is covered in the page on the controversy over the birthplace of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo. Nevertheless, historians today place it, with near-total certainty, in the Cordoban town of Palma del Río.[1]

The confusion stems from the fact that the Spanish chronicler Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, who was born after Cabrillo had already died, said of him that he was "Portuguese," in his Historia General de los hechos de los Castellanos en las Islas y tierra firme del Mar Oceano. For this reason, many biographies (especially Portuguese ones) have attributed a Portuguese origin to him. However, many historians have produced archival documents in which Cabrillo was recorded as Castilian; in particular the Canadian Wendy Kramer, who in 2015 revealed documents proving his birth in Palma del Río.[2]

Little is known about Cabrillo's early years; only that he was part of the expedition of Pánfilo de Narváez, which was sent to Mexico by Diego de Velázquez, Governor of Cuba, in order to subdue Cortés. In 1520 the name "Cabrillo" appears as a soldier in the army of Hernán Cortés with the rank of officer of crossbowmen. Builder of the thirteen brigantines, he accompanied Cortés in the conquest of the great Tenochtitlan and later took part with Pedro de Alvarado in that of the southeast of Mexico, as well as in the conquest of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, in Central America.

In 1530, after the conquest of Central America, Cabrillo settled in the town of Santiago de Guatemala, and in 1532 he traveled to Spain to marry Beatriz Sánchez de Ortega. After the wedding, Cabrillo returned with his wife to Santiago de Guatemala, where he took up residence and devoted himself to trade, while his wife bore him two children.

In the early hours of September 11, 1541, an avalanche of rocks and mud came down from the Volcán de Agua (not an earthquake) and destroyed the city. It is said that Cabrillo notified the Spanish Crown of the incident, and that report is considered the first account ever sent to Europe of an event that occurred in the New World.[citation needed]

From a Guatemalan port on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, Cabrillo engaged for a time in importing and exporting goods between Spain, Guatemala and other parts of the Spanish Empire.

The discovery of California

Cabrillo National Monument, on Point Loma, near San Diego (U.S.)
Plaque at the Cabrillo monument.

In 1541, Pedro de Alvarado had organized an expedition with twelve vessels to explore the northern coastline of the Pacific Ocean, but on his way he stopped on the coasts of Nueva Galicia to try to contain the rebellion led by Francisco Tenamaztle that set off the Mixtón War. Alvarado died accidentally in July 1541 when he was crushed by a horse. The following year, the Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco commissioned Rodríguez Cabrillo to carry on the plans of the thwarted expedition, but it was only possible to use two of the vessels that Alvarado had assembled.[3]

The Baja California Peninsula and the Gulf of California or Sea of Cortés had recently been discovered by the explorers Francisco de Ulloa, Fernando de Alarcón and the pilot Domingo del Castillo. Those voyages had shown that the Baja California Peninsula was not an island, but was joined to the mainland and surrounded by water by a gulf (Gulf of California) and the South Sea (Pacific Ocean).

Cabrillo hoped to find the mythical and wealthy city of Cíbola, which was believed to exist somewhere north along the Pacific coast, in addition to searching for the nonexistent passage or Strait of Anián that was said to join the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in the north.

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One of the ships of Cabrillo's expedition, about to be wrecked. Lithograph by Vicente Urrabieta in Historia de la Marina Real Española (1849-1854).

On June 24, 1542, he set out with three ships from the port of Barra de Navidad. Accompanying Cabrillo were sailors, soldiers, Indians, African slaves, a priest, food for two years, livestock and merchandise. Cabrillo commanded the small fleet from the ship San Salvador, the flagship he himself had built.

After setting sail he traveled along the coast of Colima and headed toward the Baja California Peninsula, which he sighted on July 3. He arrived at San José del Cabo and took on water there. On the 13th of the same month he discovered Magdalena Bay, which he named as such.[3] On August 5 they arrived at Cedros Island (the last place where the navigator Francisco de Ulloa was seen alive, in April 1540) and remained there until the 10th of the same month. They continued their voyage along the coast of the Baja California Peninsula, drawing up maps. On September 17 they reached the present-day port of Ensenada, which they named San Mateo.

On September 28, 1542, Cabrillo found a "very good and secure port": he had just discovered San Diego Bay, which he named San Miguel in honor of the saint of the day. Six days later they continued their voyage of exploration in waters unknown to Europeans. On October 6 they were at San Pedro (Port of Los Angeles) and on the 9th at Santa Monica; both communities today form part of the metropolitan City of Los Angeles.

On October 7, 1542, they discovered the Northern Archipelago, today known as the Santa Barbara Islands.

On October 10 the expedition reached San Buenaventura, on the 13th Santa Barbara and on the 17th Point Conception. Because of strong headwinds, the ships had to turn back and take shelter at San Miguel Island off San Buenaventura. They were unable to advance northward for several days. On November 11 they reached Santa Maria and the same day they reached Cape San Martín, which is located in Monterey County.

The ships were separated by strong winds and storms, and after several days of searching they reunited on November 15 and sailed without a set course, discovering the Bay of the Pines, known today as Monterey Bay.

On November 18 they sailed south, seeking the shelter of the bay of San Miguel Island, where they arrived on the 23rd. They spent the following three months there waiting for the winter storms to subside.

Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo died on January 3, 1543, on San Miguel Island as a result of an arm fracture caused by a fall during a skirmish with the natives. His remains are believed to have been buried on Santa Catalina Island, off the city of Los Angeles, but the exact site of his grave is unknown.

On February 18, 1543, the fleet headed north again under the command of Bartolomé Ferrer. With favorable winds, on March 1 they reached Cape Mendocino, so named in honor of the first Viceroy of New Spain, Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco, sponsor of the expedition. Cape Mendocino lies near the northern boundary of the present-day state of California, so it is likely that the expedition crossed that boundary and reached what is today the state of Oregon.

The return voyage

Bad weather prevented the navigator Bartolomé Ferrelo from continuing the voyage farther north, so they returned to San Miguel Island, where they arrived on March 5. From there the expedition set out on the return to the port of Navidad, arriving on April 14, 1543.

His legacy

Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo is remembered in The Californias through the names with which he christened islands, bays and geographic features. Hundreds or thousands of avenues, hotels, restaurants and schools bear his surname.

In San Diego (California) a national monument was dedicated to him, known as the Cabrillo National Monument or National Monument to Cabrillo.

The Portuguese community of San Diego made Cabrillo its symbol in the 20th century, relying on his supposed Portuguese origin, through the Cabrillo National Monument. In 1934, Colonel John R. White changed Cabrillo's nationality to Portuguese in the official documents of the National Park Service because, according to the historian Iris Engstrand, the Portuguese community of San Diego was very large while the Spanish one was insignificant.[1]

In 2003 the training ship Juan Sebastián de Elcano presented the Cabrillo National Monument with a plaque in tribute to the discoverer that stated his Spanish origin. The plaque was installed next to two others that asserted that Cabrillo was Portuguese. In 2022, the House of Spain in San Diego presented a second plaque that specified that Cabrillo had been born in Palma del Río. Shortly afterward, the Monument's authorities returned that plaque under pressure from the Portuguese community. The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs therefore lodged a complaint with the U.S. Department of the Interior.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Olaya, Vicente G. (2022-07-15). "La 'guerra de las placas' enfrenta a España y Portugal por el origen del conquistador Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo". El País (in español). Retrieved 2023-12-10.
  2. ↑ Kramer, Wendy (2018). El español que exploró California: Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (c. 1497- 1543): de Palma del Río a Guatemala (in español). Diputación de Córdoba.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Clavijero, Francisco Javier Op.cit. book two, chapter II «Tentativas que hizo el virrey estimulado por ciertas relaciones», pp. 74-75

Bibliography

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