Bay and harbor of Monterrey in 1842
Click to enlarge all the plan
MONTERREY AND PORTOLÁ
Bay and harbor of Monterrey in 1842
Click to enlarge
all the plan
Monterrey is located about 230 kilometers South of San Francisco on the bay of the same name. Its splendid location, with its wide beaches protected from the heavy seas by the peninsula, makes Monterrey an exceptional part of the pacific coast.
The city takes special care of everything that can make the life of its residents agreeable and comfortable by combining the most up-to-date services with respect for its traditional environment as a pleasant, tranquil, historic city.
It is a point of attraction for many temporary residents and many others who come to practice surfing, fishing and underwater sports, to enjoy the best golf courses in the world, or simply to rest in a city with a marvelous climate.
At present it has 35,760 inhabitants, 38.60% of which have an average age of 36. Many workers come from outside Monterrey to fill the agricultural, service, administrative, shop and hotel jobs.
Several United States military defense facilities also provide a good number of jobs.
An estimated 4 million tourists a year are drawn to Monterrey by its climate, beauty, its famous Aquarium, its gardens and sea-front, the bay which has become a nature reserve and the many golf courses.
The beaches of the bay of Monterrey were, in reality, discovered by Sebastián Vizcaino in 1602 during his voyage along these coasts searching for a refuge for the ships which came each year from the Philippines islands. The galleons needed shelter in a safe harbor when they reached the California coast, where they could pick up supplies and make up for the rigors of the crossing before going on to Acapulco. To find such a port was Vizcaino’s mission.
His description of the beaches of Monterrey was so exaggerated, in that he described them as a huge sheltered harbor, perfectly protected from the winds, that his disproportionate enthusiasm caused the confusion of Portolá’s expedition in 1769.
When the Viceroy of Spain in Mexico and José de Galvez decided that that bay should be formally occupied, they offered the Commander the diaries of those earlier sailors as guidance.
What Portolá, the officers and Franciscans who had walked there from San Diego saw in front of them, did not correspond at all to what was contained in the diaries. There was certainly no place on those beaches that could be a good shelter for the ships, nor was there a harbor protected from the winds.
Therefore, in doubt as to whether they had passed or not yet reached their destination, they continued walking towards higher latitudes.
They arrived to San Pedro Valley in the current city of Pacifica. From Sweeney Ridge they discovered San Francisco bay. But they gave up because their mission was the occupation and foundation of a fort in Monterrey's inlet.
On their search failing, they returned to San Diego to await the decision of their superiors and at all events "... again undertake the journey, if not for Monterrey, then for the harbor of San Francisco ..."
In 1770 they left San Diego again toward the beaches of Monterrey and this time, on June 3, Don Gaspar de Portolá did take possession of those lands and founded the fortress which he named San Carlos de Monterrey in honor of King Charles III of Spain.
At the same time, a mission dedicated to San Carlos Borromeo was founded in the fortress.
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"So it may be officially registered, than at the Camp and harbor of Monterey, on the third day of the month of June of this year... I have called the sea and land officers to get together and begg the R.R.P.P. to attend, /the act/ giving the troops the order to get arms, notifying them what has so been provided, and having introduced such, /to them/ I have gone on to taking possesion in the name of His Magesty, under the ciscumstances that the decree disposes, making the ceremony of throwing earth and stones to the four winds, proclaiming the possesion in the name of His Catholic Magesty, Don Carlos the Third, may God guard him, by whom the mentioned harbor of Monterey must be recogniced, as well as the rest of the lands within his rights he must /posseses/ and it is advisable /to do so/..." |
Padre Junípero Serra, President of the missions planned to be founded in Alta California, had been one of the Franciscan companions of the Portolá expedition. With Portolá he had covered all Baja California on foot and now, from the mission at Monterrey, he would begin the huge task of colonizing these lands and making Christians the natives..
Portolá, following orders from his superiors, left Monterrey in the hands of Lieutenant Pedro Fages as Military Commander, his Volunteers of Catalonia and the buffcoat soldiers, led by Captain Fernando de Rivera.
From here on everything is part of the history of California.
In today’s Monterrey, all the locations, historic sites and buildings that make up its history as a city are painstakingly conserved. Other sites show the development of the entire country, ruled for many years from Monterrey.
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Monolith indicating
the place where Portolá |
Father Junipero
Serra was |
The chapel, dedicated to San Carlos Borromeo in the old smart fort, is one of the most outstanding places of Monterrey. It substituted for the first chapel in 1794 which was built with poor quality materials. The franciscan mission had already moved to the nearby Carmelo river.
It only rests the memory of the first " presidio" built by `Poprtolá, Fages and Serra.
Some historical buildings from the colonial period still remain, like the "Cotton Hall", where the first Constituent Convention of California was held in 1849. Currently, it is a local historical archive and bibliotheque.
It was in Monterrey where the first land's lot was given to a colonist, what would later give rise to the famous Californian ranch. The lot was received by the Catalan soldier Manuel Butrón in 1775, who was the first European soldier marrying an indian native.
H.M. Don Juan Carlos I of Spain donated to the city of Monterrey a statue of Gaspar de Portolá. This is a reproduction of the one that stands in Balaguer made by the sculptor Fausto Blazquez. It was erected in the modern Portolá square, in front of the city’s Civic Center, where municipal functions, commercial and cultural meetings and art exhibitions take place.
Click for enlargement.
