Alta California: The Spanish Period

1772–1821

El Camino Viejo

Spain didn’t send expeditions into the Valley until 1772, to explore and capture natives for the missions. The Valley was home to native peoples, their numbers devastated by Europeans and their diseases. The Spaniards first entered the valley through EL CAMINO VIEJO (the old road). The Spanish had “discovered,” conquered, and colonized much of the Americas for 300 years, calling it NUEVA ESPAÑA (New Spain)but they didn’t get to ALTA CALIFORNIA (upper California) in LA FRONTERA (the frontier) until 1769. They first established themselves on the coast in a string of missions along EL CAMINO REAL (Royal Road or Kings’ Highway). On their maps the interior was TIERRA INCOGNITA, unknown land to be explored, to capture deserting mission natives and soldiers, or to scout a site for a mission in the interior. El Camino Viejo wound through the center of the valley, following old antelope and native trails, 70 miles that in total could take 60 days, with each stop a necessary watering hole and giving many Spanish names to the valley—Arroyo de Cantúa, Poso Chine, Los Baños…  

To the south, the great rushes, los tules around the largest lake in the West gave the region its name, LOS TULARES. This Central Valley was rich and varied in plants and animals and home to various tribes of the Yokut and Miwok families. Before dams, the lake created by melting snowpack and rivers from the mountains expanded to as large as 70 miles wide and shrunk during droughts. It supported tribes along its shores and those who traveled from the valley floor to the foothills. An estimated 77,000 native people were affected by the intrusion and their presence haunts the Caminos story. 

Spanish Expeditions and Explorations, The Intruders

Soldiers and Franciscan friars entered in small groups on horseback and foot, using native guides and seeking “souls” to convert or labor to take to the coastal missions. Their diaries and reports reveal their interests and descriptions of the native populations they found, but few voluntary conversions. The valley’s West side was depopulated first as they came in through Los Banos from Mission San Juan Bautista. They introduced horses and cattle and other animals and plants which invaded native species. Diseases they brought with them, especially smallpox, devastated populations with no natural immunity.  

Pedro Fages’ description of the first view of the valley coming from the South over the Tehachapi and his summary comment “Buena Vista” encouraged further exploration. That incursion was to chase down a deserted soldier, probably really the first of European origin to know the valley. Gabriel Moraga, the valley’s leading explorer made many trips from the eastern entrance, his most notable in 1806, naming the valley for his father Joaquin, one of its first explorers. Many geographical names are the Spanish imprint on the Valley: Mariposa, Merced, Calaveras, Río de los Reyes Magos (Kings River), even Fresno and Tulare. One expedition probably camped out in what became Mooney Grove in Visalia, thought a good site for establishing an inland mission. Before that could happen, the Spanish in Nueva España were overthrown and left or blended into Mexican and native populations. 

On the other coast, George Washington was fighting for the colonies’ independence from England, while the Spanish empire still ruled colonies throughout the Americas. 

TIMELINE

1769 De Anza Expedition
1772 Fages enters the Valley
1776 American Revolution
1806 Moraga expedition
1821 Spain’s colonies in the Americas revolt