You’ve seen the signs along the highways and backroads of South
Valley, the ones marking the De Anza National Historic Trail.
Maybe, like many travelers, you’ve wondered what they’re all
about.
You’ve seen the signs along the highways and backroads of South Valley, the ones marking the De Anza National Historic Trail. Maybe, like many travelers, you’ve wondered what they’re all about.
These roadside markers are reminders of an epic journey that ended 230 years ago this month. Dotting much of coastal California, the markers commemorate a great achievement by a remarkable man.
Think of Juan Bautista de Anza as the Daniel Boone of colonial California. At a time when the Americans debated revolting against the monarchy, de Anza led a group of Mexican settlers overland to the Bay Area.
Locally, his name is seen everywhere: De Anza Community College and De Anza Boulevard in Cupertino, the De Anza Hotel in San Jose, the De Anza Adobe in San Juan Bautista.
But who was de Anza? Despite his major contribution to California’s history, the man remains an enigma. The roadside signs merely hint of his true importance.
He was born in July 1736 at the Presidio of Fronteras, near what’s now Douglas, Ariz. He grew up to serve the Spanish Crown as a soldier in New Spain, rising in rank to become Commander of the Presidio at Tubac, which is about 45 miles from the present city of Tucson.
In the 1760s, the Russians and English stalked the Pacific coast, certainly drooling over the rich and lightly populated Alta California. Spain grew increasingly worried about its tenuous hold on its territory. It needed to establish population sites.
So, starting in 1768, the Spanish established a series of presidios and missions from San Diego to Monterey. But San Francisco Bay was a critically weak link. If the Russians or English rooted themselves there, they’d have a well-protected place to wage a campaign for California. A bay settlement was a must for the Spanish.
Colonization of California required that the Spanish find an overland route to take settlers and supplies from Mexico’s Sonora to the Presidio of Monterey. In 1772, de Anza proposed finding a trail with enough water and pastures for immigrant travel.
In September 1773, with the aid of an Indian guide named Sebastian Tarabal, he started out on his quest. By early 1774, he arrived in Monterey, successfully blazing the desired land route.
Now the real test came – bringing people along this newly discovered trail. On Nov. 28, 1774, de Anza was charged with the task of finding colonists brave enough to make the treacherous trek. Their reward – a title grant to California land.
De Anza spent nearly a year rounding up people willing to embark on this dangerous adventure to the proposed San Francisco Bay settlement. He recruited mostly destitute Mexican families seeking a better life.
In the pueblo Tubac at 11am on Oct. 23, 1775, de Anza began leading the long road trip. He was charged with the care of 245 people – about half of them children younger than 12. Along with them they brought 165 mules, 340 horses and 302 head of cattle.
Only one death occurred during the hard ordeal. Within a day of leaving the pueblo, a woman named Maria Manuela Piñuelas succumbed while giving birth to a boy. Two more babies would be born en route.
After six months of traveling, stopping for occasional pit stops at various coastal missions, the colonists finally arrived in Monterey on March 10, 1776.
After two weeks rest, de Anza, along with Lieutenant Jose Joaquin Moraga and cartographer Father Pedro Font, left the group to find a suitable route to the San Francisco Bay.
On horseback they passed through the Gabilan range along what’s now San Juan Grade Road. In the fertile valley beyond, they explored a potential site for a new mission. And 21 years later, Mission San Juan Bautista would be built there.
The explorers made their way through the eastern hills of a plain abundant with meandering creeks, oaks and other trees, and game animals. It would later be called Santa Clara Valley. Here they met gracious Ohlone Indians who traded fish and other supplies with them.
The Spanish traveled quickly, moving some eight leagues – almost 27 miles – in seven hours. On March 25 near what is now Monte Vista High School, the men camped by a gentle canyon creek. Font called the canyon Arroyo de San Guiseppe de Copertino after the patron saint of Copertino, Italy. Later, the named would gain a Latinized spelling – “Cupertino.”
That night, de Anza wrote in his diary of the day’s discoveries: “After traveling a short distance in the plain, we turned to the west-northwest , and then began to meet many heathen, who went notifying those ahead, greedy for the glass beads which I gave them. With such company as this we continued for about a league and half, after which they left us. Continuing our route in the same direction for about three leagues a a half, we turned to the west, going close to some small hills to our left and arrived at the arroyo of San Joseph Copertino, which is useful only for travelers.”
If de Anza could have peered ahead to the 21st century, he would see the land surrounding his campsite – “useful only for travelers” – covered with million-dollar homes and industrial parks that house high-tech companies such as Apple Computer.
For two weeks, the scouting party continued exploring San Francisco Bay. They designated the sites for the San Francisco Presidio and Mission Dolores, which would shortly be built by the settlers. They then returned to Monterey.
On April 13, his job done, de Anza left to return to Tubac. On June 17, after their rest in Monterey, the colonists de Anza had led overland continued to the San Francisco site. Here they sewed the seeds for a future cosmopolitan city.
Arriving in Tubac, de Anza was named governor of the province of New Mexico. There, he died on Dec. 19, 1788.
In 1990, Congress created the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, preserving an important part of California’s past. His legacy lives on in South Valley.
