1531. when given at all, deduced merely from the notes of the vessel's course and rate of sailing, are entirely worthless. It is scarcely necessary to add that this uncertainty as to the geographical situations of places produced confusion with regard to names; and, accordingly, we find that there are few remarkable spots on the northwest coast of America, discovered before the middle of the last century, which have not at different times been distinguished by many different appellations. 1532. 1533. Respecting the voyages of discovery, made by order of Cortes in the Atlantic seas, little is to be found on record; and no notice of them is required for our present purposes. The first expedition, under his auspices, towards the northwest, took place in 1532, and terminated most disastrously. This expedition was commanded by Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, a relation of Cortes, who sailed from Acapulco in a small ship, accompanied by another under Juan de Mazuela; they advanced together along the southwest coast of Mexico, as far north as the 27th degree of latitude, and were there separated by a storm: after which nothing more was heard of the vessel commanded by Mendoza. The other ship, under Mazuela, was obliged, after the storm, to put back to the river of Culiacan, the nearest Spanish port, where she was deserted by the greater part of her crew. Those who remained then endeavored to carry her to Acapulco; but she was stranded on the shore of the province of Jalisco, near the place where San Blas now stands; and her crew, with the exception of three, were murdered by the savages. The vessel was subsequently seized and rifled by Nuño de Guzman, the chief of a roving band of adventurers, who, assuming the title of Governor of Jalisco, pretended to act for the Sovereign of Spain, independently of Cortes. A year having elapsed after the departure of these vessels, without any news being received of them, Cortes despatched two others in the same direction, under Hernando de Grijalva and Diego de Becerra, who sailed together from Tehuantepec on the 30th of October, 1533. Grijalva, being soon separated from his companion, took a westward course, and reached a group of small islands at the.distance of a hundred and fifty miles from the main land, (now called the Revillagigedo islands;) after which he returned to Mexico, without having effected any other discovery. Meanwhile, Becerra, likewise sailing westward from Tehuantepec, found land almost immediately under the tropic of Cancer, and anchored in a small bay, where his men, having obtained some valuable pearls, became anxious to fix themselves for a time. This Becerra refused to permit; and he was preparing to continue his voyage, when a mutiny took place, in the course of which he was murdered, and the command was assumed by Fortunio Ximenes, the pilot. In pursuance of their plan, the mutineers then landed, and began to construct habitations on the shore of the bay; but, while thus engaged, they were surprised by a body of savages, who killed nearly the whole of them. The survivors escaped with the vessel, and succeeded in navigating her over to the little port of Chiametla, on the coast of Jalisco, where she was also seized by the lawless Nuño de Guzman. It may be mentioned, at once, that the land thus discovered by Becerra was the southern extremity of the peninsula of California. The bay in which his ship was lying at the time of his assassination is supposed to be that now called the bay of La Paz, and sometimes the bay of San Jose.* 1533. When Cortes became assured of the seizure and spoliation of 1534. his vessels by Guzman, he prosecuted that person before the Audiencia, or royal court of justice of Mexico, which immediately decided in his favor. The pretended Governor of Jalisco, however, proved refractory, and refused to make restitution; whereupon, the conqueror assembled a body of troops, and marched at their head to Chiametla, in order to recover his vessels, and re-establish his authority in that country. On his approach, Guzman fled, with his adherents, to the interior; and Cortes having been joined at Chiametla, agreeably to his orders, by three vessels, determined to proceed with them in person to the new country discovered by Becerra in the west, which was said to be so rich in pearls and precious stones. 1535. He accordingly embarked with his forces at Chiametla, and on the 3d of May, the day of the Invention or Finding of the Holy April 15. Cross, agreeably to the Roman Catholic calendar, he reached the bay in which Becerra had been murdered. In honor of this day, the name of La Santa Cruz (the Holy Cross) was bestowed upon the country, as well as on the bay; and possession having been solemnly taken of the whole in the name of the Sovereign of Spain, preparations were commenced for the establishment of a colony on the spot. These arrangements being completed, Cortes took his departure with two vessels, to examine the coasts of the new territory towards the north and east, for the purpose of assuring himself whether or not it was united to the American continent. Of the voyage made by Cortes in the arm of the sea between California and the continent, the accounts are so confused and contradictory that it is impossible to ascertain his route. It appears, however, that, although he crossed this sea several times, he did not reach its northern extremity. After some time spent in this manner, during which his vessels were frequently in danger of destruction from storms, and their crews were suffering from want of provisions, he at length returned to Santa Cruz, where he found the colonists in the utmost distress from famine and privations of all sorts." Under these circumstances, he resolved to go back to Mexico, in order to procure supplies; which he accordingly did, leaving the colony in charge of his lieutenant, Francisco de Ulloa. On arriving at Acapulco, in the beginning of 1536, Cortes learned that, during his absence from Mexico, he had been superseded The accounts of these voyages are derived from Herrera's History of the Spanish Empire in America, and from Navarrete's Introduction to the Journal of the voyage of the Sutil and Mexicana. 1536. 1536. in the government of that country by Don Antonio de Mendoza, a nobleman of high rank, who had already made his entrance into the capital as Viceroy. The conqueror thus saw himself, in a moment, despoiled of his power, in the territory which had been, through his exertions, added to the Spanish dominions; and the blow was the more severe, as his private property had been almost entirely expended in his endeavors to make new discoveries. He was, however, not to be depressed by these difficulties; and as he still possessed the right, in his quality of Admiral of the South Sea, to prepare and despatch vessels upon the Pacific, he immediately resolved to engage in another expedition towards the northwest, where he hoped to find the means of retrieving his fortunes. He accordingly recalled Ulloa and the colonists from Santa Cruz; and having with difficulty succeeded in raising the necessary funds, he equipped three ships for the contemplated voyage, which was not commenced until 1539. 1539. July 8. The command of this expedition was intrusted to Francisco de Ulloa, Cortes being obliged to remain at Mexico in order to attend to some important suits at law, in which he had become involved. Ulloa quitted Acapulco on the 8th of July, 1539, and, after losing one of his ships in a storm near the coast of Culiacan, he sailed with the two others towards the west, as far as the harSept. 7. bor of Santa Cruz, which, as well as the surrounding country, began by this time to be called California.* To ascertain the extent of this country, and whether it was connected with America or with Asia, or was detached from both those continents, were the first objects of the voyage; in pursuance of which, the Spanish navigator directed his course from Santa Cruz northward, through the arm of the ocean separating California from the main land of Mexico on the east. In this course he proceeded, examining both shores, until he had convinced himself that the two territories were united near the 33d degree of latitude. He then Oct. 18. returned southward to Santa Cruz, through the same arm of the ocean, to which he gave the appropriate name of Mar de Cortes, (Sea of Cortes.) This great gulf has since received a variety of appellations, of which that principally used by the Spaniards is Mar Vermejo, (Vermillion Sea.) Among all other nations, it is known as the Gulf of California. Having thus ascertained the continuity of California with America in the northeast, Ulloa next proceeded to examine the western sides of the new country. With this view, he sailed from the Oct. 29. harbor of Santa Cruz, around the southern extremity of the land which is now called Cape San Lucas; thence he advanced along Nov. 7. the coast, northward, struggling almost constantly against the violent northwest winds which prevail in that part of the Pacific, 1540, until he reached the 30th degree of latitude. By the time of his arrival at that parallel, many of the men in both vessels were disabled by sickness, and the stock of provisions was much reduced; Mar. 25. *With regard to the origin or the signification of the word California, many speculations have been offered, none of which are either satisfactory or ingenious. 1540. in consequence of which, it was determined that one of the vessels should go back to Mexico, carrying the sick and the news of their discoveries, while Ulloa should remain in the other for the purpose of examining the coast still farther. The necessary arrangements having been accordingly made, the two vessels parted April 5. at the Isle of Cedars, (now called Isla de Cerros, or Isle of Mountains,) situated near the coast, in the 28th degree of latitude. The vessel called the Santa Agueda, bearing the sick and the despatches, reached Acapulco in safety before the end of May, 1540. Whether or not Ulloa ever returned to Mexico, is not known with certainty. Thus terminated the last expedition of discovery made by authority of Hernan Cortes. In the mean time, the Viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, who' succeeded Cortes in the government of Mexico, had also become interested in the examination of the coasts and countries north of that kingdom; his attention having been thus directed by the accounts of some persons who had made a long and toilsome peregrination across those regions. These persons, Alvaro Nuñez, (better known in history as Cabeza Vaca, or Bull-head,) two other Spaniards, and a negro, had landed, in 1527, near Tampa Bay, in East Florida, among the adventurers under Panfilo Narvaez, who invaded that country in search of mines or nations to plunder; and after the destruction of their comrades by starvation, shipwreck, and the arrows of the savages, had wandered for nine years through forests and deserts, until, at length, they reached Culiacan, near the Gulf of California, in 1536. Although these adventurers had themselves seen no signs of cultivation or wealth in the territories thus traversed, yet they had received from the savages, on their way, many confused accounts of rich and populous kingdoms situated still farther northward; and the Viceroy, having heard their statements, thought proper to endeavor to ascertain the truth of the reports. For this purpose he was induced, by the advice and solicitation of his friend, the celebrated Bartolomé de las Casas, to employ two Franciscan friars, in place of the soldiers who were usually sent on such expeditions; in order that the natives might be in this manner preserved from the violence which military men would not fail to exercise, if opportunity should be offered for the gratification of their cupidity. 1527 to 1536. The friars, Marcos de Niza and Honorato, with the negro who 1539. had accompanied Cabeza Vaca, and some Indians, accordingly departed from Culiacan on the 7th of March, 1539. What route Mar. 7. they took it is impossible now to discover. The reverend explorers, however, returned before the end of the year, (without the negro,) bringing accounts of countries which they had visited in the northwest, abounding in gold and precious stones, and in * Our knowledge of Ulloa's voyage is derived chiefly from the narrative of Francisco Preciado, one of the officers of the Santa Agueda, which is interesting, though by no means exact. It may be found in Italian, in the Collection of Ramusio, vol. iii, page 233; and in English, though badly translated, in the reprint of Hakluyt, vol. iii, page 503. 1539. habited by a population more numerous and more civilized than either Mexico or Peru. According to the letter addressed to the Viceroy by friar Marcos, upon his return, these rich and delightful countries were situated beyond the 35th degree of latitude, in the vicinity of the sea, and were separated from those previously known to the Spaniards by extensive tracts of forest and desert, through which it would be necessary to pass in order to reach the golden region. The friar describes with minuteness his route, as well as the situation, extent, and divisions of the new countries; dwelling particularly on the magnificence and greatness of a city called Cibola, the capital of a province of the same name, which he describes as containing more than twenty thousand large stone houses, all richly adorned with gold and jewels. The people of this place, as the letter says, were at first hostile to the strangers, and had killed the negro; but, in the end, they had evinced a disposition to embrace Christianity, and to submit to the authority of Spain; in consequence of which, the friars had secretly taken possession of the whole country for their Sovereign, by setting up crosses in various parts. These, and other things of the like nature, gravely related by ecclesiastics, who professed to have witnessed what they described, were admitted as true by the Viceroy; and he accordingly prepared, without delay, to conquer these new countries, which were considered as belonging of right to his Catholic Majesty, as well as to convert their inhabitants to Christianity. For these purposes, he raised a body of soldiers and missionaries, who were to pursue the route described by friar Marcos, under the command of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, the governor of the territory immediately north of Mexico, called New Gallicia. At the same time, in order, if there should be occasion, to support these forces, a small squadron was sent along the western coast, towards the north, under the direction of Fernando de Alarcon. Cortes also claimed the right, as Admiral of the South Sea, to attempt the conquest of these countries by means of a naval armament; and a violent dispute in consequence arose between the two chiefs. The conqueror, however, had expended all his disposable funds upon the equipment of the ships† which he had sent out under Ulloa, before the return of friar Marcos from the north; and he had, therefore, only to console himself with the hope that those vessels might accidentally have reached the shores of the golden land before its invasion by the forces of the Viceroy. In this expectation he was disappointed, as already shown. This extraordinary man, soon after the conclusion of Ulloa's voyage, returned to Spain, where he passed the remaining seven years of his life in vain efforts to procure restitution of his prop * See Ramusio, vol. iii, page 297; and Hakluyt, vol. iii, page 438. Herrera says that Ulloa was sent by Cortes to subdue the countries discovered by friar Marcos. This is, however, an error, if the dates given by him and the other historians of that period be correct. |
