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California Historical Landmarks in San Mateo County
 
 
 
California Landmark 94
Portolá Expedition Camp
Crystal Springs Dam on Skyline Boulevard
0.1 Mile South of Crystal Springs Road
4 Miles West of San Mateo
Crystal Springs Watershed Near Sawyer Camp Trailhead
Crystal Springs Watershed Near Sawyer Camp Trailhead
27 October 2004
(Click Photo to Zoom)
Portolá Expedition Camp

The Portolá Expedition of 1769 camped on November 5 at a 'laguna grande' which today is covered by the Upper Crystal Springs Lake.

Citation from California Office of Historic Preservation

 
We were unable to locate a plaque.
If you know of one, we would love to hear from you.
Proceeding a short distance up the beach, [the Portolá Expedition] turned into the mountains on their right, and from the summit beheld the immense estero o brazo del mar. Then descending into the Cañada de San Andres, they turned to the south and southeast, and traveling two leagues camped in the cañada at the foot of a hill, very green with low brush, and having a cluster of oaks at its base. The next two days they traveled down the cañada, coasting the estero, which they could not see for the low hills (lomeria) on their left, noting the pleasant land with its groves of oak, redwood (palo colorado), and madroño. They saw the tracks of many deer and also of bears. The Indians met them with friendly offers of black tamales and atole, which were gladly received by the half-starved Spaniards. They begged the strangers to go to their rancherías, but the governor excused himself, saying that he must go forward, and dismissed them with presents of beads and trinkets. On the 6th, they reached the end of the cañada, which suddenly turned to the east, and saw that the estero was finished in a spacious valley. To the cañada they gave the name of San Francisco.

From The March of Portolá and the Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco by Zoeth S. Eldredge

Portolá Expedition of 1769

Under orders from King Carlos III of Spain, Gaspar de Portolá i Rovira and Franciscan Father John Crespi marched north from San Diego on 14 July 1769 with sixty-three soldiers and one hundred mules.

Their destination was Monterey Bay, but they missed the fog-shrouded bay and instead became the first documented Europeans to see the San Francisco Bay.

Just seven years later, Spain founded Misión San Francisco de Asís on 29 June 1776.

The California Coastal Trail traces much of the route, and twelve California Landmarks in San Mateo County commemorate the expedition:

 
October 23   Mouth of Gazos Creek (Bean Hollow State Beach)
October 24-26   Mouth of San Gregorio Creek (San Gregorio State Beach)
October ???   Tunitas Indian Village
October 27   Mouth of Purisima Creek
October 28-29   Mouth of Pilarcitos Creek (Half Moon Bay)
October 30   Martini Creek
October 31   San Pedro Creek (Pacifica State Beach)
November 4   Sweeney Ridge
November 4   San Andreas Lake
November 5   Cañada de Andreas (Upper Crystal Springs Lake)
November 6-10   San Francisquito Creek (Menlo Park)
November 11   Cañada de Reymundo (Pulgas Water Temple)
 
 
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