Robert A. Bellezza

Missions of Monterey (Images of America) Robert A. Bellezza

The storm-tossed caravel ship San Salvador passed the coastline of Point Pinos in 1542 and propelled Portuguese shipwright and sailor Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo into history with the discovery of Alta California for the Spanish crown. An enduring legacy followed with Fr. Junipero Serras landing in San Diego and the founding of his first mission in 1769. Into Alta California entered explorers, soldiers, and Franciscan missionaries bringing their culture, faith, and intent to colonize the New World. Father Serras 1770 journey to Monterey, carefully planned in Mexico City, involved the arrival of a few hundred intrepid travelers over land and sea to secure Alta Californias new capital. A small group consecrated Mission San Carlos de Borromeo in the pine-forested flat of New Spains presidio. The momentum of the missions over the next 80 years resulted in Californias statehood and in the raising of the American flag in Monterey by 1850.