Baja California History

Spanish Conquistador, Hernán Cortés, obtained "Santa Cruz Island"(Modern Baja California), for Spain in 1535. Later Spanish explorer, Francisco de Ulloa, under the commission of Hernán Cortés, surveyed the west coast of modern Mexico and Baja California Peninsula, leading to the belief in an Island of California. Portuguese surveyor, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, was the first to explore the California coast, traveling from San Diego to Pt. Reyes in 1542; he too believed in an Island of California. “Island of California,” Spanish East Indies, Spanish West Indies, part of South America, and most of North America, became New Spain territories. The Island of California had no wealth, no advanced Indian civilization, no agriculture, no pottery, no domesticated animals (except dogs), and no Northwest Passage (leading to), so Spain was disinterested in it. Later in 1579, Sir Francis Drake discovered New Albion (Nova Albion) north of New Spain, where a harbor, now Drakes Bay, stood, but the English too, were uninterested. In 1602, Sebastián Vizcaíno's mapping of coastal California, led to the naming San Diego, Catalina Island, and Santa Barbara. He brought interest to Monterey, California, as a suitable settlement and port to anchor, but ultimately, did not occur. California was a small isolated province and had no outside trade with foreigners. It was not until, British Captain James Cook’s third voyage in 1778, where not only the Northwest United States was mapped, but otter skins were acquired. After Cook’s death, the men traded with the Chinese and revealed that otter skins made a large profit. Word reached not only England, but also U.S., France, and Russia. This was the beginning of the California Fur Rush.

Illegally Americans, Russians, and British traders started trading hides and tallow for sea otters with Spanish owned California and the Spanish used tariffs to fund their government. As early as 1787, Americans sent ships to hunt sea otter, which helped the