Note 5 — The Spanish Entradas (continued 2)

Too few records have survived for anyone to say with certainty where Cabrillo was born or grew up. Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, a Spanish chronicler, identified him in 1615 as Portuguese. Set against this is the testimony of the explorer’s grandson in 1617 that “My paternal grandfather, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo came [to the New World] from the Kingdoms of Spain....” The NPS has adopted the view that Cabrillo was Portuguese. Many historians, including Cabrillo’s most recent biographer Harry Kelsey, aver that he was Spanish. David Lavender believes that the question is both elusive and unimportant. What is certain, Lavender points out, is that like many adventurers from other countries Cabrillo spent a good part of his life in the service of Spain and opened new lands to Spanish settlement. Ed.